Ford Takes A Lesson From The Japanese And Moves To Limit Options

HURRAY!

Your new Mustang can now come in:

Mold Injection White
Wife-beater Wannabe Black
Union Worker Orange
and Soccer Mom Red

Plastic everything is now STANDARD! Enjoy!

— Greenlight (View Profile)

Posted on 5/4/2007 3:11:54 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 7   

Any color you like as long as it is black. Any model you like as long as it is model T... hey, this sounds familiar... I wonder what company had this in its explosive birth...

— vdiv (View Profile)

Posted on 5/4/2007 3:33:19 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 4   

What I'm trying to stamp out in the auto industry is the near-criminal practice of combining useful options with utterly useless options into an overpriced package. All useful options should be stand-alone options.

— EnnNorak (View Profile)

Posted on 5/4/2007 4:22:52 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

Sensible idea, think how many people care enough about 2 shades of grey paint, or all the useless options like auto dimming mirrors.
Have 6 colours (black, white, silver, grey, red, blue) and 1 interior colour (black).

— Rupert (View Profile)

Posted on 5/4/2007 5:40:35 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

I don't think that there are too many combinations for cars. I'd like to be able to have a power sunroof, ABS, anti-skid with a manual gearbox without paying for dumb stuff like xenon headlamps, spoilers, back seat DVD players and navigation systems. The lunacy comes in, as the article says, when you start looking at pick-ups and vans.

— mp2dtw (View Profile)

Posted on 5/5/2007 12:57:12 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

Only 16,000 comnbinqtions?
The VW Golf sold in Europe (with at least 5 engines, 4 transmissions, etc.) has over 1/4 million combinations, yet 60% of Golfs are custom orders.
This is in huge contrast to North American sales, where ordering a custom vehicle is done, but its the exception to the norm.
Let's compare this to a Toyota Corolla: 1 engine, 2 transmissions, 1 interior color, .... other than paint, you can count the Corolla variants on your fingers.
The Golf: 2-dr hatch, 4-dr hatch, wagon, 2WD, 4WD, various diesel engines, various 4-cyl. gas engines, 6-cyl. gas engines, 5-spd stick, 6-spd stick, A/T, 6-spd. A/T, DSG A/T,

Yes, the Japanese save $$$ by not offering choice. So does Microsoft. Its bad for the consumer. But is it bad for the automaker?
I don't think so, seeing how much better Toyota (with their bland cars) performs financially compared to an innovator like VW (with their totally customizable offerings).

I think that this change by Ford will eventually diminish the Mustand brand, and cause long-term sales reductions.

— DieselRules (View Profile)

Posted on 5/5/2007 2:05:00 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

I agree M35MT, any car over 30k should have xenons standard along with LED tail lights. I saw a new Mercedes GL (SUV) with halogen projectors, and boring tails that couldv'e been easily mistaken for a Highlander (which now has LED brake lights).

— aeyjay (View Profile)

Posted on 5/5/2007 2:54:58 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

I have the same typing problem "DieselRules" and I'm not sure if the batteries on my wireless keyboard are getting low or if there is some sort of signal corruption in the satellite transmission. I always proofread everything 3 times and I find a few missing or jumbled letters each time. Maybe only us diesel fans have this problem due to neurological deficiencies brought on by diesel fumes.

— EnnNorak (View Profile)

Posted on 5/11/2007 11:34:48 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1