Wing,
Respect where respect is due, always, first before insulting someone's intelligence, know that I was in the auto industry for 8 years and I know how it works. As an auto enthusiast I have the chance to drive many vehicles and stop by showrooms to look at all cars.
Fusion was re-styled, yet remains an 8 year old Mazda 6 at heart. Nothing new here. On paper a Sonata hybrid blows the doors off the Fusion hybrid.
The Fiesta and Mazda 2 are the same car. Same shared DE platform, virtually identical wheelbase and track, same engine placement, similar pricing. OK different engines, packages and badge on the front - they have to be different somehow. As far as "aren't even close to the same car", who told you that? Mazda / Ford executives? Come on...
Taurus was re-styled. This is an old NA manufacturer ploy. It's still an 11 year old, previous generation, Volvo S80 platform underneath. Nothing new or exciting really unless you count the wrapping. Lots of cars to be had in it's price class, $50k for an SHO is a joke. For that there are so many other cars in the marketplace that are so much more than a Ford.
Drove a 2011 V8 Mustang lately for 3 days between and around Montreal / Quebec City. Typical jittery suspension, bad fit & finish, cheap monotone plastics, annoying hair trigger throttle (almost undriveable in traffic) and mushy frame that will go soft after 50,000 kms. So yes, I have driven one and many other cars lately!
All Ford car platforms are borrowed or co-engineered with other manufacturers because their corporate teams are too busy dealing with unions, advertising and lawyers rather than focusing on design and innovation. Technologies are purchased, raped or borrowed similarly. Ford will sell many of these cars to an uneducated public via cheezy advertising, interest rates and other similar ploys.
A new platform costs between $2B and $5B to develop. Do you really think that entirely new platforms are developed every 5 years by other manufacturers?
The only reason Mazda and Volvo are still around is because of Ford. Co-operation between subsidiaries makes good business sense. Mazda helped with the development of the CD3 platform and 4 cylinder engines. Ford developed the Escape/Tribute, Ranger/B-Series and V6s. The Mazda 3 is based on the Euro Focus platform as is the Volvo C30. Now if you compare the Consumer Reports reliability rating of cars based on the same platform, Ford is almost always the more reliable of the versions.
As far as the Taurus, where else are you going to get a full sized, AWD, 365hp car for this amount of money? The 300C/Charger R/T are your only alternatives. Since the styling and engineering changes, sales are running far higher, so it was money well spent.
I've driven the Mustang V6 back to back with the Genesis coupe and BMW 128i. It is more than competitive in interior build quality and chassis refinement. The 415hp GT is a performance bargain that nobody else can touch for the money. And it is a Ford developed platform (D2C).
The last paragraph is wharrgarbl. Engineering has nothing to do with labour relations. All companies purchase or license technologies from other companies. Lots of stuff found on German cars, for instance, was initially developed by Siemens, Bosch, ZF, etc then the auto companies get involved in integrating the technology into their cars. It's the nature of the business.
The car buying public at large don't care about any of this. They want a reliable car, that fits their needs, at a decent price. Most Fords are in the ballpark.
