picasso

I saw the ford flex on the lots far before any advertising. Ford
appears to me, has done a terrible job at promoting this vehicle. is
ford relying now on dealerships and people "seeing" cars around to
promote their vehicles?

Now is not the time to be styling something as hideous as that and
relying on people thinking it looks like a good vehicle for them to
sell their cars. Did ford base this on that Honda Generation Y
vehicle that they built about 15,000 of and then quit making them?

Anyway, ford has done an all around bad job at promoting ANY of its
recent vehicles...

Checking the ford website is just a big surprise every 6 months now to
see what else they came out with that my local dealer doesn't even
carry...

Like what is a Taurus X, and why do they need it? Is there "really" a
market for this? if so, does it make money? If so, how does it
differ from the flex?

Fusion.. Taurus... Focus... do we need them all???

Is the Sport Trac really a seller? Is it necessary to have this? Why
not can this or the ranger, and just make one or the other in a reg
cab / ext cab / quad cab... why all these lines of vehicles that are
likely not making money??

I own two ford vehicles... might buy another one... but its becoming
less and less likely...

I'm very confused as to how ford thinks they are going to survive...
from what i see, about 1/3 of their vehicles can be taken off the
lots.

Just seems like when you compare ford to Honda or Toyota the menu is
just too large to be remotely profitable, and too few differences
between the choices. I would be a very leary investor in this company
for sure.

Confused.....

Picasso

gpctc

well, if they rely on people wanting a Flex after seeing one on the
road, they might as well put the factory up for sale (if it isn't
already)......I mean, how can anything be that bland and ugly at the
same time - they can put 10 sunroofs on it and it won't help. It's
hard to imagine that they're working on a Lincoln version - although it
supposedly will have a completely different appearance.

speaking of which - after so many "badge engineered" cars, the new
Lincoln version of the Volvo80/500/Taurus is flying off dealer lots as
soon as they come=in around here......and I'm pleasantly surprised: not
only has different stying, but a different interior and some engineering
upgrades (unlike the MKZ version of the Fusion which is not much more
than a different grill).

What's it called? Is it the MKS??? Another mistake I think companies
are making: you used to know where a Cadillac deVille, Seville, Eldo or
Fleetwood fell in the hierarchy.......or a Continental, Town Car or
Mark.........but in their rush to be like the imports, makers have
reduced model designations to numbers and letters that have no meaning
to buyers, and replaced a lot of their well-known heraldry with
meaningless chrome blobs.

You'd think they'd learn from Oldsmobile's experience: first they came
out with a bewildering array of "Cutlass" models, then dropped
well-established model names like 88 and Ninety-Eight to be replaced
with unknown vagaries like Aurora and Allero, etc. To make sure nobody
knew what they were, they replaced the Olds crests & symbols with a
shapeless blob, and even left the make off a lot of them: if you saw
one you liked, there was no way to tell who made it. Have no idea why
all the others want to imitate such "success": guess all the interns at
the market research companies went to the same school!

caesar romano

Ford has don an all around bad job at all aspects of managing the
company.

ashton crusher

When Scion came out with their refrigerator on wheels people LOVED it.
When ford comes out with something that actually better looking people
bitch about how it looks.

ashton crusher

IMHO Chevy suffers from the same problem. There's just and endless
variety of SUV's and Van's and Xovers. There seems to be very little
differentiating one from the other. Not to mention that most of them
are ugly. As to "badges". Chevy would be doing themselves a BIG
favor by getting rid of the stupid looking Chevy "toothy big grill"
look and also getting rid of the current version of the Chevy bow tie.
That big, squarish, mono-gold Chevy emblem just does NOT look
appealing as a decorative badge, it' literally screams CHEAP vehicle
because it just looks like a cheap, stamped steel piece of mass
produced dullness. If they must keep it at least give it some life.
Put some edging around it, give it some depth, SOMETHING other then
what looks like a glued on piece of 2 cents worth of 0.0003" think
gold anodized recycled aluminum pop cans.

picasso

Oh I agree that Chevrolet is just the very same for sure. They throw
all the old names out, stick some new emblems on and claim this
revamped line that still shares pretty well the same drivetrain... not
to mention all the doubling up... Ford has finally got away from that
-- I Mean why have a ford and a mercury version of the exact same car
-- Mountaineer for example .... how many of THESE are there around.

On the other side, Dodge has really been throwing things around... not
saying they're any better than Ford or Chev, and I am certainly no a
fan of Dodge, but the new Challenger SRT8 seems to be a well done
piece... I've only seen one in passing yesterday before going to their
website to check out the new lineup. Shame they had to go the way of
Ford and put a V6 in a car with so much potential.

Guess thats another rant... why Ford puts a V6 in a muscle car...

gpctc

Ashton.......re: bitching about Flex' looks


you're right: I was among those who thought the original Scion was
"cute"......they got it all right for the buyers they targeted:
concept, price, size, mileage, counter-culture image: even the
sub-brand "Scion" was inspired..

but the "box on wheels" isn't "cute" when it's the size of a box-car and
costs $35,000+.......and to me there's a disconnect between the vehicle
and the "flex" name. I'm sure it's a practical vehicle for a lot of
buyers and enough won't care about the looks --- but FoMoCo is
beginning to look a lot like Chrysler in the 80's: a successful
chassis, so let's see how many models we can make out of it. When
Chrysler morphed the K-car into the mini-van, it was a spectacular blend
of existing parts, practicality and a bit of "I always wanted a van"
macho. Poor Ford is reduced to trumpeting sunroofs and "available
refrigerator". Gawd.

But they still have a way to go to win the Aztec "Sow's ear out of
silk" award.

mike hunter

The Flex is the only vehicle today equated to the station wagon of old. It
is a car chassis with scads of room, for those the need it, but do not want
an SUV or COV. Drive one then decide, WBMA

mike hunter

You better take another look at the MKZ if that is what you believe. The
whole interior, as well as the complete front and rear end are entirely
different, not a single body part is interchangeable. The engine is also
larger

c. e. white

Different transmission also (Ford built 6 speed vs Aisin-Warner 6
speed in Fusion).

Still, the cars look a lot a like.....

Ed