Ford plans to reduce showroom lineup to 20

[Road_Warrior]

http://www.caradvice.com.au/84798/fo...-lineup-to-20/

Ford Motor Company has announced it is planning to reduce the showroom lineup to 30 and eventually down to 25 and 20 in the future. Ford CEO, Allan Mulally recently spoke about the company direction in Europe prior to visiting the Paris Motor Show later this week.

This is all apart of Ford’s plans to focus on improving the quality on all of its models by zooming in on fewer models. Ford Motor Company CEO, Allan Mulally, recently answered a question about the lineup direction, saying,

“There will be less than 30, on our way to 20 to 25. Fewer brands means you can put more focus into improving the quality of engineering.”

Ford’s plans have long since been to reduce and simplify the lineup since 2006, when it was offering 97 different models. This included those from the luxury brands Aston Martin, Volvo and Land Rover though, companies of which have since been sold off.

The company also plans to simplify specific models by fitting a large percentage of the same parts throughout the range. Mulally said that this would help with distribution, and also help Ford store owners, suppliers, employees and customers know exactly what they are getting.

Obviously they're referring to actual different cars, not variants of a particular car, but are they talking on a global scale or just North America? NA alone would fill those 20 places!

[mik]

good move imo.

[csv8]

Ominous for the Falcon ?????? I hope not. They could easily have the Mondeo as the large car here or bring in the Taurus!!!!!

[JPFS1]

Too much emphasis is put on the phrase 'One Ford' and what that means, or what people think it means.

I think that One Ford should be seen as more than just platform/model consolidation. It's more than that and certainly doesn't end at just that.

Think of the world being divided into 'Regional' areas. Not everything has to be or will be driven by N.A.

[Polyal]

This is definitely a good thing. Honestly every country in the world has basics that are the same, Toyota and the euros have been doing it for decades (although BMW seems to come out with a niche vehicle every month). You just need to tweak it for each area.

Just gives us the Mustang you greedy buggers!

[imugli]

Given that he was speaking in Europe, I assumed he was talking global.

So, if we take Ford's current global vehicles (on sale or being developed), we can assume that 3 of those will be

Fiesta
Focus
Mondeo

T6 has just been developed as global light pickup platform, so add that.
F-Series is not going anywhere (sales of different models are combined, so I'll count as one)
Mustang is safe.
One could possibly assume E series van and Transit will be combined.
Kuga and Escape will be combined next time around.

So there's 8 so far.

Perhaps C-Max as global people mover.

Any other ideas?

[Polyal]

Ka, GWRD, Ford GT (or some kind of supercar), explorer

[irlewy86]

25?

Is that 25 Ford vehicles of 25 Ford/Lincoln vehicles?

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior

http://www.caradvice.com.au/84798/fo...-lineup-to-20/



Obviously they're referring to actual different cars, not variants of a particular car, but are they talking on a global scale or just North America? NA alone would fill those 20 places!

Thought NA was the only area where Ford could have region specific cars?

This will be interesting but we knew this has been in the pipeline for a while.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by JPFS1

Too much emphasis is put on the phrase 'One Ford' and what that means, or what people think it means.

I think that One Ford should be seen as more than just platform/model consolidation. It's more than that and certainly doesn't end at just that.

Think of the world being divided into 'Regional' areas. Not everything has to be or will be driven by N.A.

+1
Much of the efficiency gains and cost savings are at the supplier level, not at the production floor.
One Ford is about expanding platforms where possible and eliminating others that add nothing.

In terms of efficiency, Ford North America needed to change and become more relevant to it market,
they had a lot of unique platforms adding to business complexity but adding nothing to profit.
Their market used to swing on F Truck and Explorer but since the huge upheaval in fuel prices
and economic uncertainty, buyers have been switching to car based crossovers and smaller
more efficient vehicles in general. That is why three F Truck plants are being reconfigured to
build Focus based products, the market has changed that much, people are applauding Ford for doing this...


Ford Australia has always been pretty efficient so the changes needed here weren't as harsh
and for those people continuing to predict Falcon's demise think of this, no other regional car
has been under this much scrutiny since its approval in 2006, I think if ever a vehicle had a
sound business case it's Falcon.

[chevypower]

Originally Posted by imugli

So there's 8 so far.

Perhaps C-Max as global people mover.

Any other ideas?

Let's see:

1. KA
2. Fiesta
3. Focus
4. Mondeo
5. Taurus
6. Falcon
7. Mustang
8. F-150
9. Super Duty
10. Ranger
11. T6 SUV (which I think will replace the Territory in my honest opinion)
12. Expedition
13. Explorer
14. Edge (which I think will fully take over the Escape)
15. Flex
16. Transit Connect
17. Transit
18. E-series van (some suggest this will become motorhome chassis only)
19. C-Max
20. S-Max

...But I think Lincoln products were also included in that figure.

[jpd80]

The thrust of mulally's comments are intended to herald the increasing efficiency of Ford,
this is the latest in a series of comments that he and other Ford reps have been indicating
with regards to the rationalisation of continuing nameplates onto fewer platforms.

I wouldn't take the exact number of nameplates too seriously, it's more to do with ensuring that
the continuing names are on the best possible platforms for efficiency of parts supply and commonality.
I don't think Falcon and Territory will be on the radar as they share plenty of the important parts.

The idea that T6 SUV will replace Territory has been floated but that vehicle is completely different to
what is wanted with Territory (Smooth I-6 and TD V6) and T6 SUV is still around four years away
so we will see come 2014.

[JPFS1]

I don't see why we would expect or even better, want a body on frame architecture to replace Unibody? Not for Territory anyway, the trend is actually the reverse.

[Road_Warrior]

I think he may have been talking about platforms. There are many badges duplicated around the world that are riding on completely unrelated platforms, i.e. US Focus v world Focus. Makes no sense to have completely different cars around the world doing the same thing.

Sub-B sized car (KA)
B-car (Fiesta)
C-car (Focus, C-Max, Kuga, Transit Connect)
C-D car (Mondeo, Fusion, Edge, Lincoln MKX)
D-car (Taurus, Explorer, Lincoln MKT etc)
E-car (Falcon, Territory, Lincoln full size, Lincoln SUV) (Mustang & Thunderbird?? or on evolved D2C platform by themselves)

T6 platform (Ranger, Everest, Bronco?)
P-platform (F-Series, Super Duty)
Large truck platform
Large SUV?
Future Transit/E-series van

Right now, they've got multiples of some of the above vehicles, particularly the small cars.

[irlewy86]

Originally Posted by vztrt

Thought NA was the only area where Ford could have region specific cars?

This will be interesting but we knew this has been in the pipeline for a while.

I think we'll still see regional specific cars.

[chevypower]

Originally Posted by JPFS1

I don't see why we would expect or even better, want a body on frame architecture to replace Unibody? Not for Territory anyway, the trend is actually the reverse.

No it won't directly replace the product, but manufacturing the SUV in Australia, I think the T6 SUV will replace it, keeping an SUV built in Broadmeadows. The 7 seater unibody crossovers will be Flex and Explorer. Assuming this global lineup is still happening.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by chevypower

No it won't directly replace the product, but manufacturing the SUV in Australia, I think the T6 SUV will replace it, keeping an SUV built in Broadmeadows. The 7 seater unibody crossovers will be Flex and Explorer. Assuming this global lineup is still happening.

Everest replacement on T6 will be built in the South African T6 Ranger plant, there's no thought of building it in Australia. With a refreshed Territory and Falcon line up due early next year, plans for global roll out of Explorer are premature.

[chevypower]

Oh my mistake then, I thought with so much development, it would be built in Australia. I forgot the Rangers will probably be built in Thailand anyway, is that correct?

[Road_Warrior]

Correct.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by chevypower

Oh my mistake then, I thought with so much development, it would be built in Australia. I forgot the Rangers will probably be built in Thailand anyway, is that correct?

South Africa.

[chevypower]

Ok, cool.

[Road_Warrior]

They're being built in Thailand as well aren't they?

[Joe5619]

isn't it going to be built at the current South Aficia Foucs plant.. Foucs production to stop & be replaced with Ranger??

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior

They're being built in Thailand as well aren't they?

Thailand is Auto Alliance Joint Venture plant with Mazda, they will build BT 50 there
but Ford South Africa won the supply contract for Ranger and Thailand got the Focus contract,
so basically both countries are swapping products.......

[vztrt]

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/09/28/r...-just-20-mode/

Report: Mulally says Ford may pare global lineup to just 20 models

by Jonathon Ramsey (RSS feed) on Sep 28th 2010 at 1:00PM

When Alan Mulally took charge of Ford four years ago, the Blue Oval had nearly 100 models. There are fewer than half that now, and the CEO wants to trim the number down to "less than 30, on our way to 20 to 25." His goal of simplification appears to be driven by the desire to cut costs for everyone – distributors, suppliers, dealerships, as well as Ford itself. That will not only help the brand in the present as it makes do in lean times, but can compound the rewards when markets – especially in Asia – go nuts again.

Mulally says the returns can be put into research and development, along with engineering for the remaining models. To put this in perspective, on Ford's U.S. site alone, there are 18 vehicles, not including the soon-to-die Explorer Sport Trac, which of course leaves out cars like the Falcon, Territory, Kuga and S-Max, among others. So the natural question is: Which vehicles would or should get the axe?

[Source: Bloomberg]

[jpd80]

Rather than guessing which nameplates will be in the chosen 20 or 25, perhqaps we should look at the core platforms going forward and work out which vehicle types are likely to survive.

Some of the groups we could expect to see continuing:

Fiesta / Figo / Ecosport / B-Max?
Focus / C-Max / Escape / Kuga
Fusion / Edge / Mondeo / S-Max
Taurus / Explorer / Flex / Falcon / Territory
F Truck / T6 Ranger / Transit Pick up
E-Series / Transit van
Expedition / T6 SUV

While that doesn't cover everything in Nth America, Europe or Asia,
it would seem to cover the bulk of Ford's mainstream models.

[Road_Warrior]

That South African plant surely is not going to be able to supply the entire world's Ranger needs...there is bound to be another plant somewhere to make them.

Also, Mullaly's statement seemed to gloss over Lincoln models which at the moment are based on tarted up Fords but he is keen to move Lincoln into territory where it uses more up market, unique platforms.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior

That South African plant surely is not going to be able to supply the entire world's Ranger needs...there is bound to be another plant somewhere to make them.

South Africa will ramp up to about 200,000/year Rangers,
I think that covers most of the region.
Thailand is building BT-50 for Mazda.

Also, Mullaly's statement seemed to gloss over Lincoln models which at the moment are based on tarted up Fords but he is keen to move Lincoln into territory where it uses more up market, unique platforms.

He's not ready to discuss Lincoln yet.

If Lincoln needs dedicated platforms to survive, I don't think Ford will be interested,
Ford rid itself of Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo and Aston Martin, I doubt they want to remake Lincoln
into that lot..the cost versus return on dedicated high series platforms is horrendous,
something Tata is learning about.

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by jpd80

South Africa will ramp up to about 200,000/year Rangers,
I think that covers most of the region.
Thailand is building BT-50 for Mazda.


He's not ready to discuss Lincoln yet.

If Lincoln needs dedicated platforms to survive, I don't think Ford will be interested, Ford rid itself of Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo and Aston Martin, I doubt they want to remake Lincoln into that lot..the cost versus return on dedicated high series platforms is horrendous, something Tata is learning about.

Holy Toledo Batman. I hope that SA plant has their QC sorted for that sort of throughput. Focus owners know all too well about various patchy QC issues with their SA derived Focii and I'd like to think that such an important 'world car' will bring improvements in build quality with it.

Also, I don't think the focus with Lincoln is going to be the same as what FOrd had with PAG. But they're certainly keen to see it play on the same terms as Cadillac, BMW and Audi. Which is quite a reasonable and achievable goal in my view. It's certainly been stated by US sources that they don't want Lincoln to use tarted up Fords anymore, but I think that may have been a swipe at past practice of using tarted up C and C/D cars which of course do nothing to help Lincoln aspire to be the brand it wants to be...

[Road_Warrior]

Here's an article from Detroit News, with the relevant paragraph:

http://detnews.com/article/20100928/...y-be-cut-to-25

Ford has pursued a course of fewer vehicles but with multiple body styles for each nameplate to meet the needs of customers around the world. For example, the new Ford Focus will be offered as a sedan, five-door hatchback, wagon and performance ST version, depending on the global market. The idea is to share as many common parts as possible.

They have the terms confused, but yes, this is about platforms. There is definitely scope in there for an ongoing Falcon/Territory involvement.

You can already add the Panther, old Explorer, old Falcon (EA169) and US market Ranger to that list.