No Love From Wall Street

IDoMyOwnStunts wrote:

John & Angela wrote:
It will be interesting to see the amount of R and D money going to electric vehicles from the big three over the next decade. Its one of those technological areas where it is hard to play catchup if they get too far behind. The market for gas cars (not so much trucks or vans etc) will continue to shrink over the next two decades so they want to be sure they have something to offer. One country holland has already moved on not allowing sales of gas or diesel vehicles past 2025 and at least three others are close to setting their own dates. I'm not sure how many vehicles the big three sell in europe but I would suspect within two decades they will need to have a viable line of electrics to compete. It would be interesting to see their long range strategy.

With GM, they are already onto Gen 2 of their Voltec drivetrain and are going to introduce the 200 mile capable Bolt at the end of the year. They've also using that same drivetrain in a Malibu hybrid. They don't need to play catch up. They're already ahead of the game. I wouldn't be surprised to see GM license the platform to other manufacturers who do need to catch up eventually.

Full disclosure: I own a Volt and absolutely love it. It has its share of detractors and there's a lot of misinformation out there, but taken on its own merits as a straight up car, I can honestly say it's the best car I've ever owned.

The volt is a great car. We really enjoyed our test drives when we were in the selection process for an EV. If we needed a long range option we would have gone that route. But for us the vehicle we were replacing had never been more than 100 KM from home. We also wanted a two seat convertible as we live in a sunny climate almost all year. So we got the little smart ED. Very fun car and was just over 20 grand. We only seem to go about 50 KM per day so we tend to charge it up every second day although we have forgotten a few times and gone pretty close to the 150 KM max. That's the nice thing about the volt I guess, no worries. :) I don't know about you but since we have had an EV we hardly drive the other car anymore. I still take it to work but for anything outside of work we always take the EV. We occasionally do a costco run at a neighbouring city and it is way fun with top down and tunes cranked on the highway. From the performance and driving experience it's hard to go back to anything with a tail pipe after you have driven an EV.

We are a couple years from replacing our last oil burner but have our eye on the 2018 gen 2 leaf with 300 KM and fast charge. Can't really see needing that kind of range but it might be handy. If we ever needed to do that long intercity commute like we used to we would be looking seriously at the volt. Very classy car.

FishOnOne wrote:

dodge guy wrote:

ROBERTSUNRUS wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:

fla-gypsy wrote:
Personally a long term investment in Ford and GM seems a safe play. FCA is more risky IMO but could pay huge if managed well.

We know that's not the case.... Sergio is still harassing CEO's about a merger. I just read an article this week about a letter Mark Fields replied to Sergio stating FoMoCo has no interest in a merger. I suppose Mary Bara will be next.... again!

Sergio also displayed his true ignorance when he threw his designers of the Chrysler 200 under the bus because of some design criticism and poor sales of this car. A design that this joker approved. It wasn't more than a month later and Chrysler announced it was laying off workers at the 200 assembly plant. What a shame!

Link

:) Hi, I didn't hear about a Ford merger, but I read where FCA wants Ford to build their Chrysler 200 and the Dodge Dart for them.

The 200 is a nice car, but the market is flooded with proven midsizes so people are not going to try another product when they know an existing one is just as good.
As far as the Dart, that car is everywhere! anytime you look there is one going down the road.

I disagree.... I rarely see a Dart and for being a new car it already needs a refresh. Now when the dodge Neon was introduced I seen a lot of those on the road.

It seams the vehicles in the dodge line up that came to market under Sergio's control has been of marginal success at best with the 200 in the failure category.

I can't recall seeing more than one or two Darts around here. I have heard that it is alreay slated to be discontinued soon. From what I have heard it is a good car but it is in a market full of good cars for less money. To succeed in that market you have to have a great car at a great price. I don't believe that the Dart has either. Then again, maybe it is that the dealer in my area also seels Ford and doesn't seem to push Dodge products very hard. A good dealer can make a world of difference and I have always found Dodge dealers in my area to be lacking. I used to drive Chrysler products and their dealers were one of the main reasons I switched.

John & Angela wrote:
It will be interesting to see the amount of R and D money going to electric vehicles from the big three over the next decade. Its one of those technological areas where it is hard to play catchup if they get too far behind. The market for gas cars (not so much trucks or vans etc) will continue to shrink over the next two decades so they want to be sure they have something to offer. One country holland has already moved on not allowing sales of gas or diesel vehicles past 2025 and at least three others are close to setting their own dates. I'm not sure how many vehicles the big three sell in europe but I would suspect within two decades they will need to have a viable line of electrics to compete. It would be interesting to see their long range strategy.

With GM, they are already onto Gen 2 of their Voltec drivetrain and are going to introduce the 200 mile capable Bolt at the end of the year. They've also using that same drivetrain in a Malibu hybrid. They don't need to play catch up. They're already ahead of the game. I wouldn't be surprised to see GM license the platform to other manufacturers who do need to catch up eventually.

Full disclosure: I own a Volt and absolutely love it. It has its share of detractors and there's a lot of misinformation out there, but taken on its own merits as a straight up car, I can honestly say it's the best car I've ever owned.

I had some Ford stock but sold it shortly after the union shut down a truck factory to re-negotiate a contract. I came to the conclusion that even if Ford made a lot of money the union would do their best to keep me from getting my hands on it so the stock has zero potential for any major increases. They are paying a pretty good dividend if that appeals to you. Probably a better investment than a CD at a bank.

It will be interesting to see the amount of R and D money going to electric vehicles from the big three over the next decade. Its one of those technological areas where it is hard to play catchup if they get too far behind. The market for gas cars (not so much trucks or vans etc) will continue to shrink over the next two decades so they want to be sure they have something to offer. One country holland has already moved on not allowing sales of gas or diesel vehicles past 2025 and at least three others are close to setting their own dates. I'm not sure how many vehicles the big three sell in europe but I would suspect within two decades they will need to have a viable line of electrics to compete. It would be interesting to see their long range strategy.

mich800 wrote:


I know some of this has been posted but the Ford earnings were just announced. The Wall Street love is just as tepid for all three despite their gains. All of their stock prices are lower then their 2014 highs.

Yeah, but whisper TESLA in those 'analysts' ears and watch what happens! :B

Good to see the Big Three on firmer footing than they were 7 years ago.

dodge guy wrote:

ROBERTSUNRUS wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:

fla-gypsy wrote:
Personally a long term investment in Ford and GM seems a safe play. FCA is more risky IMO but could pay huge if managed well.

We know that's not the case.... Sergio is still harassing CEO's about a merger. I just read an article this week about a letter Mark Fields replied to Sergio stating FoMoCo has no interest in a merger. I suppose Mary Bara will be next.... again!

Sergio also displayed his true ignorance when he threw his designers of the Chrysler 200 under the bus because of some design criticism and poor sales of this car. A design that this joker approved. It wasn't more than a month later and Chrysler announced it was laying off workers at the 200 assembly plant. What a shame!

Link

:) Hi, I didn't hear about a Ford merger, but I read where FCA wants Ford to build their Chrysler 200 and the Dodge Dart for them.

The 200 is a nice car, but the market is flooded with proven midsizes so people are not going to try another product when they know an existing one is just as good.
As far as the Dart, that car is everywhere! anytime you look there is one going down the road.

I disagree.... I rarely see a Dart and for being a new car it already needs a refresh. Now when the dodge Neon was introduced I seen a lot of those on the road.

It seams the vehicles in the dodge line up that came to market under Sergio's control has been of marginal success at best with the 200 in the failure category.

ROBERTSUNRUS wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:

fla-gypsy wrote:
Personally a long term investment in Ford and GM seems a safe play. FCA is more risky IMO but could pay huge if managed well.

We know that's not the case.... Sergio is still harassing CEO's about a merger. I just read an article this week about a letter Mark Fields replied to Sergio stating FoMoCo has no interest in a merger. I suppose Mary Bara will be next.... again!

Sergio also displayed his true ignorance when he threw his designers of the Chrysler 200 under the bus because of some design criticism and poor sales of this car. A design that this joker approved. It wasn't more than a month later and Chrysler announced it was laying off workers at the 200 assembly plant. What a shame!

Link

:) Hi, I didn't hear about a Ford merger, but I read where FCA wants Ford to build their Chrysler 200 and the Dodge Dart for them.

The 200 is a nice car, but the market is flooded with proven midsizes so people are not going to try another product when they know an existing one is just as good.
As far as the Dart, that car is everywhere! anytime you look there is one going down the road.

FishOnOne wrote:

fla-gypsy wrote:
Personally a long term investment in Ford and GM seems a safe play. FCA is more risky IMO but could pay huge if managed well.

We know that's not the case.... Sergio is still harassing CEO's about a merger. I just read an article this week about a letter Mark Fields replied to Sergio stating FoMoCo has no interest in a merger. I suppose Mary Bara will be next.... again!

Sergio also displayed his true ignorance when he threw his designers of the Chrysler 200 under the bus because of some design criticism and poor sales of this car. A design that this joker approved. It wasn't more than a month later and Chrysler announced it was laying off workers at the 200 assembly plant. What a shame!

Link

:) Hi, I didn't hear about a Ford merger, but I read where FCA wants Ford to build their Chrysler 200 and the Dodge Dart for them.

fla-gypsy wrote:
Personally a long term investment in Ford and GM seems a safe play. FCA is more risky IMO but could pay huge if managed well.

We know that's not the case.... Sergio is still harassing CEO's about a merger. I just read an article this week about a letter Mark Fields replied to Sergio stating FoMoCo has no interest in a merger. I suppose Mary Bara will be next.... again!

Sergio also displayed his true ignorance when he threw his designers of the Chrysler 200 under the bus because of some design criticism and poor sales of this car. A design that this joker approved. It wasn't more than a month later and Chrysler announced it was laying off workers at the 200 assembly plant. What a shame!

Link