Ford Execs Talk Financials, Future and Flex
Buried in a CTVnews.ca story about the upcoming launches of the Ford Flex and the 2009 F-150: Ford's view of the future. Reporter Jeremy Cato spent some QT with Ford execs (including FoMoCo CEO Big Al Mullaly himself) to find out if there's a future in their Ford. Once again, Ford's top brass tout their forthcoming product revamps to predict a return to operationally profitability by the last financial quarter. In that vein, Ford intends to release models that will be "polarizing" for most consumers. Huh? "That's is exactly what we want," proclaims the Flex's design chief. By the end of the article, Cato remains unconvinced that the Flex will be relevant. (Not everyone can– or should– be Chris Bangle.) Cato declares that all Ford's marketing-speak, brand sell-off and quality initiatives are essentially Big Al's push to turn Ford into Toyota. You know: one global brand, a solid reputation for quality and billions in profits posted like clockwork every quarter. Yeah. that one. Meanwhile, The Blue Oval Boyz concede a porno style loss for the fiscal year. Yes, "it will be a big one."
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The only thing polarizing to me is the name. I thought AM learned his lesson with the 500/Taurus names. This should be a Fairlane. Flex is absolutely stupid. I'll consider purchasing when they change the name in a year and a half.
crc....could not agree more. As previously suggested...at least offer the Country Squire version
I feel sorry for theTaurus X as I feel with the new changes, it actually is a very fine vehicle. If only Ford had let people know about it. The Flex and the X cannot occupy the same showroom floors without hurting each other. To bad...I like them both. And yes, even the Flex look...but I also loved the old Intl. Harvester looks. Having sat in both along with the competion crossovers...these seem sooo much larger. Very nice. If only they had diesel.