Is 37 PP worth it?

[CoderRaptor]

An alternative explanation is that Ford doesn't have it's collective shit together. Seems a bit more likely.

Most corporations don't. That's why they restructure often. Product lines that were once successful but are no longer get absorbed into other departments. Those mangers either make the cut into the new department or get pushed out. With that said, every Raptor sale takes away from an F150 sale. The F150 guys were having to compete within their own division for sales. That's why there's now a tremor line. It's also why the regular F150 has been inching up in HP over the years. To close the gap on buyers looking for maximum HP.

Now....the Raptor which was once the darling (I suspect) seems to be losing power. You might think that losing the Raptor branding is no big deal on things like running boards and Key fobs. But trust me, it is huge deal behind the scenes. Somebody is either losing power or the department heads are being told to place nice with each other and share.

In corporations, those that make the money have all the clout. Those that lose ground are often in danger of losing their job. So competition within corporations are often fierce for that very reason alone.

Keep in mind...forecasting is usually done in terms of years for a production powerhouse like Ford. People always want Ford to fix issues right away when they're found, but usually it is complicated by contracts on the backend with suppliers. Take the sound systems, it doesn't matter who's name they are licensing, (Sony, B&O) There's only a small handful of factories that can meet Ford's demand. So it's the same sound system...just a different name and specifications. .

 

[GordoJay]

With that said, every Raptor sale takes away from an F150 sale.

No. They might believe that, but it's far from true. The Raptor is the only reason that I ever considered a Ford.

 

[CoderRaptor]

No. They might believe that, but it's far from true. The Raptor is the only reason that I ever considered a Ford.

They only care about future sales. Once you buy. You bought. The people that own Ford, own the competitors as well. Diversified. So if you want your badging to be an oval or a bowtie, makes no difference to them. But they all run and operate the same way.

 

[GordoJay]

They only care about future sales. Once you buy. You bought. The people that own Ford, own the competitors as well. Diversified. So if you want your badging to be an oval or a bowtie, makes no difference to them. But they all run and operate the same way.

You lost me. The Ford family controls FMC through the B class shares. They also control GM?

 

[David1986]

Taking Raptor off the key fob, running boards, removing buttons on the dash, remove the red strip from the steering wheel, remove the torsen dif is simply....Cutting cost! The majority of buyers will never notice, however Raptor Enthusiast like us will.

Ford is not concerned losing sales by removing options and raising the price as Raptor Enthusiast are are very small portion of their sales like .0001%.

Ford is removing the Raptor from the Raptor. Go sit in a Tremor and tell me the difference, aside from of the label on the seats.

Glad we have competition in this segment

 

[CoderRaptor]

Do those running boards not cost the same? If Ford is worried about costs ( then Raptor forecasting isn't as rosy as it once was), then why start a new line like the Tremor? Which increases costs. Keep in mind, Ford didn't drop the Raptor branding, they just switched it over to Ford branding.

 

[GordoJay]

Taking Raptor off the key fob, running boards, removing buttons on the dash, remove the red strip from the steering wheel, remove the torsen dif is simply....Cutting cost! The majority of buyers will never notice, however Raptor Enthusiast like us will.

Ford is not concerned losing sales by removing options and raising the price as Raptor Enthusiast are are very small portion of their sales like .0001%.

Ford is removing the Raptor from the Raptor. Go sit in a Tremor and tell me the difference, aside from of the label on the seats.

Glad we have competition in this segment

Typical product life cycle. The first product breaks new ground and is awesome. The next generation adds incremental improvements and is awesome, but cuts a corner or two. Every generation that follows has less improvement and more corner cutting. It's what happens when MBAs and bean counters get involved with an existing product line. Since 95% of Raptors never leave the pavement, the impact on sales is small. At first. But as the corner cutting starts to dominate, the halo starts slipping and that costs sales. At that point, the product line is either revamped or discontinued. My totally unsupported belief is that the wokies at Ford figured that EVs would conquer the world and are milking the Raptor for pennies to waste on batteries. It will be interesting to see, now that adults are in charge again in DC, whether that calculus changes. I sure hope so.

 

[GordoJay]

Do those running boards not cost the same? If Ford is worried about costs ( then Raptor forecasting isn't as rosy as it once was), then why start a new line like the Tremor? Which increases costs. Keep in mind, Ford didn't drop the Raptor branding, they just switched it over to Ford branding.

Sharing the running boards saves money. One part to design, purchase, track, and inventory. I welcome those sorts of savings because my truck spends most of it's time where there are no people to look at it. As far as the Tremor goes, it's a barely upgraded F-150. It's what the FX4 should have been. The number of new parts is pretty low. It's kind of like free money. Compare that to the Raptor with a different frame and suspension.

 

[CoderRaptor]

Typical product life cycle. The first product breaks new ground and is awesome. The next generation adds incremental improvements and is awesome, but cuts a corner or two. Every generation that follows has less improvement and more corner cutting. It's what happens when MBAs and bean counters get involved with an existing product line. Since 95% of Raptors never leave the pavement, the impact on sales is small. At first. But as the corner cutting starts to dominate, the halo starts slipping and that costs sales. At that point, the product line is either revamped or discontinued. My totally unsupported belief is that the wokies at Ford figured that EVs would conquer the world and are milking the Raptor for pennies to waste on batteries. It will be interesting to see, now that adults are in charge again in DC, whether that calculus changes. I sure hope so.

I do agree with the life cycle. Amazing how that applies to almost everything in life. However, my angle is for every change, there's a champion in the organization pushing those changes. If the line is successful, the champion has more say. One thing for sure, no manager EVER wants to see their budget cut. Losing budget means they are losing power. So Raptor is losing budget and F150 is gaining budget as far as I can tell. Culture dives corporations not sales.

 

[GordoJay]

I do agree with the life cycle. Amazing how that applies to almost everything in life. However, my angle is for every change, there's a champion in the organization pushing those changes. If the line is successful, the champion has more say. One thing for sure, no manage EVER wants to see their budget cut. Losing budget means they are losing power. So Raptor is losing budget and F150 is gaining budget as far as I can tell. Culture dives corporations not sales.

I’d argue that the champion gets promoted. And there is no promotion in championing an existing product. New, new, new is the ticket upward. Another reason that ground breaking products always go downhill. And to be fair, if one of the bastārd child Raptors takes off, it is more net sales by Ford. The cost is brand dilution, which can’t be measured until it’s too late.