Unrealistic Gas-Mileage Ratings Widen Gap With...

Ford to shorten product cycle, cut costs

 
3 834 views Jan 23, 2008
Follow Nelson

Ford to shorten product cycle, cut costs

Ford to shorten product cycle, cut costs

Enlarge Photo
Hard times are coming for the U.S. auto industry, and there’s just no way around it. Already the leading car makers are announcing their plans to help deal with the expected low demand. Ford’s plan involves, in part, shortening its product cycle in an attempt to keep designs fresh while at the same time cutting costs.

Currently riding life cycles that frequently run in excess of four years, Ford’s designs have been criticized for lacking the freshness and frequent updating that today’s car market requires. Those complaints have not fallen on deaf ears, and the big wigs at the Blue Oval are moving to trim redesign times to just three years. An overall goal of dropping cycle length by 35%, to bring the maker’s development time in line with the industry leaders, is also planned, reports Automotive News.

Cost cutting measures will help Ford see profits instead of losses, especially in the face of shortened design cycles. Designing cars isn’t an inexpensive venture by any means, especially with the old format of prototyping successively more and more realistic vehicles until a production car is reached. Ford hopes to cut some of the development costs by investing in more powerful computers that will reduce the need to prototype, getting them close to the final result before the car ever leaves the computer screen.



Posted in:
 
Contribute
Send us a tip Comment Contact the editor
Follow Us

 

Have an opinion?Join the conversation!

  • Posting indicates you have read this site's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
  • Notify me when there are more comments
Comments (3)

  1. By ohmy Posted: 1/23/2008 3:51pm PST

    yea, they should bring the european spec fords to the US. gawd knwos they get all the better fuel efficient, looking, performing cars.

    design wise, design more cars like the verve!!!!
     
    Post Reply
    Vote
    Bad stuff?

  2. By chris Posted: 1/23/2008 4:16pm PST

    ohmy; ford's european offerings arent any more fuel efficient its just that they buy smaller cars with smaller engines. take the focus as an example. it was only ever available in the 2L but that was a range topping engine in EU.

    but in the end they would save a lot of money by keeping a single global company instead of what they have been doing.
     
    Post Reply
    Vote
    Bad stuff?

  3. By Gojira Posted: 1/24/2008 8:40am PST

    Honda/Acura might wanna go cut back to a 4 year cycle again --- the 5th year seems to be a bit of a struggle for their products (especially Acura).
     
    Post Reply
    Vote
    Bad stuff?

 

Have an opinion?Join the conversation!

Connect with Facebook

Motor Authority. Now with your friends.

Discover stories your friends read.
Share stories more easily.
You control what you share.
Learn more

Research New Cars

Go!


More from High Gear Media

 
 
MotorAuthority
  • Follow Us
  • Twiiter
  • Facebook
 
 
© 2011 MotorAuthority. All Rights Reserved. MotorAuthority is published by High Gear Media. Stock photography by Homestar, LLC. Send us feedback.