The future's bright, the future's blue?

Blitzkrieger

Welcome the new CEO of Ford........Mr. Ford. Nassaw (spelling?) did a great job and the new boss has inherited a great company. Just look at all the companies they own :

Jaguar : I can only see the market for Jags getting bigger and bigger, albeit slowly, unless the new X-type is a big success.

Land Rover : Another prestige brand (I've always thought they were crap) that's struck gold with the Freelander. Everybody's first thought when they think of a 4X4.

Aston Martin : *Drool* I WANNA VOLANTE! If my numbers come up tomorrow it's the first thing I'll buy. It's the next Bond car, and if it's good enough for 007, it's good enough for me. If I had mad money to spend I'd get a Vantage as my second car and a DB7 Vantage for my third.

Volvo & Saab : Just about the only brands I can see losing out to the Germans.

Lotus : With Ford's money behind them Lotus are building some great cars. **** reliability at the moment but hopefully that'll be fixed. Possibly with the help of....

Mazda : I heard a rumor that Ford wanted to buy some engine management system that Mazda developed. It wasn't for sale so they bought the whole company Even Mercedes aren't as reliable as Mazda, and for some reason people see them as desireable. I can't talk though - I'm thinking about a second-hand 626 for my next car.

I'm probably leaving someone out but the parent company is in great shape too. The Focus is Britan's best selling car and I believe Europe's best selling. The new Fiesta is nearly here (it's huge!) and is likely to take over that mantle, 'orrible looking as it is. I forget which 4x4 - Maverick or Explorer - is a cheap Freelander. With the Focus RS they hope to steal some of the Impreza's and Evo's thunder, and defintly will with the Focus Cosworth (2003 ).

There's also the Racing Focus. Which I also think is 'orrible. IMO it's too much. The air-scoop, spoiler and skirts should all be smaller.

There's the Start - a Focus based coupe. If it was an Alfa it'd sell like nobody's business but this area of the market is very badge-concious.

But then there's the Fusion. A Fiesta based 4X4. :rolleyes: This ladies and gentlemen, is the embodiment of everything that's wrong with today's car market.

But a bright future for Ford nonetheless

(I was hoping to find links to pictures of the Start, Racing Focus and Fusion but the Ford website seems to be a big steaming turd)

Blitzkrieger

doesn't anyone actually want to talk about cars?............

rymus

naw man, 2 wheels are much cooler than 4

Blitzkrieger

Bikes are great in the summer - the wind in your hair, the sun on your back and all the bugs you can eat

A Focus Cossie is way :cool:er than a crotch-rocket anyday

Xterminator

Bikes are great in the summer - the wind in your hair, the sun on your back and all the bugs you can eat

Yeh, but cycling up them hills is a bytch!:D

Neil3030

All forms of motor vehicles are welcome on this board

Panda

Originally posted by Blitzkrieger

Aston Martin : *Drool* I WANNA VOLANTE! If my numbers come up tomorrow it's the first thing I'll buy. It's the next Bond car, and if it's good enough for 007, it's good enough for me. If I had mad money to spend I'd get a Vantage as my second car and a DB7 Vantage for my third.

It's the next Bond car!@!!@#!@!!#!@!%
They're my favourite super cars.
Note the sig pic.

OMG dont tell lies!!!, is it really? Its about fricking time they returned to Aston Martins, BMW just dont fit the picture.

I know a bit about cars but i mostly drool over super cars.
Have ye seen the new Lambo? Tis classy, with enough BHP for a small country.
Not to mention the new Bugatti, The Veyron, and if you liked that look for the Bugatti Chiron.

PS: Bikes are mental aswell. But i know nout about them.

Blitzkrieger

New Lambo is coooooooooolllllll I love the way Lambo's always look good no matter how outrageous the colour. I'll have a tango-orange one

I've never been a big fan of Buggatis. The EB110 was a great car but I thought it was so ugly. Don't really like the new Veyron either. The seem to go all-out for performance (not always a bad thing ) and sacrifice styling a bit.

I might have been telling you lies about the Bond car I think it's actually the Vanquish they're using

Is the Volante a variation of the Vanquish or the DB7-Vantage

Kali

Blitz: The Volante is an opentop Vantage.

And your right, I'd presume they'll be using the brand new Vanquish for the 007 film, would be a bit more Bond-type with the new paddleshift mechanism they have in it... plus it looks a lot more aggressive and modern than the Vantage (with its horrible american styling cues)... plus the fact that its Aston Martins range topping machine.

That said though I have heard both cars mentioned at different times.

The new Bugatti Veyron is quite possibly the ugliest supercar I have ever seen, from the back its beautiful, rear-end styling of a lotus elise with vanquish-esque flared rear arches, however the front is just laughable... we won't be seeing it on the roads ever however, cos Bugatti is owned by VW, who are releasing (and who are actually well-beyond testing stage) their own W12 based supercar, think it was in this weeks Auto Express if I'm not mistaken... with the world economy the way it is I wouldn't expect a manufacturer to compete against themselves for what would be minimal sales anyway (they own Lamborghini as well remember).

On the Ford Start, its being (was) designed by Pininfarina, and imo looks like an imalgamation of a Maserati 3200GT and Fiat Coupe... i.e. absolutely gorgeous, so its a right pity about the Ford badge... still as long as itll take the awful Cougars and Pumas off the road.

Can't see that the Focus RS will be taking much of Subarus business, a 200bhp front-driven car? no thanks.. although it does look beautiful... heres a pic (crappy flash tho) I took at last years british motor show (original RS230).. its a pity theres not enough interest for this years show:

http://redbrick.dcu.ie/~kane/motorshow/Ford-Focus-RS230.jpg

btw nice to see a good discussion on these boards for once

Panda

Originally posted by Blitzkrieger
The seem to go all-out for performance (not always a bad thing ) and sacrifice styling a bit.

sacrifice styling a bit.

Am, you've got to be taking the piss there!!!

Take a gander and change your mind

http://www.vwvortex.com/news/09_01/bugatti/index.shtml

The black and red paint job is pure sex.

Blitzkrieger

the black and red paint job IMO highlights how bad it is. It looks like a mondeo cross-bred with a hippo The wheel arches are too high, the doors are too high, the back end doesn't look like it's the same car as the front end, that rear wing looks like someone left the boot open and that Buggati grill at the front looks like a bored-yawn. Me no like it

Panda

GRRRrrrrr,

ok, everbody is entitled to their wrong opinion, i mean opinion but.....



C'MON!!!

Kali

note that theres only 5 released pictures of the bugatti out (two of which arent of the exterior) and a rough outline of performance... and nothing to shout about imo either.

about my elise styling point:

Winning Hand

Originally posted by Blitzkrieger

Mazda : I heard a rumor that Ford wanted to buy some engine management system that Mazda developed. It wasn't for sale so they bought the whole company

Engine management system????????? Only thing that mazda have thats any way innovative is the wankel rotary engine, and its a bit more than a management system, and it was invented by a german .
Wankel has potential, however it is as reliable as an frenchman and puts out more pollution than sellafield. Mazda are seriously mired in nowhere land, uninspiring ass ugly cars, if it wasnt for the mx-5 the would of died years ago.
636, lol.

Ford are in good shape at the moment though, with the exception of the whole explorer malarky. New mondeo has gotten rave reviews, but lets be honest when your competition is the vectra what are you gonna do? As for the focus, dont believe the hype, slow, fat, avant guarde styling leaves questionable visibility..... plus everyone and their mother drives one.

Want a company thats going places. VW/Audi, or Honda

Kali

Originally posted by Winning Hand

Mazda are seriously mired in nowhere land, uninspiring ass ugly cars, if it wasnt for the mx-5 the would of died years ago.
636, lol.

636? the 626s replacement is the new Mazda 6, and looks set to bring back a good bit of business there way, add to that the RX-8... both due mid-02, both very-well styled, meant to handle and perform somewhat decently as well.

Blitzkrieger

The Focus is everywhere cos it's Europe's best selling car. It's bigger than most of it's rivals and fun to drive too - nothing wrong with it I don't much care for the stying of the hatchback either tho - if you get a black one it seems to hide the unsightly bulges a bit

Mazda are the most reliable second-hand cars according to several dealer surveys. That's a big selling point for me after I had some bad experiences with a Corsa a few years back. *shudder* Plus you can get a lot of extras for your money. I couldn't be ar$ed spending all my money on a flash Impreza or something if it means I haven't even got a decent heater.