Could Ford Fumble GT500 Launch Any Worse?

Clemson

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https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...1-5-billion-more-cuts-pulls-ahead-margin-goal

Ford Motor Co. is sharpening its knives to cleave another $11.5 billion from spending plans and cut several sedans, including the Fusion and Taurus, from its lineup to more quickly reach an elusive profit target.
"Ford said it won’t invest in new generations of sedans for the North American market, eventually reducing its car lineup to the Mustang and an all-new Focus Active crossover coming next year. By 2020, almost 90 percent of its portfolio in the region will be pickups, SUVs and commercial vehicles. That means the end of the road for slow-selling sedans such as the Taurus, Fusion and Fiesta in the U.S. " Good Lord! So Ford is basically just going to stop making cars? How does THAT make any sense? The fusion is about every 3rd car I see on the road - how do you NOT make money on that model? Seems like Ford, like GE, is run by a bunch of inept clowns. Maybe they should start there with the budget cuts.
 

Voltwings

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It's becoming painfully obvious they are not taking their time to perfect the ultimate engine, they are struggling just to get it to market. If this was not the case we would have seen the GT500 released long ago which is not a good omen for their flagship performance car. If Ford does manage to release the car it's going to be late to the party, will most likely be relegated to 3rd place having only 5 liters to work with and probably pushed to the limit just to get this engine to make the kind of horsepower that will allow it to play in the sandbox with the other kids.


I've seen more than a few examples where a Gen 3 coyote putting down more power mod for mod than an LT1, i'd hardly call the coyote an underdog considering it's been punching above it's weight since it was launched.
 

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https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...1-5-billion-more-cuts-pulls-ahead-margin-goal

Ford Motor Co. is sharpening its knives to cleave another $11.5 billion from spending plans and cut several sedans, including the Fusion and Taurus, from its lineup to more quickly reach an elusive profit target.

My wife gets news alerts sent to her phone in the mornings. Literally, the first words she said to me at 6:30am this morning was that Ford is going to stop selling the Focus, Fusion, and Fiesta. That was an unpleasant surprise. We already knew the Taurus was on the chopping block. It was way too early to be thinking about it, but my first thought was that Ford is basically going to become a truck/SUV company plus the Mustang. It would be corporate suicide if they stopped making the Mustang. I know there are plenty of people who own Ford products but wouldn't buy another Ford, if they stopped selling the Mustang.

I think this may be a temporary strategic move to free up money to focus on continuing to reinvent the Lincoln brand. If the new Navigator and upcoming Aviator are indicators, I'm expecting big things from Lincoln in the next few years. We could see the Continental moved to a RWD platform and become a proper flagship. We could see a return of the Continental Mark ## luxury coupe.

I have a hard time believing the F cars aren't selling. In this region, Focuses and Fusions are all over the place. I rarely ever see a Fiesta on the road, but I'm still sad to see the little guy go. If I wanted a darty little hot hatch, the Fiesta ST would be at the top of the list. Then again, with those cars gone, it could possibly mean more money to put toward Mustang advancement and development. Or this could just mean the end of those nameplates, but the cars themselves are going to be re-imagined and renamed. (I always felt the Fusion should've been called Taurus, and that thing they were calling Taurus should never have existed.) It doesn't really make sense to stop selling cars to focus on gas swilling trucks and SUVs in the face of tough CAFE standards. There's way more to this than they're releasing at the moment.
 

Blaine

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I just don't get how Ford is handling the launch of the GT500. Nothing about it makes any sense. The most powerful Mustang ever is upon us and the best they can do is a crappy teaser that is followed up by nothing at NY Autoshow?

Part of what puts a car into culture is the marketing around it. Look how well Dodge marketed the Demon. They went ALL-IN on making it a car that was talked about not just on Autosites or amongst car enthusiasts, but heck even Good Morning America was talking about it. And they let fans know exactly when it would be revealed and orchestrated a brilliant roll-out of videos to build the hype. What has Ford done?

I just get the feeling Ford has no real plan to launch this car with any fanfare or excitement. It feels a lot like the launch of the Camaro ZL1 1LE. Amazing car...but they just dropped it into the world with no marketing what-so-ever.

I also think this statement is going to come back to bite them: "Venom Kills Demons". I just put race fuel in my Demon and the thing Dyno's 779whp. Yes, to the wheels. It's crazy what 100 octane can do when the car is calibrated for that. There's just no way the GT500 is going to come close to high-octane Demon power and absolutely no way it's going to "KILL" a Demon on anything other than a road course (which nobody cares about). Again, it's marketing that matters. Popping wheelies, fasted 1/4 mile production car ever...that's what stirs the souls of enthusiasts, not some lap time.

It's sad to see Dodge pave the way for how you launch an exciting car and then Ford can't even follow in those footsteps. I'm convinced they are stalling. It's like they know the car is going to come out and not Dethrone the Demon or ZR1. What gives?

The Demon isnt the GT500s target. They are releasing the New Cobra Jet to embarress the Demon. The new CJ is suppose to run 8's. Thats about 2 full seconds ahead of the Demon.

And the new Telsa Roadster will also outrun the Demon on Batteries running the QTR in 8.8 on street tires and get 620 miles to a charge. Demon will be old news in about a year. Gas engines may be old news in a few years if more cars like the Telsa Roaster keep coming.

There will always be a faster better car.
 

Clemson

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The Demon isnt the GT500s target. They are releasing the New Cobra Jet to embarress the Demon. The new CJ is suppose to run 8's. Thats about 2 full seconds ahead of the Demon.

Considering the Cobra Jet isnt street legal, I would hardly call that Fords answer to the Demon. Quite frankly, the Cobra Jet is irrelevant in the muscle car wars. Ford already has their road course warrier in the 350. So, yes, the GT500 is, in fact, directly in competition with the Demon. Although, more reasonably, its the Hellcat they are after.
 

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Considering the Cobra Jet isnt street legal, I would hardly call that Fords answer to the Demon. Quite frankly, the Cobra Jet is irrelevant in the muscle car wars. Ford already has their road course warrier in the 350. So, yes, the GT500 is, in fact, directly in competition with the Demon. Although, more reasonably, its the Hellcat they are after.

Dodge specifically built the Demon to be in a niche that nobody else is in. They stated as much at the release. Ford is not targeting the Demon or the Hellcats. They're not concerned about playing in that space anymore (thank God.) The Mustang is becoming more sophisticated and more athletic. That's what people want these days. Otherwise, Hellcats would be top sellers and Dodge would be cranking out as many Demons as they could make. Neither of those is the case.
 

Clemson

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Dodge specifically built the Demon to be in a niche that nobody else is in. They stated as much at the release. Ford is not targeting the Demon or the Hellcats. They're not concerned about playing in that space anymore (thank God.) The Mustang is becoming more sophisticated and more athletic. That's what people want these days. Otherwise, Hellcats would be top sellers and Dodge would be cranking out as many Demons as they could make. Neither of those is the case.
Im glad you think you know what the 500 is going to be.....you know, considering no one else does.
 

Voltwings

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Im glad you think you know what the 500 is going to be.....you know, considering no one else does.

He's right though, Ford is building a more well rounded card. Building something that only goes after the Demon would be a very, very, narrow focus, and quite frankly a waste of time.
 

Clemson

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He's right though, Ford is building a more well rounded card. Building something that only goes after the Demon would be a very, very, narrow focus, and quite frankly a waste of time.
I didnt say only. Didnt even say it would beat it. But to say the 500 is going to another road course car is foolish.
 

GT Premi

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I didnt say only. Didnt even say it would beat it. But to say the 500 is going to another road course car is foolish.

No. Expecting the GT500 to go after the Demon is foolish. Even with the snippets Ford has shown us so far, it clearly isn't going to be a straight-line-only car. Have you not looked at a single one of the camouflaged pics, the CGI vid, the teaser pic?? Who would think that car was chasing after Demons or Hellcats?
 

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"Ford said it won’t invest in new generations of sedans for the North American market, eventually reducing its car lineup to the Mustang and an all-new Focus Active crossover coming next year. By 2020, almost 90 percent of its portfolio in the region will be pickups, SUVs and commercial vehicles. That means the end of the road for slow-selling sedans such as the Taurus, Fusion and Fiesta in the U.S. " Good Lord! So Ford is basically just going to stop making cars? How does THAT make any sense? The fusion is about every 3rd car I see on the road - how do you NOT make money on that model? Seems like Ford, like GE, is run by a bunch of inept clowns. Maybe they should start there with the budget cuts.

Cars are dead. Long live the crossover. I read an interview with the head of Toyota North America and apparently RAV4s now outsell the Camry. This was unthinkable even 5 years ago.
 

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351stang

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kaneda.jpg


I just don't get how Ford is handling the launch of the GT500. Nothing about it makes any sense. The most powerful Mustang ever is upon us and the best they can do is a crappy teaser that is followed up by nothing at NY Autoshow?

Part of what puts a car into culture is the marketing around it. Look how well Dodge marketed the Demon. They went ALL-IN on making it a car that was talked about not just on Autosites or amongst car enthusiasts, but heck even Good Morning America was talking about it. And they let fans know exactly when it would be revealed and orchestrated a brilliant roll-out of videos to build the hype. What has Ford done?

I just get the feeling Ford has no real plan to launch this car with any fanfare or excitement. It feels a lot like the launch of the Camaro ZL1 1LE. Amazing car...but they just dropped it into the world with no marketing what-so-ever.

I also think this statement is going to come back to bite them: "Venom Kills Demons". I just put race fuel in my Demon and the thing Dyno's 779whp. Yes, to the wheels. It's crazy what 100 octane can do when the car is calibrated for that. There's just no way the GT500 is going to come close to high-octane Demon power and absolutely no way it's going to "KILL" a Demon on anything other than a road course (which nobody cares about). Again, it's marketing that matters. Popping wheelies, fasted 1/4 mile production car ever...that's what stirs the souls of enthusiasts, not some lap time.

It's sad to see Dodge pave the way for how you launch an exciting car and then Ford can't even follow in those footsteps. I'm convinced they are stalling. It's like they know the car is going to come out and not Dethrone the Demon or ZR1. What gives?
 

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