New-car introductions are becoming increasingly rare as the auto industry suffers through its worst downturn in 25 years.
Ford Motor Co is bucking the trend this month, however, gambling that its new Fusion hybrid sedan can attract some of the dwindling number of US consumers still interested in buying a new car.
Ford also hopes its Fusion hybrid will help separate the automaker in the public’s mind from its crosstown rivals General Motors (GM) and Chrysler, which both need more government loans to avoid bankruptcy. Ford has so far refrained from seeking federal aid.
“We are not about waiting for tomorrow and what it’s going to bring,” said James Farley, Ford’s global marketing chief. “It’s about what we’re doing today to bring out car after car after car.”
The industry has cut back considerably on new-model introductions — hardly a surprise considering the 18 percent drop in US vehicle sales last year.
Last year, automakers brought out 17 new models, not including redesigns of existing vehicles, Ward’s Automotive Reports said.
That was about half the annual number of new models the industry turned out just a few years before. With sales plunging to levels comparable to the early 1980s, automakers are delaying or canceling product programs to conserve cash.
The number of new models that will debut this year will probably be fewer than 10, according to product plans revealed by the automakers.
“The environment is obviously not good as far as the economy and consumer confidence goes,” said Joseph Phillippi, principal in the firm Auto Trends Consulting.
Ford, however, is bringing out three new vehicles this year — the Fusion, with either a hybrid or conventional engine; the new Taurus sedan; and the Transit Connect van.
It will introduce the Fusion Hybrid with an advertising campaign beginning tonight on American Idol.
With Ford shifting its product lineup to emphasize more fuel-efficient small cars, the Fusion Hybrid is seen within the company as an important vehicle for changing perceptions in the marketplace.
“We’re known to most people as a trucks and Mustang company,” said Matt Van Dyke, Ford’s US director of marketing communications. “How do we begin to tell the story that we’re in the car business in earnest?”
The bigger challenge may be drawing buyers into showrooms.
“The question is what people are going to respond to,” Farley said. “And we think it is fuel economy.”
Both the hybrid and conventionally powered Fusion models are ranked best in fuel economy in their respective segments, federal statistics showed.
Ads for the hybrid promote not only that it delivers 41 miles a gallon (17.4km per liter), but that it can travel 700 miles (1,126km) on a single tank of gas.
While they do not talk about it much publicly, Ford officials also think that every car introduction this year will further separate their company from the troubles enveloping GM and Chrysler.
Ford is tracking how its decision not to take government money has affected consumers’ perceptions of the company, but has declined to share that data.
The magazine Consumer Reports recently gave Ford’s reputation a lift when it recommended more of its models to prospective buyers than vehicles from GM or Chrysler.
GM and Chrysler have received US$17.4 billion combined in bailout loans and are asking Washington for an additional US$21.6 billion.
Analysts think the relentless coverage of their loan requests is taking a toll on GM and Chrysler — and consequently helping Ford.
“GM and Chrysler are in the media every day, and every story invariably cites the ‘B’ words — bankruptcy and bailout,” Phillippi said. “It has to be helping Ford.”
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from