F-100 & Ford Eurocars coming to America?

[Flandry]

From Autosavant:

Ford Will Retool US Factories for Switch to European Models
By Brendan Moore

It was reported by several publications a few days ago that Ford was considering taking one of their shuttered or soon-to-be shuttered SUV or truck assembly plants and investing a large sum of money in retooling the plant for production of one of their European models. Such a move is unusual among automakers; renovation of a plant generally occurs when a new model or a new generation of an existing model is going to be introduced, but these are unusual times for automakers currently. The market has turned 180 degrees in the past few months due to upward-spiraling gas prices, with SUV and pickup sales plummeting like a fat guy jumping off a bridge, and consumers clamoring ever so loudly for small, fuel-efficient cars.

...​

Our sources at Ford say that Mr. Mulally has already made the decision to convert at least three truck/SUV production facilities in North America as soon as possible to produce Ford models currently sold in Europe, where Ford is renowned for its small cars. The timeline Mulally prefers, according to insiders, is “yesterday”. He has made up his mind and is pushing forward.

Not only that, but the decision has also already been reached to make the new F-100, a smaller, lighter version of the upcoming 2009 F-150 that uses less fuel, at the Michigan Truck Plant in Wayne where they currently produce Ford Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators. Production dates have now been moved up considerably for the F-100. And, the Louisville Assembly Plant which now makes Ford Explorers and Mercury Mountaineers will be converted to a unibody facilty which will produce either the Fusion or the Focus as well as possibly some Focus derivatives.

...​

The retooling to be undertaken is cataclysmic and will cost a lot of money. Obviously this is money that Ford desperately needs to marshal at this point in their turnaround efforts, but Mulally and most of the senior executives now believe that if they don’t spend the money they have on the retooling right now, there will be no company to spend it on later. They are literally betting the rest of the company’s future in the next 12 months. Our sources say there is no more discussion at this point as to whether or not they should do it; the discussion now is simply just how it will be done.

Link to complete article

 

[Silver X]

I wish they would've brought over the Euro Focus last year. I would've bought one instead of my POS G6. Any of their smaller diesel cars would be nice too.

 

[uh60james]

I think the F-100 would be a welcome addition to the Ford Truck lineup. The ranger hasn't changed in forever and you can't get a real second row in it. And some cars with better fuel economy should definitely help for get back some sales from Toyota and Honda. Perhaps they are using the money from the sale of Land Rover and Jaguar to get this rolling.

 

[Bwana Bob]

Yes, and dump the Explorer concept. Retire the Explorer name with dignity, instead of turning it into a CUV. Dump the Taurus X, and give us the Aussie Ford Territory! A crew cab F100 or Ranger would be really nice.

Bob

 

[jad2411]

Come to Mexico and buy a crew cab ranger I think with NAFTA you should be able to import it into the US, the Limited will run you, if I remember correctly, ~US23K, we've had those since 2005 I think

 

[BWilliams]

Come to Mexico and buy a crew cab ranger I think with NAFTA you should be able to import it into the US, the Limited will run you, if I remember correctly, ~US23K, we've had those since 2005 I think

Are the Rangers built for the Mexican market compliant with US emissions and safety standards? I think that would be the sticking point and one which would likely make the vehicle much more costly (conversion to US-spec emissions)

 

[jad2411]

Not sure on that, we have the exact same cars you do, built in the same factories, and we also have emission testing here, not sure how much harsher would the US emission testings be nor do I think that they would build them differently since we can buy replacement parts from the us

Safety? sometimes we hear about some that are not for sale in the US for not passing safety standards, like the Xtrail from Nissan, so I don't think a ranger even 4 door would fail...


BTW it's funny I just ran into Brad Williams like 20 min ago, he's from TX tho' hehe