xcel
08-10-2006, 12:28 AM
Fields says carmaker would only enter growing market when it creates distinct product. (http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060809/AUTO01/608090426/1148)
Bryce G. Hoffman - Detroit News - August 9, 2006
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Fiesta_ST.jpg
2006 European Ford Fiesta ST - not here and not another Econo-box.
TRAVERSE CITY -- The market for subcompact autos in the United States could reach 600,000 units annually by the end of the decade, according to Mark Fields, president of Ford Motor Co.'s Americas group. But he says Ford will not enter this growing domestic segment until it has something different to offer consumers.
"I want to make sure that we come in with a product that's distinctly Ford," Fields told a group of reporters Tuesday on the eve of his address to industry leaders at the Management Briefing Seminars, an annual automotive conference organized by the Center for Automotive Research.
Known in the industry as "B-cars," the subcompact category includes vehicles like the Chevrolet Aveo and Toyota Yaris.
Fields said the increase in demand for these small cars will be driven by rising gasoline prices and the emergence of the so-called "millennials" as an important consumer segment. These are the children of the baby boomers, and Fields says they will be looking for something quite different than the big sport utility vehicles and minivans their parents drove.
"They're looking for transportation. Not basic transportation, but they're not going to the luxury end of the market (either)," Fields said.
While he acknowledged that Americans like big cars, he said advances in automotive technology allow designers to make small cars that feel a lot bigger than they actually are.
Ford was on track to introduce a new B-car when Fields took over as head of the Americas group last fall. That vehicle was a domestic version of the EcoSport - a small SUV based on the Fiesta platform that is popular in Latin America. However, company sources say the American EcoSport would have been a stripped-down version of an already spartan model that was designed to compete on price rather than on quality.
Ford already makes several subcompacts in other parts of the world, including the EcoSport and Fiesta.
Fields said he would rather wait until Ford has something other than "just another econo-box" to offer its customers.
Ford is struggling to stop its loss of domestic market share as consumers turn away from the big pickups and SUVs that have been the focus of its North American business for several years.
Bryce G. Hoffman - Detroit News - August 9, 2006
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Fiesta_ST.jpg
2006 European Ford Fiesta ST - not here and not another Econo-box.
TRAVERSE CITY -- The market for subcompact autos in the United States could reach 600,000 units annually by the end of the decade, according to Mark Fields, president of Ford Motor Co.'s Americas group. But he says Ford will not enter this growing domestic segment until it has something different to offer consumers.
"I want to make sure that we come in with a product that's distinctly Ford," Fields told a group of reporters Tuesday on the eve of his address to industry leaders at the Management Briefing Seminars, an annual automotive conference organized by the Center for Automotive Research.
Known in the industry as "B-cars," the subcompact category includes vehicles like the Chevrolet Aveo and Toyota Yaris.
Fields said the increase in demand for these small cars will be driven by rising gasoline prices and the emergence of the so-called "millennials" as an important consumer segment. These are the children of the baby boomers, and Fields says they will be looking for something quite different than the big sport utility vehicles and minivans their parents drove.
"They're looking for transportation. Not basic transportation, but they're not going to the luxury end of the market (either)," Fields said.
While he acknowledged that Americans like big cars, he said advances in automotive technology allow designers to make small cars that feel a lot bigger than they actually are.
Ford was on track to introduce a new B-car when Fields took over as head of the Americas group last fall. That vehicle was a domestic version of the EcoSport - a small SUV based on the Fiesta platform that is popular in Latin America. However, company sources say the American EcoSport would have been a stripped-down version of an already spartan model that was designed to compete on price rather than on quality.
Ford already makes several subcompacts in other parts of the world, including the EcoSport and Fiesta.
Fields said he would rather wait until Ford has something other than "just another econo-box" to offer its customers.
Ford is struggling to stop its loss of domestic market share as consumers turn away from the big pickups and SUVs that have been the focus of its North American business for several years.