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SVT Shelby GT500
Is The Svt Cobra A Shelby Or The Shelby A Svt Cobra
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<blockquote data-quote="JETSOLVER" data-source="post: 4017735" data-attributes="member: 13335"><p>More than anything, this car goes to show how quickly customer loyalty can be erroded when it is not a priority in the automotive world. It took ten years to build the brand and less than 2 to destroy it. The concept Shelby GT500 SVT COBRA was shown as the replacement car to existing SVT owners. It was descibed as 80% production ready and at "UNDER $40k". What was lost between that show and the final car was the aluminium block, the twin screw blower, the leather interior(now an option), the hood and the integrated rear spoiler. If that is 20% by Fords calculations, it goes to why they have some financial trouble. And they missed the price target. Not by much, but they did. But even more important is the loss of credibility with past owners re the core tennets of the SVT BRAND. The organization was built on the back of an entire experiance, from only letting the best dealers sell these premium products(on average about 30% more expensive than the top of the line plebian model) to knowledgable enthusiasts and letting those people "polish the brand" by driving them at a level for which they were engineered. Most were sold on the idea of a unique concept in American cars, a balanced product in which no one system overshadowed any other. And the worst part is, they made a go of it. They built the best cars FoMoCo ever created and now(direct quote coming up); "Is there a way for SVT to exist in an atmosphere of belt tightening? Apparently in name only. Thai-Tang told SCI that SVT is essentially "ducking and covering," keeping a low-profile as the cost-cutting spreads to every corner of the Ford empire. SVT's offices have been cleared, its staff dispersed to Ford's mainstream departments. Future high-performance wehicles wearing the SVT badge will be developed by Ford's main pool of engineer's, not a dedicated group of car nuts." Even the SVT event trailer has been sold. Any new product will use mostly off the shelf parts, and at that point SVT will be just a badge. The GT500 represents the end of an era. And this as the rest of the market is poised to capture the very same high profit, brand polishing type, educated, enthusiast customer that Ford created the market for.(All the rest, from Audi's S and RS, to NISMO, TRD, Chevy's SS and Dodges SRT,Saturn's Redline, plus others I don't want to type) came to be because Ford benchmarked BMW's "M" cars directly in the development of the SVT COBRA. So yes, the GT500 is the best Mustang ever. But it is definately NOT the best SVT, and as such it leaves the brand with an asterisk beside it(think Barry Bonds) , knowing that we never got what should have been. So if Ford chooses this car to be the "halo" car for the Bold Moves, Way forward, then it is indicative of a future where it's most enthusiastic repeat customers are not a consideration. And for that, they should be ashamed. (quotes from the Sept 06, Sports Car International review of the GT500. Sidebar)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="JETSOLVER, post: 4017735, member: 13335"] More than anything, this car goes to show how quickly customer loyalty can be erroded when it is not a priority in the automotive world. It took ten years to build the brand and less than 2 to destroy it. The concept Shelby GT500 SVT COBRA was shown as the replacement car to existing SVT owners. It was descibed as 80% production ready and at "UNDER $40k". What was lost between that show and the final car was the aluminium block, the twin screw blower, the leather interior(now an option), the hood and the integrated rear spoiler. If that is 20% by Fords calculations, it goes to why they have some financial trouble. And they missed the price target. Not by much, but they did. But even more important is the loss of credibility with past owners re the core tennets of the SVT BRAND. The organization was built on the back of an entire experiance, from only letting the best dealers sell these premium products(on average about 30% more expensive than the top of the line plebian model) to knowledgable enthusiasts and letting those people "polish the brand" by driving them at a level for which they were engineered. Most were sold on the idea of a unique concept in American cars, a balanced product in which no one system overshadowed any other. And the worst part is, they made a go of it. They built the best cars FoMoCo ever created and now(direct quote coming up); "Is there a way for SVT to exist in an atmosphere of belt tightening? Apparently in name only. Thai-Tang told SCI that SVT is essentially "ducking and covering," keeping a low-profile as the cost-cutting spreads to every corner of the Ford empire. SVT's offices have been cleared, its staff dispersed to Ford's mainstream departments. Future high-performance wehicles wearing the SVT badge will be developed by Ford's main pool of engineer's, not a dedicated group of car nuts." Even the SVT event trailer has been sold. Any new product will use mostly off the shelf parts, and at that point SVT will be just a badge. The GT500 represents the end of an era. And this as the rest of the market is poised to capture the very same high profit, brand polishing type, educated, enthusiast customer that Ford created the market for.(All the rest, from Audi's S and RS, to NISMO, TRD, Chevy's SS and Dodges SRT,Saturn's Redline, plus others I don't want to type) came to be because Ford benchmarked BMW's "M" cars directly in the development of the SVT COBRA. So yes, the GT500 is the best Mustang ever. But it is definately NOT the best SVT, and as such it leaves the brand with an asterisk beside it(think Barry Bonds) , knowing that we never got what should have been. So if Ford chooses this car to be the "halo" car for the Bold Moves, Way forward, then it is indicative of a future where it's most enthusiastic repeat customers are not a consideration. And for that, they should be ashamed. (quotes from the Sept 06, Sports Car International review of the GT500. Sidebar) [/QUOTE]
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Is The Svt Cobra A Shelby Or The Shelby A Svt Cobra
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