Mustang production drops to one shift

[ViperTomcat]

This isnt new news..but if they can increase production (which they are to meet sales) while reducing wasted time and lower their overhead at that plant and models, I say go for it!

No one lost their jobs, and the kinks were worked out. Win/Win.

[syr74]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

This is not a Mustang v Camaro thread. Please keep it on topic.


That said...I want to say this is ancient news....but the Freep date is yesterday? Strange...

I thought the same thing, this actually is very old and I'm uncertain whether they released this because Ford just finalized the changeover or if it really is that out of date.

Originally Posted by Sax1031

So ford waited till the mustang started outselling the camaro again to make this move?

You have to remember that the Mustang isn't the only car being built there, and that sales of it's factory room-mate, the Mazda 6, are way, way down. (they were down by a third relative to previous yearly trends earlier this year and have gotten worse since then)

Originally Posted by The_Blur

It isn't the unions. It's the Camaro selling better than Mustangs so much that Ford has decided to reduce production to meet demand.

Whatever your personal feelings on the issue, and that is pretty obvious, Ford has stated that they are increasing Mustang production and that they will produce more Mustang's during the 2010 calender year than they did in 2009. Mustang production is going up, not down.

The really sad part of this is that the natives are so busy foaming at the mouth at the thought of a non-existent Mustang production collapse the real story is getting missed altogether. To be blunt, Mazda 6 sales probably can't get much lower without compromising the viability of production at the Flat-Rock facility....if I had to guess I would say that odds are fair that the Mustang could be losing it's roomy in the near future.

[Morepwr]

the only people who are going to buy a 2010 mustang have no interest in performance at all. Why else would you buy a 2010 GT that will get out performed by the 2011 V6?

[Reborn]

Originally Posted by Morepwr

the only people who are going to buy a 2010 mustang have no interest in performance at all. Why else would you buy a 2010 GT that will get out performed by the 2011 V6?

Out performed??
Last time I checked the 2010 GT still had the better numbers then the 2011 V6.

Not to mention there are people who would jump at getting a year old Mustang GT for substantially less then a new 2011 V6.

[ffrcobra_65]

Originally Posted by Morepwr

the only people who are going to buy a 2010 mustang have no interest in performance at all. Why else would you buy a 2010 GT that will get out performed by the 2011 V6?

sorry bro but you are hugely mistaken...but then again, the extent of your car performance knowledge is probably just limited to reading the advertised hp numbers. 2010 Mustang GT will eat your Camaro V6 any time, any place.

[marcgo2]

Originally Posted by ffrcobra_65

sorry bro but you are hugely mistaken...but then again, the extent of your car performance knowledge is probably just limited to reading the advertised hp numbers. 2010 Mustang GT will eat your Camaro V6 any time, any place.

I think he meant the 2011 V6 Mustang not V6 Camaro.

[fielderLS3]

Originally Posted by Reborn

Out performed??
Last time I checked the 2010 GT still had the better numbers then the 2011 V6.

Not to mention there are people who would jump at getting a year old Mustang GT for substantially less then a new 2011 V6.

Without doubt, the 2010 Mustang's biggest selling problem is the 2011 Mustang. The Ford dealer in my town got 1 2010 GT 15 months ago and its still on the lot. They've already sold 3 2011s. The 2010 GT is faster and the 2011 V6, but not much faster (see link). It is not enough difference to justify a $4000+ price difference (even with the incentives), and 8 mpg fuel economy penalty.

Plus, that is comparing apples to oranges anyway. The enthusiasts who would have bought the 2010 GT would be looking at the 2011 GT anyway, and the non-enthusiasts would have been comparing 2010 V6s to 2011 V6s. Either way, there is a dramatic difference not just in power, but in smoothness/refinement, transmissions, and efficiency as well.

Originally Posted by syr74

You have to remember that the Mustang isn't the only car being built there, and that sales of it's factory room-mate, the Mazda 6, are way, way down. (they were down by a third relative to previous yearly trends earlier this year and have gotten worse since then)

I never knew they made the Mazda 6 in Flat Rock. Why would they make the Mazda in Michigan, but build the "domestic" counterpart Ford Fusion in Mexico?

[bigearl]

Did anyone read to the end? They are dropping the second shift and increasing line speed 35%!!!

Holy crap- either it was really slow before or it's going to look like a Benny Hill episode.

And ya the good news was they were able to reassign most people. I think my favorite thing about this forum is that we can always count on every thread that mentions Mustangs to degenerate into another -vs- section.

[ffrcobra_65]

Originally Posted by marcgo2

I think he meant the 2011 V6 Mustang not V6 Camaro.

yep you are right. still though

[bigearl]

Originally Posted by syr74

You have to remember that the Mustang isn't the only car being built there, and that sales of it's factory room-mate, the Mazda 6, are way, way down. (they were down by a third relative to previous yearly trends earlier this year and have gotten worse since then)

The really sad part of this is that the natives are so busy foaming at the mouth at the thought of a non-existent Mustang production collapse the real story is getting missed altogether. To be blunt, Mazda 6 sales probably can't get much lower without compromising the viability of production at the Flat-Rock facility....if I had to guess I would say that odds are fair that the Mustang could be losing it's roomy in the near future.

Where are you getting this?

"IRVINE, Calif., July 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Making a big splash into summer, Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) today reported a sizzling 32.8 percent sales increase for June 2010, with 18,238 vehicles sold. Through the first half of the year, MNAO has sold 115,719 vehicles and is outpacing last year's sales at this time by 15.3 percent, up 16.0 percent on a DSR basis (151 selling days thus far in 2010, compared to 152 in 2009).

Nearly every Mazda model posted substantial sales increases for June. The MAZDA6 mid-size sedan led the way with June sales up 84.2 percent..."

Mazda total was up 57% year over year. (source- Forbes)

[syr74]

Originally Posted by bigearl

Where are you getting this?

"IRVINE, Calif., July 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Making a big splash into summer, Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) today reported a sizzling 32.8 percent sales increase for June 2010, with 18,238 vehicles sold. Through the first half of the year, MNAO has sold 115,719 vehicles and is outpacing last year's sales at this time by 15.3 percent, up 16.0 percent on a DSR basis (151 selling days thus far in 2010, compared to 152 in 2009).

Nearly every Mazda model posted substantial sales increases for June. The MAZDA6 mid-size sedan led the way with June sales up 84.2 percent..."

Mazda total was up 57% year over year. (source- Forbes)

Please save your one month sound-bite. I know that me being right probably doesn't jive with your agenda for this thread but that doesn't change reality.

2009 was arguably the worst calender year for the Mazda 6/626 in a couple of decades, and possibly ever, and as of June 2010 they are beating that 2009 calender year sales total by a whopping....wait for it, 3.8%, or less than 1k units. http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/maz...mp-33-percent/

And this year was trending even worse than last year until June sales shot skyward, a jump almost certainly due virtually entirely to really aggressive rebates on 2010 models since there are absolutely no meaningful changes to this car for the 2011 model year. That means, given trends thus far, there is no reason to expect that the 2011 calender year sales will be significantly better than 2010 was for this car unless Mazda continues with the huge rebates. To put it really plainly, at the current rate of Mazda 6 sales the company wont even move 40k units for the year....that is amazingly bad. For reference, in the 2008 calender year the previous generation Mazda 6 managed to sell roughly that same number of units by August in what would be it's last year on the market.

So in summation, your argument is that the Mazda Six isn't doing poorly because it is beating the worst sales year for the Six in a very long time, if not the worst sales year ever for this car, by less than 700 total units in June? Just my two cents, but in the future it might serve you better if you actually took the time to really know what is going on rather than simply Googling for a two minute blurb you can spin to suit your personal agenda. Just a thought.