Rental Bliss: 2011 Ford Escape Limited

Ford's littlest truck has come a long way since the Bronco II. Driving a black-on-black Limited offered a few pleasant surprises.

The truck looks very sharp, with tasteful chrome highlighting the otherwise all-black exterior. Good looking by itself, it's downright gorgeous compared to older Escapes. The bubble styling and exposed plastics are gone, replaced by straighter lines and painted surfaces. The bumpers themselves are an attractive painted plastic, but are unfortunately extremely soft and easy to scratch. The rear hatch has handles built into the bottom edge, but they're not in an ideal spot to close the hatch from and otherwise there is no good place to put your hand without leaving a print on your chrome or paint. Besides those few quirks, the exterior of the truck is rather well done.

Inside it becomes clear that Ford has taken the truck upscale. The doors close with a solid-sounding thud, and the leather seats with optional heaters are very comfortable and offer good lumbar and lateral support. Piano black surfaces are everywhere, accentuated by the color-selectable accent lighting in the footwells and cup holders. There are a few sharp edges, including one knuckle-skinning mold edge in the center console, but otherwise the various seams and panels fit well together. There are many cup holders and nooks for gadgets, including Ford's trademark burrito tray in the middle of the dash, although most of the nooks are large and shallow making it difficult to keep things in place.

There is ample headroom and getting comfortable is easy, although the lower dash hangs so low as to make reaching the pedals more difficult than it should be. Rear visibility is hampered by the absolutely massive rear seat headrests. Ford has done a good job muffling the road and wind noise and coupled with the light steering, spunky 3.0 liter V6 engine, and great exhaust sound it's easy to get going faster than intended. Slowing the truck down is no problem as the brakes are adequate, and there is surprisingly little body roll.

After spending a week with the truck, it was difficult to give it back. City driving was made pleasant by the punchy engine and comfortable interior, and long trips were effortless. $27,000 is a lot to ask for a small SUV, but Ford seems to have packed theirs full of appeal and it would be hard to come away disappointed.

Taurus SHO

Recently a hilarious Craigslist ad for a 1994 Ford Taurus SHO made its rounds on the Internet (and has now been unfortunately removed). The SHO seems like a laughable concept now, and it's possible that it was laughable at the time as well. However, the idea of a factory-tuned sedan is hardly a bad one as shown by the Cadillac V, Mercedes AMG, Audi S, and BMW M cars. Further, Ford could certainly use a kick in the pants, as they've been churning out nothing but yawners (with the exception of the various Shelby Mustangs) for a few years.
The Big Three have admittedly been against the ropes for those same few years, but Ford is doing the best of acting the part. GM responded to the announcements of their imminent death by peppering the market with incredible cars and trucks of nearly every variety. Chrysler is riding the wave of optimism generated when they were pulled (thrown?) from the clutches of Mercedes Benz. Ford, on the other hand, has made careful and effective improvements to their products while somehow managing to avoid telling anyone about them.
A return of the SVT program would certainly help to draw attention to some of their better products. The Focus and the Fusion (and the Milan and MKZ) would respond well to a performance boost, and would draw attention to their capable platforms. A current-generation Taurus SHO may not have the same flavor as those from the 90's, but there is certainly room in the Ford lineup for a power boost. John Coletti, where are you?

They Don't Make Cars Like They Used To

Leafing through an auto mag from sometime around 2003 revealed the following ad:

The obvious intent is to imply that the Mustang has old-school power, brawn, and attitude. Looking at it through the eyes of a 2003 Mustang driver, who is all-too-aware that the underlying chassis is from 1979 resulting in old-school (meaning archaic and ineffective) handling and body control, it takes on an entirely different meaning.

Truth In Advertising

One of Toyota's latest campaigns calls attention to their huge number of U.S. employees, and together with their pending participation in the NASCAR Nextel Cup works to portray Toyota as America's Car Company. Some people have taken exception to this claim, including The Level Field Institute.
The LFI is running TV and print ads that look at the numbers from a different perspective: According to them, Ford and GM both each employ more Americans than all foreign auto manufacturers combined, and together with Daimler Chrysler account for 8 out of 10 U.S. autoworker jobs. The Level Field Institute's website has several graphs and charts detailing the specific differences between the domestic and foreign manufacturers.
It is worth noting that the LFI was founded by retirees of The Big Three, shedding some light on their motivation. The numbers they present are nonetheless powerful, and as stated by them they should be taken into account when shopping for a new vehicle.

Possible Spec-Mustang Series?

Dan Davis, the director of Ford Racing Technology, has teamed with Multimatic to produce a 550hp Mustang racer that he would like to see sold through Ford dealers for around $200,000. Davis created the track-only car with the vision of a spec racing series that would potentially include the Camaro and Challenger, essentially re-creating the Trans Am series. Assembled from production parts, Davis and Multimatic have the capability to produce dozens of copies if the demand is there.
According to AutoWeek, the car lapped the Long Beach street circuit within 10 seconds of the times laid down by the Daytona Prototypes racing there last weekend as part of the Champ Car World Series.
Certainly an exciting development for fans of the Trans Am series of old, or of Ford Mustangs, with any luck Davis' vision will catch on with enough weekend racers to make it a reality.

Ford Escape Hybrid E85

Ford's commitment to the proliferation of flex-fuel and hybrid vehicles has taken a step forward with the development of an Escape hybrid able to run on up to 85% Ethanol. While the combination of fuel-saving technologies is a rather obvious idea, Ford is one of the first to follow through. Unfortunately, the Escape Hybrid E85 is not currently slated for production, but Ford's engineers are hoping to use it to tackle the challenges currently facing these developing technologies.

Ford Accessorizer

All cars can be modified: Colors chosen and changed, parts bolted on or stripped out, etc. But most cars come from the factory looking just about like all of the others that came out before it, requiring the custom-minded customer to seek aftermarket help to put their own touch on their ride. Auto companies have met this demand with factory-supplied modifications that usually leave the car's existing warranty intact. Scion took this concept one step further by offering dealer-installed "aftermarket" parts, with optional time-of-purchase installation. On March 15, The Ford Motor Company will pull even with Scion, offering new car dealer-installed Genuine Ford Accessories.
Ford's plan revolves around an addition to their website, called the Accessorizer. This feature allows customers to install Genuine Ford Accessories to a new car online to instantly see the visual and financial results. Once the customer has finalized their creation, the site allows for the usual options of printing out the results or e-mailing them to a local dealer for a final price quote.
By making the customization process as easy as possible, Ford is hoping to snare potential customers for whom "stock" options just don't cut it.

Intrusive Advertising

Marketers of all products and services are in a constant battle with themselves and each other for the finite attention of consumers. There is an impossibly fine line between unnoticeably quiet and offensively loud, and there is a marked trend to err on the side of excessive volume.
The idea of sponsorship is a good one: Make known the products used by professionals, and the rest of us will follow suit. An example of this is the OZ Racing rims on all IRL and Champ cars. Sponsors paying for real estate on the cars themselves is certainly nothing new, and for the most part this practice is inoffensive.
However, on occasion things wander off of the acceptability path clear into the field of ridiculous. A well-documented example of this is a NASCAR driver's victory interview, where each of the 22 major sponsors is given credit for the win in an unintelligible mumble. Another example that came to my attention recently is in Champ Car, the full name of which is actually The Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered By Ford. Not to mention the inescapable grammatical error, this name is so long and cumbersome that it is frequently shortened, both in print and in the minds of the audience. The result of this is the disassociation of the brands Bridgestone and Ford, negating much of the marketing value of the sponsorship. The problem only gets worse when the name of a race is included, such as The Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered By Ford Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach season opener. This ridiculous name is commonly referred to simply as the Long Beach GP, taking all of the brand names right out, including that of the series.
Race sponsorship, such as the Toyota Grand Prix, can work if done tastefully. Even appending "Powered By Ford" to the end of the series name is clever. But the mess that results from Naming By Committee is something that both viewers and sponsors would be best off avoiding.

Overactive Adrenaline Disorder

Ford has just kicked off its latest advertising campaign with a series of mock educational materials surrounding Overactive Adrenaline Disorder. This condition, originally detected in Ford Racing drivers, occurs when an above-average need for adrenaline goes unfed.
The campaign is fairly extensive, including print and TV ads, and a website where users can perform a self-diagnosis to see if they are affected. The cure, of course, is the purchase of a new Ford Fusion, which is apparently an incredible source of adrenaline.
Obviously tied in to Ford's NASCAR campaign, the campaign would seem to make sense. However, while Karl Edwards may drive a formula car with "FUSION" stickers on it, the Fusion is by no means the best source of adrenaline within the Ford Motor Company(Shelby Mustang, anyone?). The end result is a good effort that produced an ad campaign that works well in a box, but makes little sense when brought out into the real world.

Domestic v. Foreign

Jeff Olsen recently published an article on SpeedTV.com discussing Toyota's entry into the NASCAR world and the fan reaction to it. Mr. Olsen notes that this reaction has been mostly positive, and he surmises this is because NASCAR fans, "perhaps better than any demographic group - understand what's happening in the automotive industry," which is that Toyota is now manufacturing models in Indiana, while Ford and GM have plants outside the country. Mr. Olsen concludes that the line between foreign and domestic manufacturers has been blurred, and buying a Toyota is just as helpful to the American economy as buying a Ford or Chevy.
What Mr. Olsen doesn't seem to take into account is the difference between assembly line jobs and upper level (R&D, management) jobs. While Toyota may have factories in Indiana, their corporate offices are in Japan, and Toyota is certainly a foreign company.
Buying a Toyota is hardly the same as mailing cash overseas: many mutual funds include Toyota stock, and Toyota pours a fairly large amount of cash back into U.S. operations. However, the majority of Toyota's profits go home to Japan.
While the UAW may be thrilled that Toyota has opened so many jobs for them, the overall state of the U.S. economy is not aided by the proliferation of Camrys and Corollas, while it is rather directly linked to the success of both GM and Ford.
Mr. Olsen seems to share the rather popular opinion that the American auto industry is in no real danger, nor is it linked in any real way to the U.S. economy. The reality of the situation is that stereotypes brought on by inferior product in the 80's, along with aggressive and deceptive marketing by Toyota and other foreign manufacturers today, have put Ford and GM in very real financial danger. Further, the health of these two companies is extremely important to the health of the U.S. economy as a whole.
As always, chosing a vehicle that is the best solution for your particular needs is a smart move. Perhaps, however, country of origin should carry more weight in the decision than has previously been necessary.

Billy Draws The Line

William Clay Ford, chairman and CEO of Ford Motor Company has announced that his company will hold on to its market share in 2006. The automaker has been losing market share every year for the past five years and Mr. Ford has vowed that this is the end of the line. Of course losing market share isn't always a bad thing. The highest volume manufacturer is not always the most profitable manufacturer, which partially explains why this vow to hold on to market share can be viewed as a change of strategy rather than simply stating the obvious. In recent years Ford allowed market share to slip at times when retaining it would have caused losses. Back in 2002 when William Ford replaced Jacques Nasser as CEO of Ford this strategy made a lot of sense. The company was reeling from a $5.5 billion loss in 2001 and it was crucial to show a profit quickly, even if it meant sacrificing market share. Today Ford's most visible setback (besides having its debt rating cut to junk status) is losing the distinction of being the world's second largest car manufacturer. Toyota recently surpassed Ford in global sales, leaving Ford in the number three slot. Holding on to its number two position in the US market probably seems rather important now, and might even be worth sacrificing profits for. However Mr. Ford insists that they won't be buying the market share with hefty discounts and incentives but will win it through their strong product line.

If this all sounds a little familiar, think back a few years to the period when GM made a whole lot of noise about its intentions to reach 30 percent domestic market share. After years of slipping they wanted to climb back up to what they considered a reasonable share, and intended to get there through sustainable business practices. All of the executives wore gold pins advertising their intent to hit the thirty percent mark. After a while it became clear that they would never even crack twenty seven percent and the pins quietly went away.

Does Ford have a better shot? Arguably yes. Its product line is the best it has been in years, and the company seems to have a good idea of what its customers want. But competition from both domestics and imports is fierce, and Ford will have to work hard to hold on to the market share it has.

Ford Hybrid Leadership

As of a November 9th press release, Ford offered two models with hybrid drivetrain options and had plans for two more. Two of these models are SUVs, and the other two are mid-size cars. Ford also announced that hybrid Escapes would be serving taxi duty in New York City.
At the time of the release, Ford was producing 24,000 hybrid vehicles annually, with plans to produce 250,000 hybrids per year by 2010.

Chevy vs. Ford

There is no American rivalry that can match that of Chevy vs. Ford. Not Coke vs. Pepsi, PC vs. Mac, Burger King vs. McDonalds... not even Yankees vs. Red Sox. No two groups fight harder over the hearts and dollars of the American public than Chevy and Ford, each of which sell over two and a half millions vehicles every year in the United States. Today, as imports take an ever increasing portion of the market, Chevrolet and Ford are still at each others' throats, battling for the title of US sales champ. Since 1986 Ford has held the top postion, aided by its strong truck and SUV sales and by GMs decision to send half of it's pick-up customers to GMC, deflating Chevrolet's sales. For 2005 it seems the tables turned and Chevrolet is once again on top of the heap, outselling Ford by 17,084 units. But GM cannot afford to rest on it's laurels. Nor can Ford spend time licking its wounds. Toyota is nipping at the heals of the American automakers, selling 2.2 million units in 2005. That's about four hundred thousand units behind Chevrolet and Ford, and only 300 thousand behind Daimler Chrysler.

Of course there's more to be concerned with than just the American market. Ford was recently surpassed by Toyota as the world's second biggest automaker. GM and Ford are both losing ground in the global market while Toyota continues to thrive. Will we see a new global sales leader by the end of the decade? It's too early to tell, but it's definitely not out of the question.

Ford Safety Reaches Gold Standards

Motor Trend reports that the new Ford 500 and Mercury Montego both have attained the IIHS's highest honor. "The institute's new Top Safety Pick Gold only is attainable by an elite fraction of vehicles that achieve the best available safety performance in three separate categories rear, side and frontal collisions according to IIHS President Brian ONeill." Unknown to most of the public Ford continues its dominance in the affordable, safe, midsize transportation segment. Notice how Accord, Camry, Maxima are not in this list.

On a side note I would also like to mention that in my opinon Montego also has the most attractive spokesperson, Jill Wagner.

Ford's Bad Timing

Last week, the Ford Motor Company announced a decision to pull Jaguar and Land Rover ads from gay and lesbian targeted publications for what the company called "purely business" reasons. By itself this decision could stir some controversy, based merely on the fact that rather than naming one or several particular magazines that may have been negative cost-benefit situations for Ford, an entire segment was called out.
Unfortunately, what could have been a small storm broke out into a full-scale natural disaster when it was revealed that the American Family Association had threatened to boycott Ford's products for being "gay-friendly." All indications are that Ford buckled under this threat, and money-losing ads had nothing to do with it.
There are a number of important issues in play here, but the one that holds my attention with the strongest grip is the fact that, given the current state of the American auto industry, Ford needs to be selling as many cars to as many people as possible. Offering incentives to certain groups could certainly be cause for some grumbling, but merely advertising to any group of people, given a positive cost-benefit ratio, is nothing but good business. Caving to intimidation tactics is certainly not a viable business strategy.
There is a distinct possibility that Ford identified an unprofitable market segment and decided to stop spending money pushing ads on people who were not about to buy their products, but the timing of the situation has resulted in a PR firestorm. Even giving Ford the ideological benefit of the doubt, the best-case explanation here is the left hand didn't know what the right hand was doing. Ford is a massive company spanning a large corporate landscape, and we can only hope the Magazine Ad Department never spoke with the Interest Group Relations Department prior to their unfortunate decision. However, Ford is no longer in the dominant position it was once in and situations like this, resulting from either a lack of corporate fortitude or a lack of internal communication, need to be avoided for the company to pull out of its recession.

-----UPDATE-----

The Ford Motor Company sent a letter to national gay and lesbian organizations earlier today. The letter reiterates Ford's stance on the decision to pull Jaguar and Land Rover ads from gay and lesbian targeted publications, which is that the decision was purely a business one and had nothing to do with catering to the American Family Association. To further emphasize this point, Ford is revising their decision and while Jaguar and Land Rover will still not be advertised in the magazines in question, corporate ads incorporating all eight of Ford's vehicle brands will be run.
This does seem to suggest that the threat of boycott by the AFA is not a factor in Ford's advertising strategy. Critics may tag this as a way for Ford to cover their tracks after a bad call, but as mentioned above even the best case scenario suggests that Ford needs to get all of its resources to operate as a cohesive unit.

Ford Plant Closings

GM's financial woes have gotten considerable press lately, somewhat taking the public pressure off of the Ford Motor Company. Unfortunately, Ford's financial pressure hasn't followed suit, and it looks like they're likely to close a round of plants themselves.
This is an unfortunate, as any need for downsizing is a negative sign, however the under-utilization of these facilities isn't something Ford can afford to support. The part that really got my attention was the inclusion of the Windsor powertrain facility. Any Ford enthusiast has a special place in their heart for motors manufactured in the Windsor plant; Mine formed when I first read about the DeTomaso Pantera. Auto companies sell a lot of vehicles based on their history, hence the resurgence of names like "Charger" and "GTO". While the name "Windsor" doesn't quite carry the weight of, say "Mustang," I have no doubt that the "Windsor V8" option catches a significant number of eyes. While I'm willing to accept the necessity of plant closings, I certainly hope the historical and sentimental significance of certain facilities is something Ford is taking into consideration.