Ford Axes Its Passenger Car Lineup: A Precursor Or Opportunity For GM?
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After months of rumors and uncertainty, Ford dropped a bombshell on Wednesday. The automaker announced it will “not invest” in next-generation sedans for North America. Translation: the Ford Fiesta, Focus and Fusion will soon die off.
Ford Authority broke the news, though the automaker will still bring the crossover-like Focus Activ to North America. The hatchback and sedan are goners and were once thought to be imported to the U.S. from China. The Mustang will also soldier on as the brand’s sports car.
Immediately, we ponder the ramifications this could have at General Motors. Earlier reports suggested GM was already mulling the death of numerous passenger sedans, including the Buick LaCrosse, Chevrolet Impala, Cadillac CT6 and Chevrolet Volt. More recently, reports surfaced adding the Chevrolet Sonic will exit production this year. The Chevrolet Impala is supposedly inching toward the chopping block as well.
The market has consistently moved to more crossovers, trucks and SUVs and left little room for passenger car sales to grow. However, we can’t help but recall the financial downturn when consumers moved to less expensive small cars. Fuel prices likely won’t stay low forever, either.
Time will tell how GM responds to the decision, but it appears Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles was ahead of the curve within the U.S. auto industry when it axed the Chrysler 200 and Dodge Dart.
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Here is a simple Lineup for all of the American car manufacturers
Ford:
Mustang: Move to S650 platform, base hybrid 400hp, move to pushrod motors like GM/Dodge w 480hp 5.8L GT, 540hp 7.0L Mach 1 & 750hp 5.2L DOHC S/C
Falcon: S650 platform sedan to mirror the mustang w. base 400hp/420tq hybrid, 5.8L Falcon GT, 7.0L Falcon Torino and 6.2L Falcon Torino Cobra
Explorer: CD6 RWD/AWD platform, needs V8 options from Mustang/Falcon to battle the Durango & Jeep Grand Cherokee Performance variants
Bronco: needs to have good power 350hp/350tq 2.3, 400hp/420tq 2.3l hybrid and a high power diesel, needs a raptor & a Eddie-Bauer like trim as well.
Ranger: As above but in truck form
Expedition: Most beautiful thing ford has ever done, prefer a V8 though but this SUV brings a tear to the eye is so pretty.
F-Series: Drop the Ecoboost crap, bring on that rumored 7-liter, give us a real raptor & lightning and drop the coyote for a pushrod v8 like a 480hp 5.8L
Electric performance SUV (Maverick): Destroy Tesla, bring us something like that Jaguar Electric crossover with mustang styling cues
Lincoln:
Aviator-Meh, good start i would say if the ecoboost platform has a home, it should be Lincoln, 2.3L hybrid 400hp/420tq would be more than enough for this
Navigator-Expedition looks better (IMO), this has more power, change those seats inside and that’s about it keep the 450hp/510tq 3.5L under the hood as the only engine option.
Continental: THE FAILBOAT HAS ARRIVED!!! Fix: CD6 RWD based platform, 480hp Coyote 5.0L V8 10-speed auto, magnetic ride, silver caliper Brembo brakes from GT350 with plain rotors, loose the wannabe Bentley looks and be fine.
Chevrolet:
Camaro: Now that i’ve gotten past the initial shock, the car isn’t bad. engine options need to improve drop the 2 point slow, Use the XTS 3.6L twin turbo 410hp V6 engine as the RS engine because that with a 1LE package will destroy a current mustang, the SS needs to move to 480hp ASAP with a 1LE pkg, we need a 540hp 7.0L Z/28 and the ZL1 works fine
Corvette: Keep doing whatever you’re doing GM.
Malibu (Alpha-2 chassis RWD w/AWD option along with a a few high performance V8 models at least a LT1 SS and a 7.0L Malibu “Chevelle SS” package ) of course keep a base model 2.0L and maybe even a Malibu RS package with a 350hp 3.6L N/A V6 and the 1LE suspension. Styling Cues from the never made Buick Vista might be nice.
Colorado: Cool little truck, needs more power, a 350hp 3.6L V6 would do the trick and also up the power on the Baby Duramax, at least give us 420lb-ft of torque and about 300hp.
Blazer: Needs to be Colorado Based with specs from above and needs to be off road capable like the Bronco and the Wrangler.
Tahoe/Suburban: New Silverado styling, RST Performance pack needs to continue on the Tahoe, give us a Trail Boss Tahoe as well please. Thanks
Silverado: Even though the 6.2L Silverado is the highest horsepower V8 pickup out there right now, i think everyone was hoping for more. Something along the lines of the LT1 455hp but with about 480tq. We all want a 500+hp 7.0L SS Silverado 1500 Street truck though! Serious GM, make this truck soon! Other than that, the truck is okay, an inline turbo diesel 6-cylinder would be a cool base work truck as well. Doesn’t need high horsepower just lots of torque.
GMC:
Sierra: needs three models only, SLT, AT4 & Denali, needs two engines: Inline-6 diesel, 455hp 6.2L w/480tq
Yukon: Same as above, drop the inline-6
Canyon: same as Sierra but with the baby Duramax and a 5.3L V8 with a 10-speed auto.
Acadia: Move to the Canyon chassis but sit lower to the ground for easier access, AWD only, 10-speed auto, 5.3L V8 w/active fuel management, cylinder deactivation, Needs SLT, AT4 and Denali trims as well.
Cadillac
CT5: Alpha-2 platform coupe, sedan & shooting brake with 470hp 3.6L twin turbo base, a 550hp 4.2L twin turbo V-sport V8 and a 700hp 4.5L V-series V8 in all three trims
CT6: Perfection
Escala: Perfection flag ship, needs the 500hp base 4.2L V8, the 550hp twin turbo V-Sport V8 and the 700hp 4.5L V-Series V8
Elmiraj: Same as above but in coupe for to look the the Elmiraj coupe but with the new front end body language. that thing is awesome!
Escalade: Same engines options as above (500hp 4.2L twin turbo V8 base engine, 550hp twin turbo 4.2L V8 V-Sport and 700hp 4.5L twin turbo V-Series V8) the Escalade needs to have a more angular design to further distinguish it from a Yukon Denali, the new Cadillac language needs to be incorporated in the front along with a more sculpted body. The truck should have Brembo brakes standard on all models that get larger and more robust as the trim levels get higher with black, silver and gold calipers that go along with the trim level. The inside should be completely different from the GMC Denali lineup as well with nothing similar at all. Also the SUV should sit lower than a GMC do give it a more Dynamic feel and ride but still have enough ground clearance (similar to that of a Jeep SRT or a Durango SRT but just in a full size SUV body)
XT6: Colorado-platform SUV with the 3.6L twin turbo 470hp 3.6L V6/ 10-speed auto as the sole engine choice, AWD, Magnetic ride, Brembo brakes with plain rotors and silver calipers. Although the numbers seem excessive they’re really not especially since this vehicle will be sport tuned but more focused on comfort and everyday driving, but after driving a car with Brembo brakes, you’ll never want to go back to a car without them. Trust me.
Dodge:
Charger: Maserati platform with the ’99 Concept styling cues with a coupe and sedan version. have a base 400hp turbo 4-cylinder engine, take the 5.7L and change the displacement to 5.9L with the Apache (SRT) top end and exhaust and have a 480hp R/T, bring on the 7.0L Banshee 520hp V8 and make that the Charger Daytona and keep the 725hp SRT Hellcat and that’s it
Challenger: Same as above on the platform and engines, Trims should be the 5.9L Challenger T/A, the 7.0L Challenger R/T and the 6.2L Challenger SRT Hellcat and the Body style should move to the ’72 styling which would give the car better aerodynamics because of the revised front grille, front fender vents and the Mopar “gull wing” rear spoiler or the T/A rear lip spoiler which should be taller than the current lip spoiler found on the current challengers. The R/T Should have the Gull wing spoiler and the SRT should have a 5″ lip spoiler on the back while the T/A should have a 3.5L lip spoiler and the base should either have no spoiler, or a small pedestal spoiler.
Durango: Should be based on the Maserati Levante Trofeo with a AWD GT model (400hp turbo-4) which would power the Citadel as well but the Citadel would be more luxury oriented than the sporty GT, an R/T model 480hp 5.9L an SRT-426 model (7.0L 520hp Banshee) and a Hellcat 725hp model
Dakota: Scrambler-based Dodge midsize pickup with Durango attitude, trim levels and engine choices
Ramcharger/Ramcharger XL: Ram 1500 based Ramcharger based on the Rebel/Rebel TR and Rebel TRX, Rebel XL based on the Ram 2500 Power Wagon
Ram series: Gods gift to trucks, Just add the Rebel TR and Rebel TRX with the 520hp Banshee and 707hp Hellcat and let freedom ring!
Jeep:
Scrambler: 400hp turbo-4 Trailhawk, regular 3.6L V6 base engine option w/ 340hp, needs a I-6 diesel as well.
Cherokee: Move to the Alpha Romeo Stelvio platform 350hp 2.9L twin turbo V6,
Grand Cherokee: Same as Durango but with more luxury on every trim level, this still needs to be the Jeep Performance SUV with all of the attitude with no restraints! 5.9L Streethawk, 7.0L Nighthawk, 6.2L Trackhawk
Wrangler: perfect!
Wagoneer:: Jeep Grand Commander, just add a Hemi to the lineup and be fine!
Grand Wagoneer: Take the new Jeep Grand Commander and fit it with everything from the Levante V8 trofeo and win!
Basically this covers all the bases on American vehicles. Drop Buick, fix the lineups and call it a day. There’s no need to drop sedan, just drop the sedans that no one wants and make the things that American people do want. Powerful and practical Rear wheel drive based vehicles with all wheel drive options.
Oh yeah forgot a few things, Basically an electric high performance crossover for the GM and Mopar brands. people love the old-school names on the new vehicles, why not use the Chevy Vega (inspired by Camaro) and the Dodge Gremlin-X. Not many names say high horsepower in a small package like a Gremlin-X and the Vega has a serious following in the performance world. Give electric vehicles instant torque and good horsepower along with a ride that enthusiast will enjoy and voila! you have a following!