Ford has no clue who their customers our

[robvas]

I wrote about what I think about pricing and the DorkHorse. I did not bash or throw mud. Just disagreed with the popular opinion - which apparently is enough.
The Clique mentality is alive and well on Ford forums ... education is the key to success

1. Plenty of people are way too sensitive

2. When someone says something like "I know it wasn't rational to spend xxx money on this thing that wasn't really any better than the last thing, I just did it because", you basically don't have to continue to argue that the car is overpriced, they've basically proven that.

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[robvas]

I mean really, if you like it and can afford it get it. Or don’t. Your call. No point in disparaging someone’s decision because you couldn’t afford it or didn’t think it was a good value.

Literally the point of the thread

ford is going to have to realize they only have so many people that can throw money around willy-nilly and their sales are suffering because of that

 

[Gregs24]

Literally the point of the thread

ford is going to have to realize they only have so many people that can throw money around willy-nilly and their sales are suffering because of that

Are they? Not so sure. If you reduce the price by 10% and you had a 15% profit margin before you have to sell 3 cars to make the same money as you did before. Stick with selling 1 car at 15% every day, because no matter what the price there will be people moaning it is too expensive, and tripling sales is a non starter.

 

[robvas]

Are they? Not so sure. If you reduce the price by 10% and you had a 15% profit margin before you have to sell 3 cars to make the same money as you did before. Stick with selling 1 car at 15% every day, because no matter what the price there will be people moaning it is too expensive, and tripling sales is a non starter.

you're greatly underestimating how much overhead they have building the car that doesn't change

you can't go from selling 120,000 to 40,000 and just add to the price

 

[Bikeman315]

Ford performance have started using Max Verstappen to advertise the dark horse, looks like they're using an early euro model with the lip spoiler.

Seems a bit mad to me that they're entering F1 as an engine promotor (they have little to do with the engine with their name on it) and yet they make ONE car which is limited availability / appeal in most markets.

By the way, remember this.....

 

[Bikeman315]

you're greatly underestimating how much overhead they have building the car that doesn't change

you can't go from selling 120,000 to 40,000 and just add to the price

Ford seems to disagree with you!

 

[robvas]

Ford seems to disagree with you!

And you have absolute no proof of that

 

[Bikeman315]

And you have absolute no proof of that

Of course I do. I just do not want to share it with you.

 

[robvas]

Fun fact, when they very briefly mentioned low Mustang sales on a quarterly results conference call, they blamed "supply constraints"

 

[Gregs24]

you're greatly underestimating how much overhead they have building the car that doesn't change

you can't go from selling 120,000 to 40,000 and just add to the price

You and others are asking Ford to do the opposite, go from 40k to 120k cars which will never happen.

If the profit is more it makes it worse. £20k profit sell for 15k less need to sell 4x the number of cars.

Even 20k profit and 10k discount still need to double sales (and 10k discount will be nowhere near enough for some on here!)

Not going to happen.

 

[Gregs24]

Fun fact, when they very briefly mentioned low Mustang sales on a quarterly results conference call, they blamed "supply constraints"

They didn't make Mustangs for large periods of time last year, plus they also started making 1000's of export cars (quite possible at better margins than domestic market cars). No wonder the domestic numbers were constrained as you correctly point out.

When JLR had commodity constraints they prioritised high margin vehicles - of course they would

 

[robvas]

You and others are asking Ford to do the opposite, go from 40k to 120k cars which will never happen.

If the profit is more it makes it worse. £20k profit sell for 15k less need to sell 4x the number of cars.

Even 20k profit and 10k discount still need to double sales (and 10k discount will be nowhere near enough for some on here!)

Not going to happen.

So the $2,000 price increase is 100% pure profit. Okay.

Are they going to raise the price $20k next?

 

[robvas]

They didn't make Mustangs for large periods of time last year, plus they also started making 1000's of export cars. No wonder the domestic numbers were constrained as you correctly point out.

There are 3,706 2024's on the lots according to CarGurus, some on the lot as long as 600 days.

 

[Gregs24]

Euro 7: Carmakers’ record profits made at… | Transport & Environment

Very clear car makers are NOT chasing volume and happy to sell less cars at a better margin.


Together the five carmakers’ 2022 profits (€64 billion) were more than double 2019’s (€28 billion), despite selling 25% fewer cars than before covid and rising inflation. While supply chain issues are blamed for lower car production volumes, carmakers have been vocal about their shift in strategy away from selling as many mass market cars as possible towards selling fewer but larger, premium cars with higher profit margins. This includes scrapping production of popular, more affordable, small cars such as the Fiat Punto, VW Beetle and Citroën Picasso. Due to a lack of supply and strong demand, carmakers have also been increasing prices. This shift in strategy has resulted in:

• BMW’s profit margin almost trippled from 4.6% in 2019 to 12.6% in 2022.
• Mercedes’ profit margin increased from 6.8% in 2019 to 9.5% in 2022.
• Renault’s profit margin increased from 0.4% in 2019 to 4.8% in 2022.
• Stellantis’s profit margin more than doubled from 4.0% in 2019 to 9.9% in 2022.
• VW’s profit margin increased from 5.6% in 2019 to 5.9% in 2022.

The increase in profit margins shows that carmakers are making more money on every car sold than prior to the covid crisis. This accounts for inflation, meaning that it is not due to increases in the costs of raw materials, energy or production but due to, for example, carmakers increasing prices above inflation or selling a higher share of premium cars with higher profit margins. Despite lower car sales, the increase in profit margins is resulting in higher profits than when vehicle sales were higher before the covid crisis.

 

[Bikeman315]

Fun fact, when they very briefly mentioned low Mustang sales on a quarterly results conference call, they blamed "supply constraints"

Well there have been a lot of folks on here that have waited a very long time to get their cars. I'm sure is part of the overall equation.

There are 3,706 2024's on the lots according to CarGurus, some on the lot as long as 600 days.

Cars.com is showing 3006 2024's and 2784 2025's. That's a lot of cars.

Here is there breakdown for 2024

Here is there breakdown for 2025

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