If you've been wondering why Ford will quit building cars like the Taurus, Fusion, Focus and Fiesta in the United States, I've got one word for you: JackHammer.
That's Roush Performance's name for a new sport package that can ratchet a Mustang's power up to 710 horsepower.
Prices start at $50,955, a $15,765 bump over the base price for a Mustang GT.
And people will stand in line for every one of the 200 2018 JackHammers to be built by racing legend Jack Roush's company.
Can you imagine saying that about any version of the Taurus, Fusion or Fiesta? Me neither. Nobody ever got up in the morning and said, "I'm gonna buy a Taurus today, I don't care what anybody says. I must have that car!"
That's why the Mustang remains front and center in Ford's product plan as lesser cars are shuffled to the side. People want Mustangs. They also want the SUV-style vehicles that will replace the Fusion and Taurus at the heart of Ford's U.S. sales and production.
The marvelous Focus RS is Ford's only car that approaches the Mustang's panache. That may be why Ford will keep the name for the upcoming SUV-ish Focus Active, and don't be surprised if the next-gen RS joins the Mustang in U.S. dealerships in a couple of years.
I've been struck by two things since Ford announced its decision:
A letter from a reader who loved his new Toyota Highlander three-row SUV and thought Ford was crazy to build fewer cars and more SUVs.
Chicken Little's got nothin' on the gaggle running around insisting Ford's dropping cars for "big SUVs," that guzzle gas and will doom it come the next oil spike or recession.
To reader 1: I appreciate the irony of your letter, even if you don't.
To the chicken coop: "Gas guzzlers" like the compact Escape (up to 30 mpg on the highway) and Explorer (up to 27 mpg highway)?
The 2018 Explorer is particularly noteworthy. It's not a giant, but it's about 5 inches longer and wider than the 2008 Explorer, which the EPA rated at 20 mpg. The EPA estimates the 2008 model used 37 percent more fuel annually than the bigger, roomier and more powerful 2018.
The Escape and Explorer are not as fuel efficient as the compact or midsize cars they've effectively replaced for American buyers, but unlike 2008, when the Explorer and Taurus were as different as fish and fowl, the SUVs' basic engineering and assembly processes are a lot like building a Focus or Fusion. If customer preference shifts or oil prices spike, Ford can switch back to cars faster and at lower cost than when it struggled to survive during the Great Recession.
It won't be easy, but in the meantime the company won't be spending billions developing and producing cars most American buyers greet with a yawn.
Ford's challenge is to fill the empty spaces in its lineup with advanced, exciting and efficient new SUVs _ including hybrids and electric vehicles _ that attract more buyers and better prices than the cars they replace. Focus Active expected to hit the road next year will be the first test.
None of them have the Mustang's heritage, or the JackHammer's 710-hp race-tuned engine, but who knows what will happen when Ford concentrates on fewer models while competitors Honda, Hyundai, Nissan and Toyota must defend turf in a shrinking car market and develop SUVs in new sizes and shapes to meet rising demand?
You might want to trademark "JackKnife" for a high-performance SUV before Jack Roush gets to it.
