Ford CEO admits 'the customer has spoken' amid company's worst performance slip since 2008 financial crisis: 'It's a big miss'

[AzScorpion]

You can get a Maverick XL for under $30,000. They are wonderful little trucks.

https://www.rochestermotorcars.com/new-Rochester-2025-Ford-Maverick-XL-3FTTW8A39SRB24161

I said reliable. lol

Admittedly I know very little about the Maverick and with all the recalls on Ford vehicles now I personally wouldn't buy another until things changed. Until they turn things around I'd look at Toyota (Camry) os a Honda first. YMMV

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[Texasota]

I said reliable. lol

Admittedly I know very little about the Maverick and with all the recalls on Ford vehicles now I personally wouldn't buy another until things changed. Until they turn things around I'd look at Toyota (Camry) os a Honda first. YMMV

https://fordauthority.com/2026/02/ford-maverick-among-crs-most-reliable-used-pickups/

 

[Cmar]

Sadly they never built the Maverick in RHD, otherwise I feel it would have sold well here to city dwellers, who just wanted a small ute for camping or taking stuff to the dump, but the rest of the time have to drive it in traffic, and park in squeezy inner city parking spaces. So said people now have to make do with a Ranger, Hilux, or similar which is 130% of what they need, 90% of the time.
I'm really surprised the Chinese haven't jumped in to fill this market slot.
Instead they seem determined to keep building bigger,and bigger, Ranger, RAM and F150 clones.

 

[VAMike]

Not true in the case of the Maverick. Sounds like it would be a nice fit for you.

Nope. I looked at these while shopping for a car for a kid. For myself it's a non-starter because the bed is too small because it has a back seat I don't want/need. Beyond myself, the XL is not a bad deal, but it's really stripped down. Around here they're basically only available in white, and the features don't compare well to other manufacturers' base models. The prices have gone up quite a bit (MSRP for base model 2026 is over $28) and in typical Ford fashion they've been quietly taking things away. It also depends very much on when you look--the price difference between the XL and XLT has jumped around a lot as has the availability of various options. So maybe something that looked good 2 years ago doesn't exist at that price point today. They want to lead with "under $25k" (though that's now "under $30k" but they really want you to upsell to $40k. The availability of the XL seems artificially constricted precisely because Ford doesn't think it's profitable enough.

 

[VAMike]

Actually, the domestic three really struggled with smaller cars until the Japanese gave them no choice in the '80s.

But the bigger problem was that most consumers didn't really want them

The big 3 loved to position it as "people won't buy small cars" but people seemed to buy plenty of small cars from honda and toyota so it seemed like it was really "people won't buy our small cars". Probably because they sucked compared to the competition.

 

[Montana Ranger]

Where can you buy a reliable vehicle now for $26,500? You can't.

But consider what that $3,000 car was like.

A few years ago I rented a Toyota Corolla and compared it to the late '70s Corolla I drove through the '80s. (About $3,000 new) It got 30-45 mpg vs the 20-30 mine got. Everything was automatic; transmission, and climate control with A/C vs the manual fan & heat of mine. Power steering, windows, trunk. Was very quiet versus mine and felt and sounds far more solid. (No tinny noise when closing the doors) It had a sound system that would have been unbelievable compared to the simple AM/FM radio with two cheap speakers mine came with. It could get to 60 MPH in seconds instead of minutes. Comparatively, its handling was somewhere between a luxury and sports car versus mine. And was more physically comfortable all around.

So when making these comparisons, you just can't compare dollars. You have to compare the quality as well. Few people today would accept the standards of 50 years ago.

 

[AzScorpion]

But consider what that $3,000 car was like.

A few years ago I rented a Toyota Corolla and compared it to the late '70s Corolla I drove through the '80s. (About $3,000 new) It got 30-45 mpg vs the 20-30 mine got. Everything was automatic; transmission, and climate control with A/C vs the manual fan & heat of mine. Power steering, windows, trunk. Was very quiet versus mine and felt and sounds far more solid. (No tinny noise when closing the doors) It had a sound system that would have been unbelievable compared to the simple AM/FM radio with two cheap speakers mine came with. It could get to 60 MPH in seconds instead of minutes. Comparatively, its handling was somewhere between a luxury and sports car versus mine. And was more physically comfortable all around.

So when making these comparisons, you just can't compare dollars. You have to compare the quality as well. Few people today would accept the standards of 50 years ago.

I said this in another post above but I think a few would accept it. Take the HVAC me personally I'd rather have the old design where its just a real metal lever and a cable. If it broke it's easy enough to fix a cable rather than the $2,500 dual climate control we have now. Touch screen are nice but super glitchy so I'd rather have knobs to control everything. Aftermarket stereos are usually better than what comes stock. I'm not a big audiophile but give me an old Panasonic stereo (with 8 track of course) an amp and some Pioneer 6x9 coaxial speakers in the deck and I'm good. lol

 

[ControlNode]

But consider what that $3,000 car was like.

A few years ago I rented a Toyota Corolla and compared it to the late '70s Corolla I drove through the '80s. (About $3,000 new) It got 30-45 mpg vs the 20-30 mine got. Everything was automatic; transmission, and climate control with A/C vs the manual fan & heat of mine. Power steering, windows, trunk. Was very quiet versus mine and felt and sounds far more solid. (No tinny noise when closing the doors) It had a sound system that would have been unbelievable compared to the simple AM/FM radio with two cheap speakers mine came with. It could get to 60 MPH in seconds instead of minutes. Comparatively, its handling was somewhere between a luxury and sports car versus mine. And was more physically comfortable all around.

So when making these comparisons, you just can't compare dollars. You have to compare the quality as well. Few people today would accept the standards of 50 years ago.

I miss my 67 Lincoln to this day. It was auto/power everything, even the clock on the dash had an auto winder for the classic clock gears/springs. While mine did have the auto-climate system (just set the temp like in a modern car and it adjust heat/AC as needed), the auto parking brake release when put into gear, power vent windows, 6 way power bench seat, AC Delco AM/FM radio.... I was missing a few options it could have come with, auto-dimming high beam lights, cruise control, and the 8-track player. I think it even had the auto scan radio, where I could press a button on the floor near the high beam switch and it would move to the next station it could pickup.

 

[Superspirit]

I miss my 67 Lincoln to this day. It was auto/power everything, even the clock on the dash had an auto winder for the classic clock gears/springs. While mine did have the auto-climate system (just set the temp like in a modern car and it adjust heat/AC as needed), the auto parking brake release when put into gear, power vent windows, 6 way power bench seat, AC Delco AM/FM radio.... I was missing a few options it could have come with, auto-dimming high beam lights, cruise control, and the 8-track player. I think it even had the auto scan radio, where I could press a button on the floor near the high beam switch and it would move to the next station it could pickup.

Are you sure that wasn't a philco radio? Ac/delco was gm. I remember philco radio's in the older fords.

 

[Grumpaw]

I said this in another post above but I think a few would accept it. Take the HVAC me personally I'd rather have the old design where its just a real metal lever and a cable. If it broke it's easy enough to fix a cable rather than the $2,500 dual climate control we have now. Touch screen are nice but super glitchy so I'd rather have knobs to control everything. Aftermarket stereos are usually better than what comes stock. I'm not a big audiophile but give me an old Panasonic stereo (with 8 track of course) an amp and some Pioneer 6x9 coaxial speakers in the deck and I'm good. lol

Don't forget one of these....

 

[ControlNode]

Are you sure that wasn't a philco radio? Ac/delco was gm. I remember philco radio's in the older fords.

100% sure. Lincoln wanted the best I guess and in the late 60s I assume AC/Delco was it. I was really surprised when I saw that too while I had the dash apart working on some burnt out bulbs. Installed you would never know it was AC/Delco. But when I removed it, the sticker had AC/Delco on it.

EDIT: Perhaps it was just Delco and I added the AC/ in my head since those always seem to go together. Here is an ebay listing for it: https://www.ebay.com/itm/127465016457

 

[dtech]

I miss my 67 Lincoln to this day. It was auto/power everything, even the clock on the dash had an auto winder for the classic clock gears/springs. While mine did have the auto-climate system (just set the temp like in a modern car and it adjust heat/AC as needed), the auto parking brake release when put into gear, power vent windows, 6 way power bench seat, AC Delco AM/FM radio.... I was missing a few options it could have come with, auto-dimming high beam lights, cruise control, and the 8-track player. I think it even had the auto scan radio, where I could press a button on the floor near the high beam switch and it would move to the next station it could pickup.

Well the east and mid west are having a hellacious winter, but the Lincoln brings back memories of the blizzard of 77 in Buffalo NY, friend had IIRC a 66 Continental, it had a positraction rear end that was malfunctioning so he rarely drove it, driving was banned in the city for 5 days or except for 1st responders, one of our buddies was one so we convinced the lincoln owner to take it out so we could drive to some bars in the hope they still had liquor as the nearby bars had run dry, we put several big tree stumps in the trunk the rear end on that car was simply massive. Anyways we were far from sober and I remember owing to the malfunctioning rear end loud clunking noises were heard and apparently power would go to one wheel swinging the rear end wildly on the snow covered street, then with a clunk power would shift to the other wheel, sending the car wildly spinning in the opposite direction, like an amusement park ride. Finally we drove by a police car who pulled us over, our buddy showed his badge the cop just laughed and said get back home or we'd all be spending the night in jail. Finally after 5 days streets were reopened and the beer trucks rolled in, it was quite the experience and I still have a t shirt with "I survived the blizzard of 77 " . and didn't the lincoln have like 460 cube V8 ?

 

[Superspirit]

100% sure. Lincoln wanted the best I guess and in the late 60s I assume AC/Delco was it. I was really surprised when I saw that too while I had the dash apart working on some burnt out bulbs. Installed you would never know it was AC/Delco. But when I removed it, the sticker had AC/Delco on it.

EDIT: Perhaps it was just Delco and I added the AC/ in my head since those always seem to go together. Here is an ebay listing for it: https://www.ebay.com/itm/127465016457

Wow, not surprised. Just had to ask.

 

[Mighty Little Blue]

This is one area where I'll have to disagree with you.

If we start regulating what someone (or a company) can make we're going to be a socialist country. While their worth is astounding it was all done legally and all of them benefiting from al the legal tax loopholes. That's like saying you're not going to take all your legal deductions on your own tax returns because it's not fair to someone who's poor and doesn't receive the same. When I was in business I wrote off everything I could from my trucks (which was everything I bought for them like some killer stereos &wheels), cloths, all my stationary and envelopes and even a few nice big screen tvs over the years. They were in my office and I used them as my computer monitor.

Take Elon for instance. When he owned SolarCity he made a ton of money off the government subsidies because most of SCs customers were leasing their systems. When you lease your system the installer gets the rebates not the customer so all those tens of thousands of homes they did he was getting all the rebates which is brilliant and well deserved. Heck just my small 14 panel array qualified for $6,000 Federal and $1,000 State subsidies which I was able to take 100% right off my income in 2016. I was still working then and being self employed it allowed me to skip a few quarterly payments. Now multiply that by the amount they did and you can see where a good chunk of money was made besides the installs and the materials.

Don't hate the player, hate the game. Hint, it's rigged against all us little guys.

Yes, but who rigs the game (makes the rules) so it is really a grey area on being legally made money.

 

[ControlNode]

and didn't the lincoln have like 460 cube V8 ?

No, the 66-67 and early 68s all had the MEL based 462 (340hp, 485 lb ft), it was mid 68 when they transitioned the Lincoln to a more Ford based V8 with the 460.

Mine had the 2.80:1 rear end with limited slip (well it would light both tires up at least like it had it), my parts car had the 3.00:1 rear end I wanted to swap in, but the storage location (body shop) got right rid of the car while I had several parts from my car in the massive trunk and I found out when I went to pay the quarterly storage bill, they said the city came down on them for vehicles on the property.

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