Ford Will Not Restart Freestar Production Line

[Perian]

Source: Automotive News subscriber email alert.

Contents:

DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. has produced its last Freestar minivan.

The automaker won't restart production of the Freestar at its Oakville, Ontario, assembly plant, spokeswoman Anne Marie Gattari said Tuesday. That decision was reached during the last half of December, she said.

Freestar production went on hiatus in early November. At the time, it was a temporary halt to allow for a smoother production launch of the 2007 Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX crossovers at the Oakville plant.

The Freestar was to resume production early in 2007 and run through the end of the model year. But Ford executives preferred the business case for the Edge and MKX.

"We looked at the demand for Edge and MKX, and it's so strong that we've decided that this is the thing to do -- concentrate fully on the all-new models there," Gattari said.

Fleet buyers are the majority customer for the Freestar, responsible for about 65 percent of sales during the first 10 months of 2006, according to the Automotive News Data Center. Ford intends to work with fleet customers with Freestar orders on substituting other Ford vehicles, Gattari said.

Ford produced just 430 Freestars in November, Ford sales analyst George Pipas said. About 2,500 remain in dealer inventory. That doesn't count December sales, which will be reported Wednesday.

The December sales report will include "a handful" of Edges and MKXs, Pipas said. After a delayed launch, those vehicles began reaching dealerships mid-month.

"The demand for the Edge and the MKX is such that if we restart Freestar, we'll have to compromise some Edge and MKX volume, and that's not good," Pipas said. "The future of Ford Motor Co. is not with the Freestar."

[Perian]

Originally Posted by Perian

Fleet buyers are the majority customer for the Freestar, responsible for about 65 percent of sales during the first 10 months of 2006, according to the Automotive News Data Center. Ford intends to work with fleet customers with Freestar orders on substituting other Ford vehicles, Gattari said.

And those vehicles would be?

[genjy]

Good old Ford. As usual, letting decent products die by not keeping them competitive. I have a feeling the Five-Hundred will be next victim in line.

[Proetus]

Originally Posted by Perian

And those vehicles would be?

Freestyle, Explorer and E-150 would be a good guess.

[69Firebird400]

Originally Posted by Proetus

Freestyle, Explorer and E-150 would be a good guess.

Or, possibly some of the ~2,500 sitting in inventory. I'm not sure how many days' supply that is, but it's more than five months of production.

[BrickTamland]

I honestly say good riddance to this rental queen. The Edge and MKX are what they should be concentrating on, and they are. One smart decision among many, many stupid ones.

Hmm...I just gave the current Vonage tagline.

[civilzues]

Is this why Ford was the number one name for such a long time? fleet sales. granted GM does it but just wondering

[paul38469]

I wonder if we will see a bump in Uplander sales due to some of the Freestar fleet orders that would have come in over the next several months. I imagine that both the Freestar and Uplander mainly sell to fleets based on price and little else.

[FordMan]

Originally Posted by civilzues

Is this why Ford was the number one name for such a long time? fleet sales. granted GM does it but just wondering

For the past few years, yes thats why Ford was #1. But during the 90s, Ford truly did well in sales without fleets. From here on out its an uphill battle.

[VivienM]

Originally Posted by FordMan

For the past few years, yes thats why Ford was #1. But during the 90s, Ford truly did well in sales without fleets. From here on out its an uphill battle.

Ford made a HUGE mistake with the 96 Taurus.

[likearock00]

Originally Posted by VivienM

Ford made a HUGE mistake with the 96 Taurus.

And that was??

I just can't wait to see all this Edge hype pan out. I really do not think it's that hot of a product, but we'll see. They act as if the Edge has a million orders backlogged, I think they just wanted to kill the Freestar. I want to see how many Edge's that Ford will sell.

[VivienM]

Originally Posted by likearock00

And that was??

The styling?

Originally Posted by likearock00

I just can't wait to see all this Edge hype pan out. I really do not think it's that hot of a product, but we'll see. They act as if the Edge has a million orders backlogged, I think they just wanted to kill the Freestar. I want to see how many Edge's that Ford will sell.

Something odd happened with the Freestar. I thought the Windstar was a decently selling product, then they improve it and rename it, and sales tank.

I wonder if renaming it so it would have an F-name wasn't a huge mistake.

[montrealvue]

RIP Freestar, even the soccer moms hated you.....

On the bright side, you'll be worth a third of your original value on the used car lot when Avis is done with you in 6 months.....

[01cavalier]

Originally Posted by genjy

Good old Ford. As usual, letting decent products die by not keeping them competitive. I have a feeling the Five-Hundred will be next victim in line.

It might as well, though simply restyling it and redoing the interior could do wonders for it along with a decent boost in power from their 3.5. That would be a wiser choice...

I'm glad Ford isn't going to resume the Freestar production.

[asim]

Why don't they convert this Freestar line to have the Edge and MKX on it, since there is "so much demand" for these new crossovers by Ford. I don't like what Ford is doing though, it looks like they are competing with themselves when you look at how many crossovers they plan to bring to market.