X2


I very much agree!

Fords SOL, they have no car thats decent other than the Mustang.

GM is starting to come out with some nice new cars! The new Malibu is a decent car, they should have renamed it. The old Malibu was a POS, but the new one at least after I sat in it seems as nice as the new Accord and Camry. Its priced well and should compete very well against them.

Since I intend to drive German cars (except VW, gah) until I die I really don't care, I'll never buy one.

Wrong. There is one still left.
 

Not true.

If you are "mature", the tried and true, cast iron V8, rwd, almost 20 year old design, comfortable, roomy, fairly safe and VERY economical Mercury Grand Marquis, simply can't be beat, if you put it to its full use.

A very savvy shopper could get a new one, a GS, with Airbag and ABS and plenty of modern updates, for $18,000.

About 100,000 savvy shoppers did just that, last year. Laugh if you will, but it was Mercury's best selling car, and they did not need to advertise it at all.

A lightly used one year old rental or lease return with the balance of factory warranty could be in your driveway for $15,000 or less. Very possibly a loaded LX with leather and all options.

There is simply no beating that. These are the reliable ones, that the Police and Taxi companies use. They last a LONG time and are dirt cheap to buy, run and maintain.

And thats the reason Ford is sucking wind, because no one under 60 is buying those other then the government.

100,000 is nothing, its not a growth market.

I can't remember who, but I recently heard an automotive industry pundit remark that "the average age today's Lincoln buyer is 'deceased'".

LMAO!!!!!

That's not too far from the truth.

To answer the question in a word, "NO". Perhaps it is better for them to go out of business and let someone come in with a fresh start.

Fusion. It's more than decent.

MBUSA Achieves All-Time Sales Record with Sales of 248,080 for 2006

http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2007/01/03/032870.html

MBUSA is therefore 2.5 times nothing...

YMMV

See post #12 for my info.

Anybody else going to join in?

Who buys the Ford Crown Victoria/Mercury Grand Marquis?
 

Dynalow, Jlomon and Hatteras guy, you guys are FULL of it. That is all a bunch of BS.

I bought my first one when I was right around 40, and owned two of them,
and I had to listen to that crap from everyone around, younger guys like you,
girls, too (wife!) and everybody laughing at me for owning a geezer car.

The 100,000 per year figure for the Grand Marquis/Crown Victoria was for PRIVATE sales, too NOT just goverment, fleet, rental police and taxi.

They sold a LOT of them to savvy private buyers. With age comes wisdom.

I agree the Crown Vic ain't bad, but let's face it. It's not for everybody. The fact that people rode you hard when you bought one at 40 (not exactly young) speaks volumes. To this day, when I see a Crown Vic or similar vehicle, I think it is being driven either by a Cop or a retiree.

Please don't take this post personally, it's just my $.02.

Back ON topic... :rolleyes: do you think that full sized, rear-drive, V8 powered vehicles with bench seats and column-shift automatics are a growth segment? A market on which Ford can build its future?

No way, Jose. I won't argue that these cars are good - for someone who wants a car like a refrigerator. It's an appliance - inexpensive and reliable - but that's it.

Since when do you compare the sales volume of high end niche companies to, companies that mass produce?

IMHO thats to many for MB, they would be better off cutting that in half and raising prices.

Yeah they are OK, I have seen them. But they cost as much as real car like the Accord so why bother. Resale sucks as well.