He should fire his senior staff. Because of them we never got the Puma. The styling may be a little dated now, but there was nothing like it in the Ford stable in 2002.
Posted on 01/13/2009 10:23:21 AM PST by Red Badger
Ford CEO Alan Mulally says he still likes the tiny European Ka for the U.S. portfolio. His senior staff isn’t so sure. Global product chief Derrick Kuzak and chief marketing officer James Farley get suspiciously quiet, and you can almost see their eyes roll when the subject comes up. Kuzak even smirks over it. The Ka is a bit of a cause with Mulally. But he says he defers to Kuzak on such things in the end. However, let’s not forget, Mulally pretty much brought the Taurus back to life by his sheer will. Ford insiders say there is no business case for Federalizing the Ka for U.S. safety and emissions, and pricing it for profit in the U.S. after its gets exported from Europe.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessweek.com ...
Mine, a ‘95 2 door, finally died after a 170k+ miles and three accidents of varying degrees of dents and scrapes. It had a brake lockup problem on the front wheels. Was still getting 30+ mpg, but was ugly as sin...........
As a commuter, it is okay. I agree with you that on the highway it would be an express ticket to the afterlife.
You do know that it is actually a KIA, made in Korea?.............
He should have gotten her an automatic. 55 is much too late to start the learning curve for a manual.............
They LOVE it in Mexico City. I wasn’t there long enough to really get a feel for it (I had never seen one, and I did not drive one), but it must have a pretty good power/weight ratio, because my friends there kept talking about how powerful it was.
Gotta remember, now, lots of cars in Mexico city are tiny, and traffic is often so bad it takes an hour to go twenty miles on the divided highways/roads. Motor scooters and motorcycles are a popular choice there, too.
Several small models and makes (from Europe) I had never heard of before...
Soon.....patience......soon................
Ja,
I look at Kia Rio/Sportage and just don’t get the same ‘CHARGE’ attitude.
BTW, I’ve always considered the Aspire forte to be the open highway
see “CHARGE”
Like I said I wish they still built the Aspire or something like it here in the US.
Woerm
You don’t see many auto trannies in the UK. I rented one my first trip over there and it cost almost twice as much as the manual. In any event, agree w/ you that at 55, learning the intricacies of the manual would be tough.
It’s a powered skateboard, not a rollerskate, the Original bug was a powered rollerskate ;-).
Woerm
The folks at Thrifty next to Heathrow upgraded me to a turbo-diesel 4WD Montero (Brit version) on one of my trips over there. I felt like I was King of the Road, at least until I had to find a parking place. Just couldn’t bring myself to rent one of those very small autos - I drive an F-150 here.
I stand corrected! :-)
“Montero” = Shogun. Had to look it up, can never remember that model.
The vehicle I drive now is the 2000 KIA Sportage. Runs like a champ................
I learned at 18 the hard way. I was left in a situation where I had to learn all by myself to drive a manual. I had to take a friend's car from his work to his house about 10 miles away, but didn't know it was a manual til I got in it and he was gone..............
He should fire his senior staff. Because of them we never got the Puma. The styling may be a little dated now, but there was nothing like it in the Ford stable in 2002.
Hmmm,
Sportage, I may have to look into that one again.
The Rio just didn’t look like my kind of ride though.
Will say again KIA builds some tough vehicles.
Woerm
Their cars are fugly, but their SUVs are solid..................
THAT IS FUNNY!............
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