Ford increasing SUV production

Obviously Ford has to still meet cafe standards, but maybe all their Eco mileage’s are allowingthem to build more big vehicles.

John & Angela wrote:

Lessmore wrote:

falconbrother wrote:
I'm sure they have measured their web activity, showroom sales and determined that this is what's going to sell given the probable future. When gasoline is plentiful and the economy is strong bigger vehicles sell better, always have. To be honest I prefer a big SUV over a tiny little car. It's more comfortable for a full grown adult. When mom was dying I drove back and forth to Tennessee, sometimes twice a week, in a Honda CRV (the toad). It was miserable. Then I drove my uncle's F-150 and it was SO much more comfortable, huge difference. The CRV seats were built for small people and cut me halfway up my thigh. The F-150 and my Suburban have full sized seats and elbow room. So, when it's feasible a whole lot of people will want the bigger vehicles.

I'm not one of those people who check gas mileage. I just know how often I get gas and how much I'm paying. The 5 liter V-8 isn't having the financial impact that I expected. It actually does pretty well. I guess they tune them pretty lean. The CRV got around 20 - 22 around town and some interstate. The Suburban seems to get in the high teens in mixed driving.

So, Ford is making a good call I'd say. They build excellent trucks and SUVs.

There's a good point. I'm on the bigger side...6' 3.5 "...245 lbs. with long legs and a bad hockey knee...from too many years playing defense when I was a kid. ;)

I've tried to get in many small and mid sized SUV's and sedans...they're too small. My shoulder hit the window post, head hits the roof if the vehicle is equipped with a sunroof...can't stretch out my legs, etc.

My wife has difficulty getting into higher vehicles...so that lets out trucks. Big sedans , like a Chevy Impala , Buick LaCrosse or Ford Taurus are about the only things that work for the two of us.

Unfortunately the way things are going, I can see big sedans are next on the manufacture's chopping block.

Big sedans don't seem to appeal anymore which I think is because many consumers don't consider them. They might be pleasantly surprised how good large sedans are, if they did check them out.

I recall when we bought our 6 passenger Buick sedan new, back in '07...some of my co-workers were aghast that I would buy such a 'huge' vehicle. I was questioned by some about why did I need almost 4 liters of engine, wasn't I being irresponsible to the planet ...didn't I care about my carbon footprint...etc.

I tried to tell them that I could transport 6 people in one car, got excellent MPG at constant cruise on the highway...not too much worse than a 4 cylinder econo car. I tried to tell them that I could fit comfortably in the big Buick, when I couldn't in a small car. Didn't matter, it seemed.

Well they didn't take my word for it. They had no current experience with a large sedan and they would rather believe current 'green' stereotypes about the alleged foibles of the large sedan, without finding out for themselves.

There ! I feel better after my rant. :B

Meh. I don't know. 7 passengers and two trunks. And its quick. :)

I knew it...the carbon footprint comment triggered you to respond.;)

But I'm curious, always have been.

My question...how would a Tesla battery do in a very cold climate say the northern Canadian prairies. Periods of 30 to 40 below during the long winter are not uncommon in this area.

Extreme cold seems to affect my variety of batteries.

Would the Tesla range and general functioning be unchanged an EV operating in the mild, southern coast of beautiful B.C. ?

Inquiring minds need to know.

Les

Lessmore wrote:

falconbrother wrote:
I'm sure they have measured their web activity, showroom sales and determined that this is what's going to sell given the probable future. When gasoline is plentiful and the economy is strong bigger vehicles sell better, always have. To be honest I prefer a big SUV over a tiny little car. It's more comfortable for a full grown adult. When mom was dying I drove back and forth to Tennessee, sometimes twice a week, in a Honda CRV (the toad). It was miserable. Then I drove my uncle's F-150 and it was SO much more comfortable, huge difference. The CRV seats were built for small people and cut me halfway up my thigh. The F-150 and my Suburban have full sized seats and elbow room. So, when it's feasible a whole lot of people will want the bigger vehicles.

I'm not one of those people who check gas mileage. I just know how often I get gas and how much I'm paying. The 5 liter V-8 isn't having the financial impact that I expected. It actually does pretty well. I guess they tune them pretty lean. The CRV got around 20 - 22 around town and some interstate. The Suburban seems to get in the high teens in mixed driving.

So, Ford is making a good call I'd say. They build excellent trucks and SUVs.

There's a good point. I'm on the bigger side...6' 3.5 "...245 lbs. with long legs and a bad hockey knee...from too many years playing defense when I was a kid. ;)

I've tried to get in many small and mid sized SUV's and sedans...they're too small. My shoulder hit the window post, head hits the roof if the vehicle is equipped with a sunroof...can't stretch out my legs, etc.

My wife has difficulty getting into higher vehicles...so that lets out trucks. Big sedans , like a Chevy Impala , Buick LaCrosse or Ford Taurus are about the only things that work for the two of us.

Unfortunately the way things are going, I can see big sedans are next on the manufacture's chopping block.

Big sedans don't seem to appeal anymore which I think is because many consumers don't consider them. They might be pleasantly surprised how good large sedans are, if they did check them out.

I recall when we bought our 6 passenger Buick sedan new, back in '07...some of my co-workers were aghast that I would buy such a 'huge' vehicle. I was questioned by some about why did I need almost 4 liters of engine, wasn't I being irresponsible to the planet ...didn't I care about my carbon footprint...etc.

I tried to tell them that I could transport 6 people in one car, got excellent MPG at constant cruise on the highway...not too much worse than a 4 cylinder econo car. I tried to tell them that I could fit comfortably in the big Buick, when I couldn't in a small car. Didn't matter, it seemed.

Well they didn't take my word for it. They had no current experience with a large sedan and they would rather believe current 'green' stereotypes about the alleged foibles of the large sedan, without finding out for themselves.

There ! I feel better after my rant. :B

Meh. I don't know. 7 passengers and two trunks. And its quick. :)

falconbrother wrote:
I'm sure they have measured their web activity, showroom sales and determined that this is what's going to sell given the probable future. When gasoline is plentiful and the economy is strong bigger vehicles sell better, always have. To be honest I prefer a big SUV over a tiny little car. It's more comfortable for a full grown adult. When mom was dying I drove back and forth to Tennessee, sometimes twice a week, in a Honda CRV (the toad). It was miserable. Then I drove my uncle's F-150 and it was SO much more comfortable, huge difference. The CRV seats were built for small people and cut me halfway up my thigh. The F-150 and my Suburban have full sized seats and elbow room. So, when it's feasible a whole lot of people will want the bigger vehicles.

I'm not one of those people who check gas mileage. I just know how often I get gas and how much I'm paying. The 5 liter V-8 isn't having the financial impact that I expected. It actually does pretty well. I guess they tune them pretty lean. The CRV got around 20 - 22 around town and some interstate. The Suburban seems to get in the high teens in mixed driving.

So, Ford is making a good call I'd say. They build excellent trucks and SUVs.

There's a good point. I'm on the bigger side...6' 3.5 "...245 lbs. with long legs and a bad hockey knee...from too many years playing defense when I was a kid. ;)

I've tried to get in many small and mid sized SUV's and sedans...they're too small. My shoulder hit the window post, head hits the roof if the vehicle is equipped with a sunroof...can't stretch out my legs, etc.

My wife has difficulty getting into higher vehicles...so that lets out trucks. Big sedans , like a Chevy Impala , Buick LaCrosse or Ford Taurus are about the only things that work for the two of us.

Unfortunately the way things are going, I can see big sedans are next on the manufacture's chopping block.

Big sedans don't seem to appeal anymore which I think is because many consumers don't consider them. They might be pleasantly surprised how good large sedans are, if they did check them out.

I recall when we bought our 6 passenger Buick sedan new, back in '07...some of my co-workers were aghast that I would buy such a 'huge' vehicle. I was questioned by some about why did I need almost 4 liters of engine, wasn't I being irresponsible to the planet ...didn't I care about my carbon footprint...etc.

I tried to tell them that I could transport 6 people in one car, got excellent MPG at constant cruise on the highway...not too much worse than a 4 cylinder econo car. I tried to tell them that I could fit comfortably in the big Buick, when I couldn't in a small car. Didn't matter, it seemed.

Well they didn't take my word for it. They had no current experience with a large sedan and they would rather believe current 'green' stereotypes about the alleged foibles of the large sedan, without finding out for themselves.

There ! I feel better after my rant. :B

duplicate

Exactly, the average ofthe vehicles a manufacturer produces has to meet the CAFE standard. So ,,,
f-150 = 22 mpg
focus = 46 mpg
average of 34.
During the last administration the EPA was given a very free hand and mandated that by 2025 that average had to reach 54.5.
The manufacturers are willing to lose a little money on tiny vehicles to get the extra space for high profit models with lower fuel economy, so the trucks were effectively subsidizing the small cars.
If those requirement are relaxed, truck prices may drop.

PopBeavers wrote:
We bought a Ford Edge recently.

DW has fake knees. The distance from the ground to the seat bottom is critical to her getting in or out.

Cars are too low. Knees are above hips when trying to get out.

Trucks are too high. Easy to slide out but difficult to climb into.

SUVs are just right.

I would prefer a 4 door sedan, but can not justify jacking it up higher just to be usable.

They are trying to sell it as a replacement for the Ford Territory in Australia. Ford is late, too the party ( sound familar) and the Japanese, Koreans and Europeans have taken that slot.

I don't know if this is the same type of program or not but can't the low numbers be offset by alternative fuel vehicles like EV's etc? Eg, one vehicle gets equivalent of 115 which offsets one getting 15 etc. Not sure if I am thinking of carbon credits as opposed to CAFE.

cafe

old but still true ,54.5 is closer to 36mpg ,and it is still part of a average + semantics galore
proly why the industry collectively yawned when announced

kerrlakeRoo wrote:
I understand that automakers are trying to build what the public wants, but the CAFE standards, set by the prior administration were set to force (or try to) an automotive manufacturers average fuel economy on cars and light trucks to reach 54.5 mpg by 2025.
Since the measurement is on "average" mileage of vehicles sold, manufacturers pushed to sell crackerboxes with the highest mileage possible, in order to be able to build more cars in larger sizes with higher profit levels. I'm guessing Ford is anticipating a relaxing of the 54.5 mpg level currently required by 2025, to something more attainable with larger vehicles.
If so, the cost of your next truck may go down since it wont be subsidizing the 3 cyl crackerboxes anymore.

I dont think 54.5 actually means that is what the vehicle has to get.

checking