Sticking With A Sure Thing: a Late 90's One Ford philosohpy?

Very nice indeed. I'll have to remember about the changes when I move on with He Came From Indianapolis.

How many of the European automobiles from Ford, GM and Chrysler made it over here? Euro-NCAP standards are considerably stricter than US standards, so that distinction makes a fair bit of sense, but how is this effecting Detroit? I think may be slightly downplaying Renault's hand, too - it has three cars (Clio, Laguna and Espace) that would be guaranteed hits in the US market, and Renault would have an easy go selling through Nissan dealers.

And also, the US National debt in 2001 was $5.7 Trillion. You won't be able to pay that kinda debt off in ten years, trust me, especially with Afghanistan and alternative energy programs. (UHC would reduce costs for Medicare and eliminate them entirely for Medicaid, so that would be a budget help then and now - shame the GOP are such idiots to not realize that. :mad:) What is the situation with Honda and Toyota, too. A resurgent Detroit will get them a little miffed, too.
 

NothingNow

Banned
How many of the European automobiles from Ford, GM and Chrysler made it over here? Euro-NCAP standards are considerably stricter than US standards, so that distinction makes a fair bit of sense, but how is this effecting Detroit?
Well, it's letting GM, Ford and FiatChrysler import a lot of their European models much faster, with only EPA certification being required.

With GM (by MY2011): Astra stays in the US as a Saturn for another generation, with the Cruze hatch, Opel Insignia (As the Buick Regal) and Chevy Orlando coming stateside as well.

With FiatChrysler (by MY2011): The Bravo (and Linea) and Delta replace the Caliber and PT Cruiser respectively. The Panda 4x4 came to the US as a Jeep. The 500 and 500C are selling well as fiats, and the first Alfa Romeo (besides the 8C) is coming over in MY2012.

I think may be slightly downplaying Renault's hand, too - it has three cars (Clio, Laguna and Espace) that would be guaranteed hits in the US market, and Renault would have an easy go selling through Nissan dealers.
Renault starts to bring it's cars over in MY2011, mostly being held up by EPA certification on the drivetrains. The Clio III, Laguna II, Twingo II are the first, with the Espace IV, Megane III and Koleos I following in 2012. Renault is generally priced in between Nissan and Infiniti, with Renault as a premium automaker, but less sporty and more fashionable. It's worth noting that the Clio and Twingo became fairly popular Mini-fighters fairly quickly.

And also, the US National debt in 2001 was $5.7 Trillion. You won't be able to pay that kinda debt off in ten years, trust me, especially with Afghanistan and alternative energy programs.
Fuck. I should have looked at the numbers there, but Let's retcon that figure down to about 75% of what it was in 2001, or $4,275 Billion.
 

NothingNow

Banned
Sticking With A Sure Thing
Part Fourteen: Reinvention


By 2005, it was clear to some that Ford's basic strategy needed updating, as did a few of it's key models, and these improvements. These updates would affect three core models: The Ford Ranger, Falcon Family, and Land Rover Defender. While the Ranger and Defender were both segregated and subdivided by market, and a symbol of the "Old Ford," the Falcon Family had been a staple of Ford's highly successful global strategy for over a decade in 2008, so it came as no surprise that with the launch of the Seventh Generation Falcon and the Second generation Territory, that Ford would attempt to sell it in a new market: Europe.

The New Falcon and Territory, starting off with the initial FG specification would be sold in it's existing body styles of Sedan, Wagon, Sport Utility, and Ute in most every market, and as usual under a variety of names. The Engine selection would be more varied to match the diverse market tastes as well. In Europe the Falcon and Territory's base engines would be the B5244S I5 and DW12, while the rest of the world would have the revised Barra 195 and Lion 2.7 as the base engines. Otherwise the engine selection for the Falcon Family was the same across the planet, with the traditional Turbocharged Straight Six, V8, and Hybrid options being available in every market.

After it's introduction in europe the Falcon and Territory sold fairly well, if significantly less then expected, and it failed to gain a decent enough foothold in the market, and in fact, Ford sold more Falcons in the GCC then it did in all of Western and Central Europe, while Eastern Europe was a different story altogether, as between the FSB, various Oligarchs, and even a couple of Chechen warlords, sales of the Falcon in Russia alone topped those of the rest of Europe combined.

Debuting in 2009, the New Land Rover Defender was a massive redesign, and was a display of Ford's engineering Talent, and shared components, including most of it's engines, transmissions, and just about everything save it's body work and suspension system with the new truly Global Ranger (and the argument could be made that the Current Ranger is nothing more then a cheapened version of the Defender, with four wheel drive being only optional.) Both the Defender and Ranger came in a number of Body-styles, and had a number of engines and transmissions, including the Duratorq 2.2, and Lion 2.7 Turbo Diesels, along with the venerable Duratec 23, and the new Barra 195, all of which were mated with a number of automatic and manual transmissions. Both the Defender and Ranger sold excellently, and were massive successes, in what was easily one of the most competitive sectors of the industry.

And, what would the Ranger be without Hybrid and Plug in models? Ford introduced both an updated version of it's Hybrid system, as used on the FG Falcon, a new Ranger EV (The EV3,) and a decently engineered Plug in version, the Ranger Direct Charge 2 (The DC2,) featuring a new version of the 1.6l Duratec Ti-VCT, four cylinder. As usual, the Hybrid vastly outsold the EV3 and DC2, by a factor of nearly 50:1 on the EV3 and only 15:1 on the DC2. Regardless, Ford could still sell the massive number of CAFE vouchers that practically paid for the development of their Hybrid systems.

~~~~~~~~~~
It's been 9 months and 13 days (or just 286 days) since I last updated this TL, and just about 4,011 Hours and 27 minutes since I said I'd have an update soon. I think I just set a record for longest "I'll update this soon" Ever. Update 15 should hopefully come by the end of the year, or more likely, the Presidential Election, and maybe I'll finish this TL before the end of the decade.
 
Heh heh. Don't worry about it. You updated it, that's what matters.

If you don't mind, what is the rundown on what models are sold in North America? I'm thinking its Fiesta-Focus-Mondeo-Taurus-Falcon, plus the Mustang, of course. Am I close?
 

NothingNow

Banned
Heh heh. Don't worry about it. You updated it, that's what matters.

If you don't mind, what is the rundown on what models are sold in North America? I'm thinking its Fiesta-Focus-Mondeo-Taurus-Falcon, plus the Mustang, of course. Am I close?

Yeah, you're pretty much right on the money for 2008/NADM MY2009 by brand it's something like this:
Ford NA MY2009:
Cars:
Fiesta - Focus - Mustang - Taurus(Mondeo) - Crown Victoria(Falcon)
Trucks/Vans:
Connect - Ranchero(Falcon) - Ranger - F-150 - Transit - Super Duty
Minivans/SUVs:
Escape - Explorer(Territory) - Windstar - Expedition - Expedition EL

Mercury NA MY2009:
Cars:
Monterey(Focus II Coupe/Conv.) - Sable(Mondeo) - Grand Marquis(Falcon)
Minivans/SUVs:
Meteor(Fusion) - Villager(C-Max) - Mountaineer (Territory)

Lincoln NA MY2009
Cars:
MKX - LS - Town Car(Falcon) - Continental(XJ relative)
SUVs:
Aviator - Transcontinental(XC90)

Land Rover NA MY2009
SUVs:
Freelander2 - Range Rover Sport - Range Rover - Discovery

Jaguar NA MY2009
Cars:
XK - X-Type - S-Type - XJ(Continental relative)

Aston Martin MY2009:
Cars:
Vantage - DB9/DBS - Lagonda

Volvo NA MY2009
Cars:
C30/C70 - S40/V50 - S60 - S80/V70
SUVs:
XC60 - XC70 - XC90

EDIT: Yeah, actually, this thread also serves as the general extent of my notes, since I accidentally my TL notebook. However, I do have plans to complete the last seven/nine years of the TL, which will end on 2018, and hopefully before 2018.
 
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NothingNow

Banned
So, 201 days, 23 hours, and 29 minutes, after my last update, I can safely say Sticking With A Sure Thing V1.0 is dead.

However, the dream shall live on in Sticking With A Sure Thing V2.0, which should see an update sometime this week, and I mean it.

I can guarantee that V2.0 of Sticking With A Sure Thing will include the following five additions however:
1) Less of a focus on Ford Motor Company, for a more general look. Ford will still be front and center however.
2) More Plausibility!
3) More on Politics, Society, Technology and the nature of the World ITTL.
4) Steve Jobs running Apple, which while retaining the PowerPC family, moves more into Consumer Electronics, and media devices, including the Apple iControl.
5) Diesel Hybrid Automobiles.

And, I will remember Mazda this time.
 
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