The COVID-19 pandemic has basically brought most of the world to halt. Orders to stay at home, businesses either having workers to their work from home or closing down, and unemployment skyrocketing is causing the economy to crater. There are efforts to try and jump-start the economy such as $1,200 stimulus checks. But an executive at Ford wants to see a return of a "cash for clunkers" like program.
“We think some level of stimulus somewhere on the other side of this would help not only the auto industry and our dealers, which are a huge part of our overall economy, but will help the customers as well,” said Mark LaNeve, Ford’s vice president of U.S. marketing, sales and service to Bloomberg.
“Cash for clunkers was very effective at that time. It would be nice to think we could have something equally as effective for 2020 when we get out of this because it was a great program.”
According to LaNeve, internal discussions are taking place at Ford about doing a similar program and there are plans to bring the Government in to these talks.
When asked by Automotive News about this, Ford spokeswoman Rachel McCleery said, "The auto industry is America’s economic engine.We are encouraging Congress to look at a variety of ways to drive job creation, increase demand, support customers and provide long-term stability for the entire auto ecosystem."
A brief refresher on the Cash for Clunkers program. In 2009, the U.S. Government introduced a billion initiative called the Car Allowance Rebate System, which gave a voucher worth between $2,900 and $4,500 to anyone replacing a vehicle newer than 1984. Their old vehicle would be taken away and disposed of. The program was nicknamed Cash for Clunkers.
On the surface, the program was a success. Within first month, all of the funds were exhausted. This prompted the U.S. congress infuse an addition two billion into the program, which would be all gone within 17 days. But begin to look deeper and the results are mixed. In 2012, a study published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics described the program as being a bit of a wash,
"...the effect of the program on auto purchases is almost completely reversed by as early as March 2010 — only seven months after the program ended.”
Other studies have come to the same conclusion.
There's also the question of how many perfectly good used cars were taken off the road due to the program.
Source: Bloomberg via Automotive News (Subscription Required), The Drive, The Truth About Cars

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The COVID-19 pandemic has basically brought most of the world to halt. Orders to stay at home, businesses either having workers to their work from home or closing down, and unemployment skyrocketing is causing the economy to crater. There are efforts to try and jump-start the economy such as $1,200 stimulus checks. But an executive at Ford wants to see a return of a "cash for clunkers" like program.
“We think some level of stimulus somewhere on the other side of this would help not only the auto industry and our dealers, which are a huge part of our overall economy, but will help the customers as well,” said Mark LaNeve, Ford’s vice president of U.S. marketing, sales and service to Bloomberg.
“Cash for clunkers was very effective at that time. It would be nice to think we could have something equally as effective for 2020 when we get out of this because it was a great program.”
According to LaNeve, internal discussions are taking place at Ford about doing a similar program and there are plans to bring the Government in to these talks.
When asked by Automotive News about this, Ford spokeswoman Rachel McCleery said, "The auto industry is America’s economic engine.We are encouraging Congress to look at a variety of ways to drive job creation, increase demand, support customers and provide long-term stability for the entire auto ecosystem."
A brief refresher on the Cash for Clunkers program. In 2009, the U.S. Government introduced a billion initiative called the Car Allowance Rebate System, which gave a voucher worth between $2,900 and $4,500 to anyone replacing a vehicle newer than 1984. Their old vehicle would be taken away and disposed of. The program was nicknamed Cash for Clunkers.
On the surface, the program was a success. Within first month, all of the funds were exhausted. This prompted the U.S. congress infuse an addition two billion into the program, which would be all gone within 17 days. But begin to look deeper and the results are mixed. In 2012, a study published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics described the program as being a bit of a wash,
"...the effect of the program on auto purchases is almost completely reversed by as early as March 2010 — only seven months after the program ended.”
Other studies have come to the same conclusion.
There's also the question of how many perfectly good used cars were taken off the road due to the program.
Source: Bloomberg via Automotive News (Subscription Required), The Drive, The Truth About Cars

FORD MOTOR COMPANY FOURTH QUARTER 2019 U.S. SALES

 

 

 

2019

Q4

 

 

2018

% Cha nge

Year-to-Date

2019               2018

% Cha nge

SALES BY BRAND

Ford

568,507

581,386

-2.2

2,310,494

2,393,731

-3.5

Lincoln

33,355

28,307

17.8

112,204

103,587

8.3

Total vehicles

601,862

609,693

-1.3

2,422,698

2,497,318

-3.0

SALES BY TYPE

Cars

 

 

63,400

 

 

107,491

 

 

-41.0

 

 

349,091

 

 

486,024

 

 

-28.2

SUVs

208,387

217,343

-4.1

830,471

872,215

-4.8

Trucks

330,075

284,859

15.9

1,243,136

1,139,079

9.1

Total vehicles                                             601,862       609,693          -1.3             2,422,698      2,497,318          -3.0

FORD BRAND

Fiesta

 

 

7,315

 

 

15,212

 

 

-51.9

 

 

60,148

 

 

51,730

 

 

16.3

Focus

0

13,078

N/A

12,480

113,345

-89.0

C-MAX

0

213

N/A

38

6,683

-99.4

Fusion

32,137

48,636

-33.9

166,045

173,600

-4.4

Taurus

769

6,988

-89.0

9,924

28,706

-65.4

Police Interceptor Sedan

88

1,762

-95.0

3,427

7,382

-53.6

GT

42

24

75.0

229

126

81.7

Mustang

17,124

14,223

20.4

72,489

75,842

-4.4

Ford Cars

57,475

100,136

-42.6

324,780

457,414

-29.0

EcoSport

14,051

16,038

-12.4

64,708

54,348

19.1

Escape

47,587

62,178

-23.5

241,388

272,228

-11.3

Edge

37,621

35,184

6.9

138,515

134,122

3.3

Flex

6,147

4,150

48.1

24,484

20,308

20.6

Explorer

48,083

56,316

-14.6

168,309

227,732

-26.1

Police Interceptor Utility

3,201

8,385

-61.8

18,752

33,839

-44.6

Expedition

24,267

14,140

71.6

86,422

54,661

58.1

Ford SUVs

180,957

196,391

-7.9

742,578

797,238

-6.9

F-Series

233,952

230,312

1.6

896,526

909,330

-1.4

Ranger

33,059

0

N/A

89,571

0

N/A

E-Series

12,837

11,387

12.7

45,063

47,936

-6.0

Transit

36,885

31,331

17.7

153,868

137,794

11.7

Transit Connect

10,208

8,705

17.3

41,598

31,923

30.3

Heavy trucks

3,134

3,124

0.3

16,510

12,096

36.5

Ford Trucks

330,075

284,859

15.9

1,243,136

1,139,079

9.1

Ford Brand

568,507

581,386

-2.2

2,310,494

2,393,731

-3.5

LINCOLN BRAND

MKZ

 

 

4,080

 

 

4,931

 

 

-17.3

 

 

17,725

 

 

19,852

 

 

-10.7

Continental

1,845

2,424

-23.9

6,586

8,758

-24.8

Lincoln Cars

5,925

7,355

-19.4

24,311

28,610

-15.0

Corsair/MKC

7,549

6,971

8.3

25,815

26,241

-1.6

Nautilus/MKX

7,727

8,687

-11.1

31,711

28,573

11.0

MKT

275

540

-49.1

3,388

2,324

45.8

Aviator

6,424

0

N/A

8,323

0

N/A

Navigator

5,455

4,754

14.7

18,656

17,839

4.6

Lincoln SUVs

27,430

20,952

30.9

87,893

74,977

17.2

Lincoln Brand

33,355

28,307

17.8

112,204

103,587

8.3

Rumor has it that Ford is working on a V8 powered version of their Ranger Raptor currently sold in overseas markets. Only available in other parts of the world, the current Ranger Raptor is powered by a 2.0-liter 4-cylinder diesel that produces 210 horsepower and 369 lb.-ft of torque, but a report in Wheels magazine says that Ford Australia is working with an external engineering company to swap the 2.0 diesel for a 5.0-liter V8 from the Mustang GT.  The odd thing about this is that the Ranger Raptor 5.0 would be still built with the 2.0-liter diesel under the hood and then later converted to V8 gasoline power.
Expect power to be about the same as it makes in the Australian spec Mustang GT, a healthy 455 horsepower and 410 lb.-ft of torque. 
If it all comes together, the Ranger Raptor 5.0 is expected to go on sale in Australia next year, sold by Ford dealers and backed by the full 5-year warranty. For now, the Ranger Raptor remains forbidden fruit to the U.S. no matter what engine is under the hood.

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