THE BIG CUBIC-INCH TURBO BLOG

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

FORD-RENAULT-NISSAN?

Christine Tierney opines in the 11 Jul 06 edition of the Detroit News:

"How about Ford-Renault-Nissan?"
"Chemistry with Ghosn, complementary lineup could make more sense than alliance with GM."

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060711/AUTO02/607110378/1148/AUTO01

Tierney's piece is based on comments from auto analyst Robert Hinchliffe of UBS Securities.

Tierney points out Renault's earlier interest in the Volvo car division and Ford's better track record with international link-ups (Jaguar excluded). The story also repeats the rumors that Carlos Ghosn was unsuccessfully tapped by William Clay Ford, Jr. for a top slot in the Glass House.

Tierney points out the large, obvious sticking point to any "alliance" with FoMoCo--the huge, controlling block of shares held by Ford family members.

Still, in any consolidated market, FoMoCo will need a stronger Japanese partner than Mazda. And Ford's depressed share prices make grabbing a minority interest in the company--which is probably necessary to insure success of any alliance--very attractive.

A Ford-Renault-Nissan alliance would assume the number one spot in world vehicle production, albeit somewhat smaller than Kirk Kerkorian's proposed link-up between GM, Renault and Nissan.

While other "dream" mergers probably are more exciting to FoMoCo fans (i.e. imagine Ford aligning with Honda, Navistar (International trucks) and the newly resurgent Fiat (including Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Maserati . . . or Ford aligning with Honda, Porsche, Audi, BMW or Volkswagen)), if Renault and Nissan don't get to spend their billions to get seats at the Ren Cen, FoMoCo may court them, if only to jack up dismal share prices from the speculation . . . .

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WHAT YOU DRIVE STILL DRIVES AMERICA!

The DETROIT 3 VERSUS THE WORLD (How many U.S. jobs does BUYING AMERICAN HELP SAVE?)

Ford Performance Vehicles (AU) Website

Ford Performance (USA) Website

1. Denied the modular DOHC from the Crown Victoria, Town Car and Grand Marquis;

2. Thought the Tempo/Topaz and the 2.3 HSC were good ideas;

3. Prevented the Aussie Falcons from coming to the U.S. market;

4. Designed the 2-seat "new" Thunderbird as a weak boulevard poser instead of a world-class Corvette beater;

5. Failed to make the DOHC 4.6 and the '03 Cobra 4.6 options for the Lincoln LS;

6. Permitted the SN-95 Mustang GT to be sold for years with only 215 horsepower (while the competition had at least 60 more);

7. Killed the SVT Focus instead of turbocharging it;

8. Killed the SVT Lightning;

9. Failed to redesign the Ranger and add V8, crew cab, and reliable turbodiesel options;

10. Allowed the 6.0 PowerStroke to market before it was ready;

11. Didn't see the potential for an SVT F-250 PowerStroke, or for SVT versions of the Explorer, Escape and Expedition, or a Shelby G.T. 350, or for a turbodiesel F-150;

12. Decided there was no need for a DOHC V8 with 4"+ bore potential, a modern 5.0/5.8, or a DOHC Modular V10;

13. Decided that cylinder deactivation, variable length intake runners, and variable cam timing were too expensive when these features are in many of their competitors' vehicles;

14. Thought the Marauder would sell for over $32,000 with only 300 horsepower, fewer than a handful of colors, insane dealer markups, and less performance than a $20,000 Camry;

15. Decided fragile hypereutectic pistons, two valves per cylinder, weak plastic manifolds, cast cranks and spindly cracked cap rods were sufficient for high performance duty (and preventing Ford from at least making the H.D. stuff optional);

16. Sent the boring Five Hundred/Montego out without a V8 or forced induction option to do battle with a score of stylish 260+ horsepower sedans (not to mention the DCX Hemis);

17. Hoarded cash during the "good times" in the 1980s and 1990s instead of developing import killers, competitive small cars and segment busters;

18. Can't see Ford's failure to build cheap, tunable, stylish and insurable REAR WHEEL DRIVE subcompact performance cars prevents them from being a "playa" in the youth market;

19. Thinks a "Ford Racing" crate engine will sell in sufficient numbers with hypereutectic pistons, cast cranks and two bolt mains (failing to understand the psychology of racers and "hot rodders")[THIS HAS SINCE BEEN REMEDIED WITH FRPP'S BRILLIANT "BOSS" AND ALUMINATOR PROGRAMS (BUT WE 'RE IS STILL WAITING FOR A FOUR-BOLT-MAIN "BOSS 460/511" SUPER COBRA JET . . . .);

20. Didn't fix the "second generation" Taurus when it was obvious that Accord and Camry were killing it.

21. Spec'd the MN-12 with the odd-ball 5x4.25 wheel bolt pattern instead of the "standard" 5 x 4.5;

22. Killed the Mustang SVO instead of fixing it (ISN'T THIS A FAMILIAR PATTERN NOW);

23. Changed the bellhousing bolt pattern on the Modular V8s from the "standard" 5.0/Windsor bolt pattern;

24. Keeps approving development of wholly incompatible four cylinder engines on a regular basis (Kent, EAO, Lima OHC, CVH, HSC, Zetec, Duratec) instead of picking a "universal" set of design parameters (e.g. bore spacing, bolt patterns) and continuously improving it with new technologies;

25. Couldn't figure out how to put intercooled turbos and Eaton superchargers in vehicles with real back seats and more than two doors.

26. Let the profitable, Panther-based Lincoln Town Car rot and (probably) die before its time.

27. (BONUS FROM 2008: ALERT--Blunder in Progress) No ECO-BOOST DOHC V8s & No "TWINCHARGED" V8 engines (Hopefully this will change soon).

28. (BONUS FROM 2008: ALERT--Blunder in Progress) No high performance E85/Gas/electric hybrid options for the MUSTANG GT, SHELBY GT500, RWD "PANTHER" series sedans, and F-Series trucks(There's still time to fix this error).

29. (BONUS FROM 2010: Killed Mercury instead of fixing it)

30. (BONUS FROM 2010: Killed the Panther platform instead of updating it)

31. (BONUS FROM 2010: No manual transmissions for the 2011 F-Series)

32. (BONUS FROM 2010: No Rear Wheel Drive sedans for America after 2011)

THE 298 ENEMIES OF AUTOMOTIVE FREE MARKETS IN THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WHO VOTED FOR THE "CA$H FOR CLUNKER$" BAILOUT BILL ON JUNE 9, 2009 (INCLUDES 59 GUTLESS "RINOs"): Abercrombie, Ackerman, Adler (NJ), Altmire, Andrews, Arcuri, Austria, Baca, Bachus, Baldwin, Barrow, Barton (TX), Bean, Becerra, Berkley, Berman, Berry, Bilbray, Bishop (GA), Bishop (NY), Blumenauer, Blunt, Boccieri, Boren, Boswell, Boucher, Brady (PA), Bright, Brown (Corrine), Brown-Waite(Ginny), Burton (IN), Butterfield, Buyer, Calvert, Camp, Campbell, Cao, Capito, Capps, Capuano, Cardoza, Carnahan, Carney, Carson (IN), Cassidy, Castle, Castor (FL), Chandler, Childers, Clarke, Clay, Cleaver, Clyburn, Coble, Cohen, Connolly (VA), Cooper, Costa, Costello, Courtney, Crowley, Cuellar, Cummings, Dahlkemper, Davis (AL), Davis (CA), Davis (IL), Davis (TN), DeFazio, DeGette, Delahunt, DeLauro, Diaz-Balart, L., Diaz-Balart, M., Dicks, Dingell, Donnelly (IN), Doyle, Dreier, Driehaus, Edwards (MD), Edwards (TX), Ehlers, Ellison, Ellsworth, Emerson, Engel, Eshoo, Etheridge, Farr, Fattah, Filner, Foster, Frank (MA), Frelinghuysen, Fudge, Gerlach, Gingrey (GA), Gordon (TN), Grayson, Green (Al), Green (Gene), Griffith, Grijalva, Guthrie, Gutierrez, Hall (NY), Hall (TX), Halvorson, Hare, Harman, Hastings (FL), Heinrich, Higgins, Hill, Himes, Hinchey, Hinojosa, Hirono, Hodes, Hoekstra, Holden, Holt, Honda, Hoyer, Inslee, Israel, Jackson (IL), Jackson-Lee (TX), Johnson (GA), Johnson (IL), Johnson (E. B.), Kagen, Kanjorski, Kaptur, Kildee, Kilpatrick (MI), Kilroy, Kind, King (IA), Kissell, Klein (FL), Kosmas, Kratovil, Kucinich, Lance, Langevin Larsen (WA), Larson (CT), Latham, LaTourette, Lee (CA), Lee (NY), Levin, Lipinski, LoBiondo, Lofgren (Zoe), Lowey, Luján, Lynch, Maffei, Maloney, Manzullo, Markey (CO), Markey (MA), Massa, Matheson, Matsui, McCarthy (NY), McCollum, McCotter, McDermott, McGovern, McHugh, McIntyre, McKeon, McMahon, McNerney, Meek (FL), Meeks (NY), Melancon, Michaud, Miller (MI), Miller (NC), Miller (Gary), Miller (George), Minnick, Mitchell, Mollohan, Moore (KS), Moore (WI), Moran (VA), Murphy (CT), Murphy (NY), Murphy (Patrick), Murphy, Tim, Murtha, Myrick, Nadler (NY), Napolitano, Neal (MA), Nye, Oberstar, Obey, Olver, Ortiz, Pallone, Pascrell, Pastor (AZ), Payne, Pelosi, Perlmutter, Perriello, Peters, Peterson, Petri, Pingree (ME), Pitts, Poe (TX), Pomeroy, Price (NC), Quigley, Rahall, Rangel, Reichert, Reyes, Richardson, Rodriguez, Roe (TN), Rogers (AL), Rogers (MI), Ros-Lehtinen, Ross, Rothman (NJ), Roybal-Allard, Rush, Ryan (OH), Salazar, Sanchez (Loretta), Sarbanes, Schakowsky, Schauer, Schiff, Schrader, Schwartz, Scott (GA), Scott (VA), Serrano, Sestak, Shea-Porter, Sherman, Shimkus, Shuler, Sires, Skelton, Slaughter, Smith (NJ), Smith (WA), Snyder, Souder, Space, Speier, Spratt, Stark, Stearns, Stupak, Sutton, Tanner, Tauscher, Teague, Terry, Thompson (CA), Thompson (MS), Tiberi, Tierney, Titus, Tonko, Towns, Tsongas, Turner, Upton, Van Hollen, Velázquez, Visclosky, Walden, Walz, Wasserman Schultz, Waters, Watson, Watt, Waxman, Weiner, Welch, Wexler, Wilson (OH), Woolsey, Wu, Yarmuth. THESE 298 FREE-SPENDING, POWER-MAD REPRESENTATIVES ARE ENEMIES OF GRASSROOTS MOTORSPORTS, AUTOMOTIVE LIBERTY, THE AUTOMOTIVE AFTERMARKET, AND THE COLLECTOR CAR HOBBY! THE 60 ENEMIES OF AUTOMOTIVE FREE MARKETS IN THE U.S. SENATE WHO VOTED TO SAVE THE "CA$H FOR CLUNKER$" BAILOUT BILL Akaka (D-HI), Baucus (D-MT), Bayh (D-IN), Begich (D-AK), Bennet (D-CO) Bingaman (D-NM), Bond (R-MO) {RINO ALERT!], Boxer (D-CA), Brown (D-OH), Burris (D-IL), Cantwell (D-WA), Cardin (D-MD), Carper (D-DE), Casey (D-PA), Cochran (R-MS) [RINO ALERT!], Collins (R-ME) [RINO ALERT!], Conrad (D-ND), Dodd (D-CT), Dorgan (D-ND), Durbin (D-IL), Feingold (D-WI), Feinstein (D-CA), Gillibrand (D-NY), Hagan (D-NC), Harkin (D-IA), Inouye (D-HI), Johnson (D-SD), Kaufman (D-DE), Kerry (D-MA), Klobuchar (D-MN), Kohl (D-WI), Landrieu (D-LA), Lautenberg (D-NJ), Leahy (D-VT), Levin (D-MI), Lieberman (ID-CT), Lincoln (D-AR), McCaskill (D-MO), Menendez (D-NJ), Merkley (D-OR), Mikulski (D-MD), Murray (D-WA), Nelson (D-FL), Pryor (D-AR), Reed (D-RI), Reid (D-NV), Rockefeller (D-WV), Sanders (I-VT), Schumer (D-NY), Shaheen (D-NH), Specter (D-PA), Stabenow (D-MI), Tester (D-MT), Udall (D-CO), Udall (D-NM), Voinovich (R-OH) [RINO ALERT!], Warner (D-VA), Webb (D-VA), Whitehouse (D-RI) [RINO ALERT!], Wyden (D-OR). THESE 60 FREE-SPENDING, POWER-MAD SENATORS ARE ENEMIES OF GRASSROOTS MOTORSPORTS, AUTOMOTIVE LIBERTY, THE AUTOMOTIVE AFTERMARKET, AND THE COLLECTOR CAR HOBBY!

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WHAT IS THE BIG CUBIC-INCH TURBO BLOG? It is a real-time on-line book about the theory and practice of turbocharging B-I-G CUBE V8 Engines. It consists of archived material originally posted by the author on other forums, together with original material unique to this on-line book.

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THE BIG CUBIC-INCH TURBO BLOG

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

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