If you think it’s ridiculous that Ford Motor Company can’t find a way to offer the Aussie Ford line to the American market, then take a look at this. A recent article from BusinessWeek.com showcases the Ford ECOnetic, an attractive and modern subcompact that gets 65 MPG on diesel. According to Businessweek, Ford America President Mark Fields, understands the ECOnetic is an “awesome vehicle” yet claims there are “business reasons” why it can’t be sold in the United States. In the meantime, here are three of five headlines from the “Latest News” section from the official Ford Media website…
•F-SERIES ADDS HARLEY-DAVIDSON AND CABELA’S EDITION PICKUPS
•NEW 2009 FORD F-150: MOST PICKUP FOR THE MONEY
•2009 FORD F-150 UNSURPASSED IN FUEL ECONOMY, CAPABILITY
What’s the problem here? It would be interesting the hear what the “business reasons” are for developing and promoting the F-150 line in this economy.
Read the original story on the ECOnetic at BusinessWeek.com
On the F150 subject its very obvious that they dont want the desiel Fiesta to overshadow thier baby. Yah thats reall nice that they are finaly getting some fuel economy into the big truck. They should never let it go as far as being a Ford Icon, but lets face it F150s are a thing of the past for “grocery getting” and especially being bought just for that purpouse.
By 71hotrodpinto. September 30th, 2008 at 10:15 pmAgain Ford is showing that they are learning NOTHING these days.
Ok Ford this is going to be your undoing.
Oh wahhh we cant compete with the Prius on price. Bla bla bla. What a crock of s…
I just checked out the local dealers in my area and either they don’t have them in stock or they are on a “call for price” basis. That means that they are going for MUCH more than the ridiculous base price of 22,000.
ON that note, SO WHAT that the price would be around 26,000. If i was in the market for a new car i MIGHT just go for the mileage factor on that new diesel Fiesta because;
a. Its a Ford
b. I would use 3 times LESS gas then i use now!!!!
c. I really like the look.
Last time i looked diesel fuel wasn’t 3 times more per gallon.
But why should i bother with the gas hog ( comparatively)
gas powered Fiesta???
SO if you would get rid of the people that are making STUPID decisions like this one (not to sell that car/engine combo) here then HAYYY maybe just maybe you might weather the storm and stop loosing Billions a year here!!
Ford, You are your own worst Enemy right now.
By 71hotrodpinto. September 30th, 2008 at 10:07 pmForget what I said. The average person here can’t be bothered to come together to put food on their tables, fuel in their tanks, and heat their homes in the winter.. if the response on this site is any indicator.
I guess the new American value is laziness. Well, Ford, I guess you’re screwed now. We can’t be bothered as a country to come together and do what needs to be done to fix things.. so there soon won’t be a market for anything you make. We’ll all be broke and homeless.
We’d rather sit around and blame each other, because it’s easier to point fingers than to man up and take responsibility and do something about it. But hey, I hope your beers taste better with tears shed over your ruined retirements. USA! USA! USA!
By Ben. September 30th, 2008 at 5:34 amThe problem is a big one for Ford and all of us. The US dollar is becoming hardly worth the paper it is printed on. As more countries realize this cold ,hard fact the value of our dollars becomes less. The diesel for this car is built in Europe and priced in Euro’s. With the hostility too diesel from states like California it is difficult for any company to decide to build diesels here in the USA. The push in this country is too electric, or hydrogen and that’s that. A shame too as we just finished testing a 1.6l version of the same engine for the eqivalent of 180k miles and it held up beautifully. No oil changes and only 2 oil filter changes. Plus it is quiet. I am sold but enviromentalists are not. In Europe the decision has been made that diesel offers a real solution until the other technologies are developed.
By ranchero67. September 29th, 2008 at 4:55 amIn Europe we can choose from a big aray of small, economical diesel cars: Citroen, Fiat, Ford, Opel, Peugeot, Volkswagen because high gas prices have a long history.
By vaniac. September 28th, 2008 at 10:44 amThere’s a discussion on the 65 MPG car in the Garage section of the forum. It’s a shame they “can’t” bring it here. Wonder if they’d change their tune if a small chunk of $700 billion went their way instead, and if the rest went toward building algae biodiesel installations for every community (or at least several in each state according to need) in America.. installations that can far outyield current biodiesel crops. (perhaps 100x current yields per acre and much more) People are already growing it in their backyards, and it’s starting to get noticed as an option for communities.
If every community could grow its own algae biodiesel, we wouldn’t need foreign oil any longer. The majority of basic commuter vehicles could eventually move to new and improved diesels like this car, and what gasoline engines are left (such as our beloved older cars) could easily be supplied by gasoline made from what crude oil this country is already capable of pumping.
By Ben. September 28th, 2008 at 7:14 am