October 2012: Mitsubishi Motors North America

I love her videos. 

Everything is going to s#!T in this country, even the feed at C and G (Sarcasm) Probably taking Maverick off the table for a new vehicle, although I would love to own one. At this point, paying cash for an older Jeep XJ or something almost is more appealing than anything new.

He was an amazing guy! Thank you.  Trump is making the next century the Chinese century. its inevitable at this point.  Chinese EV's are everywhere.  Worse, people will not invest in a country that is unstable.  It's not just Canada. And I have switched from drinking American micro brew beers to imported wine when I eat out. Not supporting American business when our country acts like this.  This YANK is buying Canadian over American every chance I get. 

The point is that going forward, Ford EVs: 1. This is a new way of assembling vehicles. The new production line is now a production tree with three branches that converge into one. 2. Ford has cut a lot of weight out of the platform. 4,000 fewer feet of wiring harness, 25% less fastener. Lower weight will mean more range with less battery. 3. LFP cells that are built in the US without cobalt or nickle. 4. Faster production, while overall production time will drop 15%, the assembly process will drop 40%. Ford will use some of that savings to in-source some component production. 5. 52,000 sq/ft expansion of Louisville facility. 6. Ford claims lower total cost to own than buying a 3-year old Model-Y. (I'd like to read the fine print on this one) 7. The way the components are assembled is now significantly more ergonomic, less twisting and bending for assembly workers. There was an audible gasp from someone in the crowd of assembly workers at the press event when the presenter said "You will never need to put a dash cluster through a door opening ever again". 8. The platform will allow many kinds of body styles including crossovers, sedans, and sport cars. The debut vehicle will arrive in 2027 as a mid-size truck.   Something that Tesla did with #1, #2 , and  #4 on that list a decade ago.  Something that GM is doing with #8 on that list with the Ultium platform as it was once called.   Something that Ford should have done from the very beginning when they came out with the Mach-E.  Tesla and SandY Monroe were tooting that for the Model 3.  I guess FoMoCo had to get the Mach-E out as fast as possible then though.   Dont get me wrong, I fully agree with your post 100%.  I was about to say better late than never, but I think with this Presidential administration, Ford will probably not survive Trump's presidency.  Nor Stellantis in the US.  And Im very iffy if GM survives too if the current tariff situation on Canadian steel and aluminium stays on.  Sad to say.         

They didn't even show a vehicle though, just said that in 2 years we'll have a pickup around $30,000.  Which probably means $30,990 plus a $1995 destination charge and you are at $33k before any options which will quickly push it to $40k.  They already have the Maverick in this same space. I don't see this as a "Model T" moment.  It would have to be $5k cheaper than the Maverick to get people to really start buying EV's en masse.  And where do they go with this, the Chinese already make midsize EV pickups for $25,000, so you can't see it overseas because the Chinese will win on price.   The Model T had years where it sold over a million units.  If Ford wants their new age Model T, then the vehicle has to be so good at such a price that you can't pass it up for a Rav4 or CRV.  This will be like the Equinox EV that was going to be $30k, but ended up more like $35k base and $40k for most of the ones at dealers and when the tax credit goes away sales will dry up.