Ford lies about fuel economy.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Spec

Ok, so I missed afew countries. Then let me ask again, why is it that american cars have no succes in MOST of the world (which is mostly in INDUSTRIALIZED countries other than Canada and the US..)

Very simple. They don't export and instead they have spent big money buying local brands. GM & Ford have owned European, Japanese, and Australian brands for most of the last century and in the 80's they added even more local brands into their portfolio. It simply doesn't make sense to build a ground up network when you can buy a complete network with a locally recognizable name for a fraction of the price.

The truth is the big three sell tons of cars in Europe and have a larger market share then the Japanese. Fully one third of the Japanese makes are controlled by the big three and even Korea's Hyundai is minority owned by them. They build locally because you save on trasportation expenses and you don't have to worry about currency fluctuations. Face it man, you are wrong.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Asher
Ford's European cars are very, very different from their American cars.

All of the auto companies design different cars for different markets to reflect different desires by the buyers. Gas prices are high in Europe so most cars are small with small engines or disiel engines, Japan hates diseils so none are offered there and they love more high tech so everything from engines to suspensions have to be the latest (and most expensive), Latin America hates high tech and their roads often suck so they want rugged and dependable cars with old fashioned suspensions that last longer against pot holes, North Americans tend to see small cars as socially unacceptable so they demand large cars with large engines same goes for Australia, China wants small cheap cars, Africa & the rest of Asia pretty much want the absolute cheapest car they can get. Different cars for different markets is the way to go and that's what every company does.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Spec
Exactly. So? Ford didn't bother to get it in the US. And the escort in europe comes 4 wheel drive....not here it doesn't.

Not for the better part of a decade. The escort was discontinued in the 1990s and replaced by the Focus which was supposed to be a "world car" but like I said in my previous post world cars never work. The reason is different markets demand different things and its next to impossible to design one car which makes everyone happy. You need multiple designs to fill everyone's desires.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Dissident
so you are saying you are the best at what you do?

there's always someone better.

There's always something to strive for -- I'm not saying I'm the best. I'm saying when given a choice between a superior Product A and an inferior Product B, I'll take the superior product.