Ford Abandons Another Market

[cosworth151]

In another WTF move, Ford has announced that it is going to abandon yet another market segment that it has totally dominated for decades.

First, Ford walked away from the police, taxi and livery markets that it has dominated for decades when it discontinued the Ford Crown Victoria/Lincoln Town Car. Now, Ford has announced that it will discontinue the E-Series (Econoline) van in 2013. 60% of all vans sold in the U.S. last year were Ford E-Series.

Ford will attempt to sell a version of the Transit van that will be built in Kansas City. It will be called the T-Series. The top engine choice will be a tiny turbo diesel instead of the current, absolutely wonderful 415 c.i.d. s.o.h.c. V-10.

Dodge tried a similar move a few years ago when it marketed a re-badged Mercedes Sprinter. It knocked Dodge completely out of the van market. Most Dodge dealers refused to even carry it. Mercedes & Frieghtliner have both also tried to sell the Sprinter over here.

I've put many, many miles on every generation of Econoline. I started with a 1967, with a beam front axle and a Falcon 6. My current E has a Police Interceptor drivetrain. I've got nearly 300,000 miles on it.

[John S]

Ford has been developing the next generation of Transit (T series) vans at Dearborn for some time, not only as a repacement for the E series but as a global van platform to replace the European Transit van model as well.

With Fiat now controlling Chrysler, and I guess Dodge, you'll be seeing Iveco turbo oil burners in place of Sprinters in the Dodge range in future.

Days of the mass market big engine gas guzzlers now seems numbered.  

 



 

[Jericoke]

It's part of Mullaly's strategy:  they've stopped selling vehicles that don't make money.

The margin on police cars was tiny, and the low value of the US dollar made it impossible to continue paying CAW (Canadian Auto Workers) wages to make them.  There's a big brouhaha that Ford is trying to get London (Ontario - the city where all the laid off Crown Vic employees live) to buy the new Taurus Interceptor.

It would be the same thing with the E-Series.  Mostly low margin fleet sales, or bare bones work models.

Both the Panthers and the E-Series are old, and probably need work to be brought up to current CAFE and safety standards.  They couldn't find someone who would justify the cost/future profit ratio.

The biggest change in the car industry in the last 20 years is the internet.  Brand Loyalty is gone.  It used to be that a police officer spending all day in a Ford would think it's a good idea to buy one for the family.  Now, that officer does the research, sees which cars meet his needs and his budget, and buys the best car he can.  You can't begrudge people doing that, but it means that the reasons for selling cars at a loss have evaporated.

What I personally think Ford should have done with the Crown Vic was sell the plant/designs to someone else.  Ford might not be able to justify cranking out police cars at a loss, but CHP was their largest customer:   surely if they built their own cars, and sold to other police forces, they'd solve their own budget problems. 

Perhaps Penske could buy out the E-Series and have a plentiful fleet of rental vans to go with those Smart cars.  (You could sell them as a pair, use your E-Series as a garage for your smart car...)

[cosworth151]

I was hoping that Mullaly would leave before he could do any more damage. The last time I checked, making a little money was better than making no money at all.

The Panther replacement, the Mustang-based Interceptor, was ready to go. Failing that, they could have just brought up the Aussie Falcon. GM just did that with Holden for the new Caprice.

I'd also disagree about brand loyalty. I would never have bought anything new but a Ford. Now, I guess I'll have to go to a GMC Savana at some point. In the 28 years I've known him, my boss has always has Ford Rangers. I have many friends that would never even consider anything other than their favorite brand of vehicle. Several even have Ford or Chevy tattoos!

[Jericoke]

I was hoping that Mullaly would leave before he could do any more damage. The last time I checked, making a little money was better than making no money at all.

The Panther replacement, the Mustang-based Interceptor, was ready to go. Failing that, they could have just brought up the Aussie Falcon. GM just did that with Holden for the new Caprice.

I'd also disagree about brand loyalty. I would never have bought anything new but a Ford. Now, I guess I'll have to go to a GMC Savana at some point. In the 28 years I've known him, my boss has always has Ford Rangers. I have many friends that would never even consider anything other than their favorite brand of vehicle. Several even have Ford or Chevy tattoos!

Don't get me wrong, the only cars I've ever had without the Blue Oval had the Mercury Waterfall.  (My mom had a Merkur XR4Ti that she sold before I learned to drive too.  Missed opportunity of my life!)

Certainly Apple has proven that brand loyalty is still a possibility in the modern age.  There's still room for it in the automotive world, but I think it will be limited to premium brands (Ferrari).  Are you willing to pay a premium price for an E-Series?

[cosworth151]

That's pretty much what I did to have mine special ordered with the P.I. spec drive train. What other choice do I have? Carry all of my work gear around on my back? I've driven Sprinters. They're beyond horrible. Zero performance. Zero handling. Several of our people here at the office can't even drive them because they aren't available with automatics. Something else that the Transit shares with the Sprinter.

The point is, the Sprinter has proven that the Eurovan concept is totally unsuited to the American market. They can hardly give them away. So why is Ford dumping a vehicle that dominates it's field for a copy of something that is a drag on the market?

[Dare]

I drove a 4 cylinder automatic van for a holiday job I do.Saying it
was sluggish is a understatement.The engine sounded like it was
going to come apart.

[Scott]

My Mom used to say I drove like a taxi driver (full throttle only broken up by hard stomping on the brakes).  Those litte four bangers can't take that kind of driving...maybe you do to Dare?   

[John S]

Obviously you've all never come across the notorious 'White Van men' of Essex, - oh there's also quite a few in other parts of Britain. 

You would not be referring to Transits or other European panel vans as being sluggish after seeing dozens & dozens of the aforementioned White Van men storming past you every which way all the time. 

[cosworth151]

122 c.i.d. 4 popper vs. 415 c.i.d. V10. No question which one is better suited to the job. Even my little 281 c.i.d. P.I. V8 will cruise all day on the back side of 100 mph. The V-10 we have in the van down at AMVETS is wonderful!

The good new is that Ford has been back peddling like crazy in light of a firestorm of anger at the announcement. Now they said that they will keep the chassis-cab versions. Hopefully, sanity will prevail and the full E-series will continue.