Ford Prez Mark Fields: "We Have Options for SVT"
I know: you want to know what these options are. Well so do we. 'Cause Ford's jeffe de las Américas Mark Fields faced down the journalistic corps at the Detroit Auto Show and provided our man with no details whatsoever on his employer's plans for the once prolific Special Vehicles Team. In fact, one of those options could be to abandon SVT altogether; it would only be a short hop from the Ford tuning division's current limbo dance. This is especially true now that Ford has re-labeled their twin-turbo "Turbo Force" V6 engine as an "Eco-Boost," and decided to shoehorn the new powerplant into everything they make. So, could those "options" include an Eco-Boost– er, Twin Force V8? Given Ford's current North American market share spiral, and the need to allocate money to building some better mainstream products, I reckon SVT will restrict itself to lucrative suspensions and style mods. As well it might.
[reported by Sajeev Mehta]
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One of those options a scant seven years ago was the Focus SVT - the car we all wanted Ford to build and sell. They built them and offered them for sale. No one bought them. Why are they even considering doing this? They're not even making the Lightning anymore (a good move) and Shelbyland can put premium badges on any Ford product, so what value does SVT possess in growing the business?