can we talk about US-only Ford cars here?

**sikuya** · February 15th, 2005 02:23 PM

...because they are not doing well. the recently released flagship sedan Ford Five Hundred and its Mercury counterpart Montego and the SUV based on them the Freestyle are collecting dust and raindrops at Ford dealer lots.and these new vehicles are supposed to signal Ford's comeback into the car market ruled by Toyota and Honda.
why? cuz they're so bland-looking, boring-styled and vanilla-faced.
read story here

Ford Five Hundred

Ford Freestyle

**sikuya** · February 15th, 2005 02:26 PM

related graphic:

what's happening with Honda Accord?

**carlocaraddict** · February 15th, 2005 02:35 PM

is the ford freestyle the same as the ford territory of Australia? they almost look the same eh:

**GhettoBMW** · February 15th, 2005 02:48 PM

Yeah, I have yet to see the freestyle or the 500 on the streets here. Dont know why anyone would want one, doesn't seem too special.

**BlueBimmer** · February 15th, 2005 02:55 PM

hey an E36 Ti! (aka hatchback) hehehe

**sikuya** · February 15th, 2005 03:27 PM

i think the territory is designed and built in australia, while the freestyle in chicago. their exterior dimension specs are almost identical though the freestyle is almot 9 inches longer.i think the territory is loosely based on the BA Falcon while the freestyle is based on the Volvo S80 platform which was the basis of the Five Hundred, the freestyle's large sedan kin.
so there, my guess is that they are not the same.

**empy** · February 15th, 2005 03:34 PM

looks like the freestyle doesn't know if it wants to be a wagon, a van or an suv.

the five hundred looks like the next generation of cop cars.

**OTEP** · February 15th, 2005 05:57 PM

Ford doesn't have to worry so much. The Territory and Freestyle share pretty much the same bones. And they're selling like hotcakes in Oz.

The Freestyle is an SUVized version of the Ford 500 (instead of making a bland 500 wagon).

**sikuya** · February 16th, 2005 03:52 AM

Originally Posted by OTEP

Ford doesn't have to worry so much. The Territory and Freestyle share pretty much the same bones. And they're selling like hotcakes in Oz.

a tale of two countries

in the US, the toyota highlander is the bestselling midsize crossover SUV and the ford freestyle is trying to compete in this market full of sharks (honda pilot,nissan murano,mitsubishi endeavor,subaru forester,etc.), although in australia, the ford territory is selling halfway ahead of its only competitor, the toyota kluger(toyota highlander).
US january 2005 sales: highlander-9,000 ;freestyle-4,200
australia january 2005 sales: kluger-700 ;territory-1,500

**G3NIU5** · February 16th, 2005 05:11 AM

Originally Posted by sikuya

what's happening with Honda Accord?

might not be related, but a lot of Accord owners have their transmissions going out on them, these include far back up to '98 models, not so sure about the newer ones. had a friend w/ a 98 EXV6 who got his transmission replace and still had the same problems. he had a temporary fix and sold it before it needed a 3rd. i think these probs are only for auto trannies though.