BigD

This is a note I received from a friend:

Quote:

I'm in Dearborn, packing up all of my belongings and saying goodby to the guys from SVT...which is offically dissolved at the end of the month. No more product, i.e. Lightning, Adreline, Fusion nothing. Done. Period. We all have collector vehicles now, just like Oldsmobile owners! Great, huh?

I guess that Ford is blowing it big time...it's SAD.

vortechlightnin

wow. this is sad. im really disappointed in Ford.........

Matt

onebadf150

what crap !!! dosen't FORD understand that the "race on sunday sell on monday" motto still applies today and the only reason they have been successful is b/c of SVT. They have produce vehicles that excite the public and make them want to go out a drive. People you can afford an SVT product love it and appriecate it and the people who can't will buy all the parts to make there main stream product resemble an SVT product. I'm really Pissed off that ford would do this. When I was born I was brought home in a Reg cab F-150 and haven't been in any other make since and don't plan on it, but its a real slap in the face.

dboat

Well, a lot of thoughts go thru my head when I read this. I dont agree that SVT saved Ford or caused it to do well. I cant tell you how many people have no idea what a Lightning is.
Ford, like GM, is having to re-trench and go back to its high volume, high profit business lines to get its financial house in order. However, these things go in cycles, there used to be SVO beforeSVT, there will be another version of SVT sometime in the future but who knows when? It may be that Ford wants Shelby, Saleen, Triolgy Motorsports, etc to do the high performance part for them so they dont have to cover the warranty work on cars and trucks that get beaten to death and then returned to the dealer.
Yes, it sux. Yes, I dont like it. But, as I said, these things go in cycles.
Dana

QKSILVR

Well, I have to say that I am very dissapointed in Ford. I used to be a Chevy guy, hated Ford yada yada.. Complained to Chevy about a Silverado SS Before the Lightning came out.

I was so fed up, I bought a Dakota R/T. Well, Ford, The Lightning is and will be my last vehicle I buy from FORD!!! JERKS!!









Unless they introduce another Lightning.

__________________

QKSILVR

I take it this Forum is now officially dead. I will am going to be lost without it. siggh. Oh well.

PFA

The race on Sunday, sell on Monday, still applies to Nascar--Fusion. Ford needs to develop a HiPerformance car that applies to Nascar that we can drive on the street. A HP Fusion would do, for most. Too bad it's made south of the border.

dboat

Why would you think that? If anything, it will be more vibrant due to the amount of interest in L's. The current owners wont be looking for another L for a while and a fair amount of additional mods will be coming along as well. You will probably see a shift to more posts about rebuilds, etc. but it should continue be busy.

Dana

vortechlightnin

exactly.....we'll all still be here.

Matt

QKSILVR

I'm talking about the Gen 3 forum. not the Gen2 or Gen1's

We'll still be

vortechlightnin

^^^^^i was about to say......

Matt

BigD

Ford offers SVT to all its dealers
Amy Wilson
Automotive News / March 20, 2006 - 6:00 am


DETROIT - Beginning with this summer's introduction of the 2007 Shelby GT500,
the Ford brand will let all its dealers sell Special Vehicle Team vehicles.

Now, only a limited number of SVT-certified dealers can sell the
high-performance vehicles.

The change could help Ford sell more high-performance cars and trucks. But
some SVT dealers are crying foul.

Meanwhile, after a two-year product drought for the SVT brand, its future is
up in the air, sources say. It is not clear what, if any, products are slated
for SVT beyond the GT500, and Ford has declined to talk about its plans.

Ford has about 600 full-line SVT dealerships; 700 others were certified for
the now-discontinued SVT Focus. Beginning with the GT500, Ford will no longer
limit the number of available certifications. Certification requirements will
be different for each product. The Ford brand had 3,777 U.S. dealerships on
Jan. 1.

"This will further strengthen the Ford brand by providing us with a greater
opportunity to drive showroom traffic," wrote Darryl Hazel, president of
Ford's customer service division, in an e-mail to dealers.

Ford says it's not backing away from performance products. Some sources say
Ford is folding the SVT marketing team into the regular Ford brand team. Some
also expect SVT's engineering team may be diluted or tied more closely to
Ford's racing efforts.

That would be a remarkable about-face for SVT vehicles, which went on sale in
1992. Just a year ago, Ford's product chief, Phil Martens, said SVT was bigger
and better-funded than ever before. Martens, who has since left Ford, said SVT
would eventually have up to five products.

Product canceled

One of the new products was to be the Ford Sport Trac Adrenalin in 2007. But
Ford canceled the Adrenalin as part of its Way Forward turnaround plan. Ford
previously dropped plans for a next-generation F-150 Lightning.

SVT products typically sell for higher profits and at lower volumes - for
instance, an average 7,260 units per model year for past SVT Mustangs. Ford
has sold 144,994 SVT vehicles since 1992.

Ford spokeswoman Whitney Drake said the SVT organization is working on
"several future projects that we aren't ready to talk about just yet." She
wouldn't say whether the SVT name will be carried forward beyond the GT500.

The SVT name already is diminished on the GT500, where the logo appears on the
door sills. SVT is not included in the GT500 nameplate.

Ford is committed to performance, Drake said. Hau Thai-Tang, who had been a
protege of Martens, remains director of advanced product creation and SVT.

Even though SVT dealers will get extra allocation of the GT500, some are upset
to lose exclusive access to the high-margin products.

"It's a terrible mistake," said Beau Boeckmann, vice president of Galpin
Motors Inc. in North Hills, Calif., which has had a full-line SVT business.

"You had a group that was very focused. They really understood the value of
the product."

Making that product available to all dealers will dilute the power of the SVT
brand, Boeckmann said. He cited the SVT Focus, sold from 2001 to 2004, as an
example. When it was made available to an extra 700 dealers, "people sold it
off like it was just a common Focus."

But another full-line SVT dealer said Ford's move might boost the automaker's
overall performance business, increase volume and help the brand. Tom Addis,
chairman of the Ford national dealer council, said opening SVT up to all
dealers should allow Ford to market the products better.

Addis, dealer principal at Lake City Ford in Couer d'Alene, Idaho, said, "The
concern has always been: If you have a product that most dealers can't sell,
you're limited in how you can advertise it nationally."

carls jr

im so sorry to hear that another victim of the budget !!

DouglasFir

Yeah that totally sucks