Originally Posted by syr74
I'm honestly curious to see you're reasoning here since I am not seeing this at all.
A Ford Taurus SHO starts just under 38k. In the transition to EB powered Interceptor status you logically start with taking into consideration the fact that the Taurus SHO is loaded to the gills with tech and luxury features even in standard trim. The aluminum trim, the ambient lighting, the 10 way power driver and passenger seats in leather, the HID projector lamps, SYNC, the premium sound system, push button start, the rear camera, the heated mirrors, the 19" alloy wheels.....Interceptor doesn't need to, and almost certainly wont, come standard with any of that and that is just a quick snapshot of what the car will be missing compared to a standard SHO. To put this into perspective, the price jump from a base Taurus SE model to a Limited model is 6500 dollars and the only difference between those two cars are luxury and tech features like the ones mentioned above. Throw in the fact that Interceptor are going to have a lot fewer options combinations and cost should get even lower.
The Caprice gets a bit trickier. A base Pontiac G8, which is the only decent reference point we have for the Caprice , started at just under 32k and to be blunt didn't have nearly as many features standard as the Taurus does, which means there is a lot less to be gained here by taking stuff off of the car. (can't take off things that aren't standard to begin with) Factor in the reality that the exchange rate has shifted in a manner not in favor of importing from Australia since the G8 was initially offered, and the fact that the Caprice is actually a rehashed Statesman which is a more expensive basic platform than the Commodore is, and I'm not seeing where the inherent price advantage is going to be coming from here.
Even worse, the buzz has always indicated that G8 was basically bargain priced from the outset in an attempt to build interest. We don't have any hard evidence of the same for obvious reasons, not company is inclined to come out and say 'we screwed up'. Still, Zeta does always seem to be the program that gets cut the quickest and the hardest when the difficult decisions have to be made at GM, and since the epa explanation Lutz gave is obviously hogwash we end up in a situation where the whole 'Zeta is not a cheap platform' theory gains some traction.
Ultimately my point is that we have no reason whatsoever to believe that Caprice is a cheap proposition. In fact, I would be impressed if GM can offer this car for the same base price as a Pontiac G8 GT and expect to make any money at all.
That said, I agree that Ford wont have the volume with the Taurus they did with the Crown Vic based Interceptor, but I don't think matching that cars volume is the goal and I'm willing to bet the Taurus based Interceptor would be profitable at a much lower take rate than is the CV based piece they are producing now.
Interceptor is virtually assured to weigh less than the SHO. Yes, the Interceptor uses steel wheels and has a unique front subframe, but the sheer mass of luxury and tech removed from the car for cruiser duty is going to be worth a few hundred pounds easily. I would take a lot of front subframe and some seriously heavy wheels to offset what this car is losing in terms of luxury items.
Possibly, but is that going to offset the higher cost of entry the Caprice is going to have to muster to be as profitable? If there is a company with an inherent advantage here it's Dodge, not GM. And even they have some issues to overcome since the first gen Charger was not exactly a durability standout.
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