View Full Version : You guys might be interested in this bit of info
I own some stock in the Ford Motor Company. The company sends out to its stockholders a report that details where the company is going and what products are being considered. One product that Ford is considering is a performance coupe for Jaguar based on "X" Type mechanicals. They feel a need to compete with the BMW 3 series coupe and the Mercedes CLK. What's interesting is that Ford is giving serious consideration to introducing a Ford version of this coupe, priced in the $21,000 to $26,000 range to compete with the Honda Accord Coupe and the Toyota Solara.
According to Ford, the Base level coupe would have a 2.4 liter, 160 hp 4 cylinder, 5 speed combo with a 4 speed auto optional. There would be an up level 4 cylinder with leather and luxury options. The top version would have a 3.0 liter, 230 hp V6 that's also available in the Mazda6. It would also be comparably equiped as the Honda EX V6 Coupe while possibly undercutting it in price. There was no word if there would be a mid-level V6, 5 or 6 speed available. The only other tidbit was the possibility of offering the coupe with an optional 4 wheel drive system. This would be based on "X" Type mechanicals that would also underpin the Jaguar version of this coupe.
Ford says that IF the project is approved, we're looking at 2006 at the earliest. As far as a name for the Ford version of the coupe, the only thing ruled out is using the "Probe" or "Cougar" name for it. A possibility is "Falcon" for the name, but that is still far off yet.
I'd like to know what you guys think of this and if you think it could work.
People at Ford felt that Cougar sales were disappointing because the car was marketed incorrectly and was perceived wrong in the marketplace. That, along with the car not measuring up to its competition at the time in quality, price, and value. There are those that feel that Ford may be making another mistake by introducing a coupe in the marketplace based on the Probe and Cougar experiences. What do you guys think?
i dunno. but what i do know is that ford made no attempts worthy of any vehicle to advertise the cougar. I had never heard of the new edge cougar nor seen it had my sister not told me about it. i was considering a celica among a few others. If we're looking at features (safety, convenience, lux, power) for the price, the cougar had everyone beat. The stock base Celica is rolldown windows. this is 2000! i mean come on. had i bought a celica with all the features the cougar has, i would have a price of 4-6 thousand more. which is rediculous. I mean think about it.. theres probably more aftermarket for a Tibby than cougars and contours combined. IMHO theres something obviously wrong there.
Not to mention that the cougar is really just a contour with a different body shell. and BOTH are no longer in production. WTF! GG Ford!
anyways.. if they're gonna pump the same kind of marketing they did for the cougar i'd say forget it.
edit: one thing i do like now that Cougars are done (until they release the new version) is that i can go for days without seeing a new edge cougar on the road. compared to seeing 3 altimas in row at a stop light or seeing truck after truck after truck. makes it somewhat unique. Then again i really dont like the stock cougar anymore.
transient
06-13-2003, 12:52 AM
Originally posted by: Seth
Then again i really dont like the stock cougar anymore.
word...i never liked cougars until i saw one with a kit on it. then it looked hot...but stock is lacking.
When the Cougar was first released in 1999, Car and Driver panned it putting it last in a comparo of sport compacts that included the Honda Prelude, the then new Mitsubishi Eclipse, and the Volkwagen Golf GTI. At the time I was in the market for a new car and I remember that the Cougar was the same money as an Eclipse GT with the V6. I was already driving a Honda Prelude and when comparing it back-to-back with the Cougar, I can't say that I was impressed. If you add that the Prelude came in about $1,000 higher and had great resale value to boot, I was tempted to get another one.
I've felt that giving the car to Lincoln/Mercury dealers to sell was a mistake. They were confronted with a new type of buyer and they weren't used to it. I felt that Ford should've made the Cougar a natural progression of the Probe which, if you remember, had a fairly successful run from 1988 to 1997.
I also thought that the Cougar was lacking in features when you compare it to some of the other cars, including the last year Probes. The leather seats in the 99/00 Cougars I feel are terrible and didn't compare to both the seats in the Prelude and the Probe.
If Ford adds true value in this new coupe and markets it to the same crowd that buys Accord Coupes, I think it could have a winner on its hands. The Mondeo platform that underpins the Cougar and the Jaguar X is supposed to undergo a major revamp even though I think its one of Ford's best platforms. That can only mean a car with better performance and feel if it ever came about..
i dont know. but i disagree. I had a budget of about 20k give or take when i got my cougar and there was no way i could get an Eclipse GTI for 20k.. no way. The golf was great for the price. HP sucked but safety and control was good. style sucked ass. was a box inside. not 1 curve. i also dont go by what a magazine rates a car as in "more fun" or handled better. they're biased articles that are there to sell not review (for the most part). plus i never wanted the leather so i had nothing to compare it to. plus torque on the cougar outdid the celica, eclipse and golf. at least thats what i remember. i dunno but i think this will be the last ford i get. Unless theres just something i MUST have.
PonyGirl
06-13-2003, 10:58 AM
Originally posted by: Seth
i dunno. but what i do know is that ford made no attempts worthy of any vehicle to advertise the cougar. I had never heard of the new edge cougar nor seen it had my sister not told me about it. i was considering a celica among a few others. If we're looking at features (safety, convenience, lux, power) for the price, the cougar had everyone beat. The stock base Celica is rolldown windows. this is 2000! i mean come on. had i bought a celica with all the features the cougar has, i would have a price of 4-6 thousand more. which is rediculous. I mean think about it.. theres probably more aftermarket for a Tibby than cougars and contours combined. IMHO theres something obviously wrong there.
Not to mention that the cougar is really just a contour with a different body shell. and BOTH are no longer in production. WTF! GG Ford!
anyways.. if they're gonna pump the same kind of marketing they did for the cougar i'd say forget it.
edit: one thing i do like now that Cougars are done (until they release the new version) is that i can go for days without seeing a new edge cougar on the road. compared to seeing 3 altimas in row at a stop light or seeing truck after truck after truck. makes it somewhat unique. Then again i really dont like the stock cougar anymore.
I think Carlos is absolutely right. Seriously, my boyfriend has an '02 Celica GT. And he's leasing it. I'd never lease a car, but that was his choice. Anyway, the car was at least 10G's more than I paid for my Cougar (even though it was used) and it has a 1.8L, 4 cylinder engine. Not that the car doesn't have pickup...it does. But I wouldn't pay that kind of money for anything smaller than a V6. I think the Cougar would have been serious competition for the Celica, Eclipse, RSX and Tiburon if Ford had just thrown a little more money into marketing. I have never, ever seen one commercial for the Cougar, one billboard or one ad in the paper. If I'm lucky, I see 3 a day on the road (of course, only with old men or women driving) or I can go for days seeing none at all. I hated the New Cougar when I first saw it, too. I was like, "What the hell did they do with my old RWD V8!?" But you know, the more you see something, the more you get used to it. Maybe that would've happened sooner :) I love the car now and I love getting looks from other drivers. I was driving home from work last week, stopped at a light and this older man with a '93/'94 Cougar Elite pulls up beside me and says, "That's a nice lookin' Cougar." I love to hear those kind of things. It still is disheartening, but I feel special that I have a car that only a few people have.