Does FORD motor co. HATE the USA???

[WidgetTrac]

Does FoMoCo hate Americans?

First off, they've KILLED a great American car company, Mercury. I'm still mad about that, and always will be.

...and now THIS! Turns out, they've been doing it for years! They're holding out on their American customers. They've been building some very cool vehicles for their overseas customers, and keeping them secret from those of us here in the USA! Take a look:


http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&....crnk_mobile..0.0...1ac.eXxm8UNs0kc&mvs=0#p=0

Apparantly there is even a dohc turbo 4.0L available!

It looks like FORDs true love is for the people of Australia, and we here in the USA are seen as just a bunch of chumps and red-headed stepchildren...

 

[colintrax]

Or is it because American's don't know cars.....

 

[MyTrac]

whoa....hang on here. You also have to consider the differences between us and the Australians. Our government has created so many laws restricting and regulating the design and function of American cars that it was probably more cost effective to send production and sales over there. You also have to look at markets in the U.S, maybe for Ford, it just wasn't going to pan out here. YES, it would be awesome if the next best thing was released to American Markets every time they make a new vehicle. However, on the realistic side of things, it just wont happen....

 

[Essex4x4]

HA this is why I have and always will want to move and become an Aussie. !!

 

[shooterdude199]

you can get a turbo motor by simply whistling when you hit the skinny pedal. you get like a gazillion horsepower and you get the same gas mileage too.

 

[bronchole]

FOrd is makeing a desiel car in Europe that gets something like 80MPG, but they can't sell it in the US because the costs to either make it here or import make the sell price too high to compete with the Prius. That and it's desiel which carries a negative stigma in the american market.

That said I would gladly spend an extra $5K for a Ford that got better millage than a Prius!

 

[Kazer]

 

[lynchy wa]

Try forking out over a hundred grand for an F 250 when you get here mate, that takes some of the shine off

 

[waskly]

damn i gained 25hp for tinting 2 windows to match the truck! YAY!

 

[nascar_red]

Can you say EPA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[MidnightRebel07]

America's emissions laws are a huge factor in why they don't bring those vehicles here. Safety regulations also have a big impact too.

 

[WidgetTrac]

The reason I go ape over the utes is that i've been crazy about rancheros since age 9, and I drove a mildly warmed over '75 for about 7 years... but also, just look at those things!!!

Lynchy, 100k for an f250 does sound pretty steep- maybe partially due to exchange rate? If it's any consolation, most of the ones I see here are just used for commuting and running errands, or pulling a light trailer - things an f150 or a Ute or a sport trac would handle.
Do you guys still have roads without any speed limit?

I can't see how emissions or safety standards have any bearing on this - the car companies ***** because they have to hire more engineers and designers, which cuts into their bottom line - but in the end you get better cars.

But the real reason I don't think it's a safety/emissions standards issue is that i'm not talking about the specific mechanical details of what's under the hood or behind the rubber bumper covers - there's no reason the vehicles shown in those pictures couldn't have federally approved 5mph bumpers, seat belts, egr, vapor capture, catalytic converters, and whatever else is found on US versions of similar Ford platforms.

Regarding the dohc turbo 4.0L, i'm not sure why that got all the ricer comments - I was mainly thinking that if I have to change out my timing chain, maybe a 32v head swap might be in order, if such heads could be found (used) in this hemisphere.

 

[AlexSport'00]

So is it that Ford hates the USA, or does the USA hate Ford... :scratch:

 

[Essex4x4]

Try forking out over a hundred grand for an F 250 when you get here mate, that takes some of the shine off

$100,000.00 USD or AUD?
which model?
DAMN!!!

 

[rhauf]

You can thank our over controlling government restrictions, driven by bogus environmental reasons among bogus big brother safety reasons for all american sold cars being lame now-a-days.

I've been saying for a while, if government wasn't a factor, we'd all be driving bad-ass looking 1000 horsepower cars that got 50mpg.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Yup. I loved getting over 40 mpg in my 1.6L MTX 89 Escort Pony. Oh, how far we've come.

 

[WidgetTrac]

How do government restrictions factor in?

The government has allowed the sale of zr1 Corvettes, the Chevy hhr, Ford gt's, 32v supercharged Mustangs and f150 lightnings, lamborghinis, 500HP vipers... do I need to keep going?

So, we're saying government regulations allow all the above, but they specifically prohibit anyone selling a car with a pickup bed? Or is it a minimun roof/hood height thing that only applies to trucks?

 

[Joe Dirt]

It could be anything from how much it would cost to convert one to a LHD model to how many economy credits a company has left to use up.

It's not the government disallowing the sales, it's how they figure out CARB compliance, etc., that makes it pointless for carmakers to even try to sell them.

Read this:

Sell ZEVs, get credits

Those credits are bought by automakers who don't sell enough zero-emission vehicles in California to meet requirements set by that state's Air Resources Board (CARB), or whose plans don't include building enough electric "compliance cars" to comply.

Essentially, each of the six automakers with the highest California sales must earn credits by selling zero-emission vehicles. Those requirements are in addition to national fuel-efficiency rules (and the math is complex, to say the least).

Through 2014, California is requiring that 60,000 such zero-emission cars be sold by the six combined. That goal rises to a total of 1 million by 2020, and 1.4 million by 2025.

If each maker doesn't acquire enough credits--either by selling cars or buying credits from others that do--it can be fined.

Starting this year, credits can be banked, meaning that Nissan could build up a sizable stockpile of credits to auction off to the highest bidders from sales of its Leaf and other upcoming electric cars. By 2014, Nissan will be able to build up to 150,000 electric cars a year in Tennessee alone.

Each 2012 Nissan Leaf, the highest-selling battery electric available in the U.S., generates three credits that Nissan can sell--based on a range of 70 to 100 miles and standard 3.3-kilowatt Level 2 charging.

A 2012 Tesla Model S with a larger battery pack and built-in 20-kilowatt charging would be worth more than twice that number of credits.

Tesla began the practice of selling green-car credits four years ago, when it revealed in financial filings for 2008 that it had sold Honda credits earned from sales of its Roadster model.

So, it's not just the market making it hard to sell cars- there are so many regulations on efficiency, etc, that Ford will probably start to sell bikes to build credits so they can sell F150's even imply form EPA sales requirements.

When company A sells company B green credits so company B can sell more non-conforming cars, something is wrong with the whole premise.

If Ford could sell it here, and made sense to do so, they would. There is a lot going on in the EPA circles that control what you can or can't buy and what companies like Ford can or can't build, you just may not know it.

 

[05dakotatrac]

ok crash test standards cost lots of money NHTSA has 5MPH crash standards in the US in many other countries there standards are less or non existant. hell in some countries four wheels a motor and a steering wheel is all thats needed. its not that the "UTEs" of australia are bad for the US its the cost of adapting it to US standards. for instance both the Colorado/Canyon GM platform and the Ranger platforms have a diesel variant in almost every foriegn country. now here is the thing in foriegn countries EPA standards are different you wont find urea injection or exhaust fluid or DPF's. My wife is thai i have been to Thailand and can tell you first hand that the colorado and ranger diesels are nothing more than a muffler. now could they downsize the DPF/urea/exhaust fluid systems from a superduty to work and on top of that meet crash TEST standards. yeh you bet your bottom dollar they can. but just as i capitalized test in the previous sentence its clear to all that it falls on cost. for starters an average company spends millions in research and development when they have a complete redesign of a vehicle. thats why many models have a sister model badged under a different make. figure they have to first have engineers design the model first, then build models for testing, testing to include crash testing meaning front side rear roll over etc tests. so say 6 cars dedicated to death by crash test ok 30K times 6 = 180K now we pleased NHTSA but you got EPA now a good engineer would realize the non US standard diesel in that foriegn ranger wont fly in the US. fair enough now dedicate 1 more for vehicle mechanical testing i.e. road tests to include suspension testing, motor testing which usually requires a sacrificed motor no prob 3K diesel motor gone, adapting current US diesel tech to a non conforming diesel being trial and error here say motor cost in misc parts and test retest and retest again.

so now you might see how something like taking a 4 door ranger diesel from thailand to america can cause a snowball effect cost and in turn take that reasonably priced 30K USD diesel ranger 4dr 4X4 and turn it into the cost of the much more capable crew cab F250 deisel 4X4

 

[Pickupman_69]

Ford is just notorious for not giving a **** what the north american market wants,its that simple.

it was proven when the closed ford talbotville and discontinued the crown vic when basically every one made was sold coming off the line, however I drive past ford oakville and see a yard full of new vehicles that arent moving. that sounds like a great business plan to me.