They pulled back out of the EU and other markets like South America and BYD opened up an assembly plant in Brazil.
Turn back the clock and Ford ruled the EU with saloons like the Escort, Mondeo and later the Focus - they were caught unawares with shift to compact SUV's and had the popular Ecosport but never invested in the product line and it was left to wither and die.
They are teaming up with Renault to use their EV platform to
maintain a token presence in the EU but consumers today are smarter and more informed and will not buy badge engineered Fords.
The formula is so simple, but complicated to achieve underneath: sell the best products.
That’s all you have to do. But so many companies resort to financial games and short term business gimmicks rather than believing that they can make the best products and putting focus and drive into that goal (not just money!)
Stellantis can make great products but for the most part they just won’t. They actively refuse to. Same deal with Ford.
GM is doing well with EVs because they actually make good products. The Silverado EV is the best EV truck on the market, Cadillac makes the best luxury EVs on the market[1], and the Honda Prologue (made by GM) is a sales star because it’s a good product that knows its market. Even the Chevy Trax is a great product because of the sheer impossibility of its value proposition: nobody can compete with the amount of things that vehicle gives you for the price.
Ford half-assed their sedans and bowed out of that market and now their supposed focus on SUVs is not good enough because none of their SUVs, gas or electric or hybrid, give you any reason to buy them. They are half-assing all their vehicles until they reach their inevitable demise.
Why is anyone buying an Expedition over a Telluride, Grand Highlander, or Chevy Suburban derivative?
Why is anyone buying an Explorer over a RAV4, CRV, etc.
The only thing Ford makes that’s any good is the F-150, Maverick, Bronco and Mustang (very niche). This means they have basically zero cars to sell outside the US.
[1] Yes, better than Tesla and Lucid: more luxurious and isolated with better interior materials, fewer reliability problems, better ergonomics and physical controls, stronger dealer and service network.
RAV4 and other Toyotas have insanely good residuals that make up for any upfront price difference, and you don’t look like a cop all the time when you drive around town.
The Explorer is incredibly dated at 5 years since the last refresh with the RAV4 getting a refresh/redesign this year. Every reviewer I’ve seen knocks the Explorer for lack of interior refinement.
No need for a CVT when you can get a Mazda CX-90 with a real transmission. But I’d also take a Grand Highlander over an Explorer any day.
Predicted reliability of Ford vehicles is a joke compared to Toyota. You’d actually get a more reliable car with a BMW, it’s embarrassing. If you don’t believe me pay attention and count how many 1st generation Ford Fusions are on the road versus second generation Toyota Priuses. The Prius is bulletproof. The Fords are in junkyards.
edit: Oh, crap, I mixed up the Explorer/Escape because the Escape is the Rav4/CRV competitor. I think the Escape is underrated. Not particularly familiar with the Explorer.
eCVT and CVT aren't mechanically similar. Personally, I'd only consider cars with manual/eCVT/EV transmissions.
> RAV4 and other Toyotas have insanely good residuals that make up for any upfront price difference
Yeah, that's a consideration if you frequently flip your cars, I kinda forget about that because me and most of the people I know keep their cars long-term. e.g. I just got rid of a 2011 Fiesta - there isn't enough residual value maintenance savings in a 2011 Yaris for me to have ever come out ahead with one of those.
Unfortunately by correcting your misremembering, I’m even less convinced. The Escape is even further down the ladder in its crowded and competitive class of vehicle.
The Escape isn’t underrated it’s just rated properly.
There’s like 6 or so cars that rank above it for various reasons: CRV, RAV4, Sportage, CX-5/CX-50, Forester.
Even Mitsubishi put out a better vehicle than Ford with the Outlander if we go by Car and Driver’s scores.
I’m sure you can get one with some sick discounts but Ford also has company there with Nissan, Mitsubishi, Chevrolet, and I’ve even heard Mazda runs strong discounts depending on the dealer.
The CRV/Rav4/CX-50/Forester are all nice too, but local CAD website listed prices for the base hybrid trims are respectively $49k/$40k (with an 8 month wait time, or $56k for the plug-in)/$46k (but unavailable due to tariffs and being built in the US)/$51k (but effectively unobtainable).
Meanwhile I can go buy a plug-in hybrid Escape tomorrow with effectively the same 2.5L/eCVT powertrain as Toyota/Subaru for $44k. (Assuming no discounts and that I’m in a province with no PHEV rebates.) So yeah, you might like a CRV better for an extra $5k, or you might have 8 months to wait for a Rav4 and not care about the plug-in, but the field of available options at the price isn’t that crowded.
Price of Chinese PV panels and inverters and batteries have dropped so much and there has been financing schemes available where you get the installation for free and pay per usage cheaper than what the utility company charges and it is more realiable.
Payback - I never factored that in or even thought about that.
I was more concerned about having reliable power and reducing my electricity bill.
The daily 2-hour power cuts were getting out of hand, and I was running my business from my home office, so the tax incentives helped slightly.
The grid is more stable now as new power units became available but a big chunk of middle-class consumers using solar are using way less power now, so the local town councils are having problems balancing their books (town councils re-sells electricity from the national operator).
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