Ford Kuga: coming or not?

[quimby]

Originally Posted by dannyhilton

On another note, the Escape is selling plenty of units considering its age. That amazes me. .

Considering what you get and the price you get it at, I can see why it's selling ok.

I'm in the market for a small SUV, and the Escape at $28k drive away, is pretty good value when compared to the base price of most of it's competitors. Having owned an Escape previously, I know what it's like and for that price, it's hard to look past.

Sure it's dated, but not all of us have enough cash to splurge on the other makes and models out there, other than the base model.

[Road_Warrior]

Kuga is now not going to be made at the Louisville; Kentucky plant it seems:

Ford reverses plans to make SUV in Kentucky for export, sources say

Ford Motor Co. has canceled plans to move production of a small sport-utility vehicle from Europe to Kentucky as currency exchange rates no longer favor U.S. production, according to two people familiar with the decision.

Ford had planned to shift the Kuga model next year to Louisville from Saarlouis, Germany, to take advantage of lower labor costs and the weaker dollar, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the plan is private. With the euro falling, Ford plans to continue producing the Kuga in Germany, the people said.

The reversal demonstrates the difficulty of lowering Ford’s U.S. labor costs to globally competitive levels. The automaker intended to export as many as 80,000 Kugas a year to Europe, the people said. That plan was tied in part to exchange rates and labor concessions Ford sought last year that UAW members rejected.

“This raises issues of how the 2011 contract negotiations will go,” said Brian Johnson, an analyst at Barclays Capital in Chicago. He rates Ford “equal weight.”

“If the UAW is going to try to extract givebacks, Ford is showing that with its global production footprint, it can build wherever it wants.”

The euro has fallen 14 percent against the dollar since Ford reached a tentative deal with the UAW in October to build the Kuga in Louisville alongside its mechanical twin, the Escape. At the time, the dollar had declined against the euro, lowering the cost of U.S.-made goods. Since then, the euro has dropped amid concerns Europe’s debt crisis may trigger another recession.

Deal voided

The promise of Kuga production in Louisville began to fall apart in November when UAW members rejected Ford’s request to match givebacks it gave General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC.

Read more: http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dl...#ixzz0z36tFRz2

Interesting. No word on Thai production either.

[dannyhilton]

So on Facebook Martin Smith was answering questions on the new Ford Focus, so i asked the question regarding the next round of co-developed models. His answer|

Focus is an example of a successful joint development by the global design team, of a car that will be sold all over the world. This indicates our strategy of developing One Ford products, and the next product that you will see developed in this way will be the replacement for the Kuga in Europe and the Escape in the US. We think there is an opportunity in the CD segment to develop a global product. ^MS

Very interesting as this is the next round of 'One Ford.'

[quimby]

Replacement for the Kuga? Think it's a safe bet the Kuga will never see the light of day here if they're talking about it's replacement already.

[dannyhilton]

My sentiments exactly. The replacement is the next 'One Ford' model, so work must have begun already considering the Focus design has long been locked in. Next on the list, the Fusion/Mondeo hopefully (CD Platform).