Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General if only Ford were the same as VW....

This is probably the whole reason why I bought the Contour in the first place- because I know that every Tom, Dick, and Harry doesn't have one too. If I wanted to be like everyone else, I'd go get a Jetta or a Honda Accord and try to soop it up by putting rattlecan exhaust on it with 18s. If Contours would have been overly advertised, they would have become a household name, and then everyone would own one, and then I'd be selling mine. I like to have the different personality. I don't want to LOOK like everyone else. If I did, then I'd be wearing Nike shoes and baggy pants too. I think many of you may like owning a Contour for similar reasons. Do you just want to blend in with the rest of traffic?? Feeling like livestock on a cowfarm. We like having personality, right?

Troy@SVT, answer me this.

Why is it that Ford doesn't even want to acknowledge they made the Contour SVT? A bunch of us in PA went to the Carlisle All Fords Nationals, and SVT had a trailer showing off a poster with almost all of the vehicles they made, including the Focus, except for one.

Guess which car wasn't on the poster?

Was the Contour such an embarassment for Ford? I don't see how it could be! What other automaker could make a sleek, stylish sedan with a kick a$$ sport package for way less than a luxury car, with all the goodies, LEATHER, and a high output 200HP V6?

It still boggles my mind, and it's no wonder there's no considerable aftermarket for our cars :rolleyes:

Reply to the post that thought Ford should have vehicles these slots:

"Specialty coupe is the class the last generation Thunderbird is in."
This market is small, Mopars coupes are dying on the vine, the Asain 2 doors are chart toppers, but they sell them since they are based on existing 4 doors. The old T bird was a money loser and buyers bought used anyway.

"Sporty coupe: I'll give the Cougar as presence"
This is a trendy segment, cars have a shelf life of a year at best. Celicas are dropping in sales, so why even bother?

"Entry mid-size: This is the late Contour's class"
This segment is now non-existant. Corollas and Civics are now Compacts, mid size is one size now, not three. Grand Ams and Mazda 6 are true mid size now, not "entry".

"Economy car: This is the late Aspire's class." Lanos is dead, others are junk. But, Ford may need to bring one out. Maybe a decontented Focus 2 door.

Hi, Troy.

SVT Focus Estate, please... like the ST-170 one.

... but on the next platform, w/AWD and a turbo.

Pretty please?!

I don't think the car was an embarassment....rather Ford and it's marketing. They had a great thing and they blew it. If the regular contour was seen as more thna a fleet rental car, the SVT would have been that much more popular. I remember someone saying...and hearing from an SVT employee himself, that probably the favorite car around the SVT offices is the SVT Contour. Lots of SVT and ford guys own them. I don't know why it is absent form that poster...for the same reason it was absent from the SVT website for a while.

Bottom line is, Ford has a chance to listen to their customers. The SVT Focus is a step in the right direction...but needs more HP. Handling is a great thing to focus on (no pun intended) but 0-60 times are what most people are looking for...including the younger buyers the focus is targeted at. Just look at how many people here are always talking about 1/4 mile times! The GT 40 will bring some change to the opinion of ford by the general public...but the cars that 99% of us can afford also need some design changes. The mustang and the focus can use some more oomph, the mustang can use some better handling. The Cobra is great...again though it's a straight line car. The SVT focus is almost there, but needs more go! The lightning...well...that's fine!

Bottom line is that Ford can either listen to what people want or unfortunatley it's customers are going to buy other people's cars.

The thread ..... it lives !!

This thread is all very interesting - keep it coming.

I think some of the reasons why "no one asks for a hot midsize sedan (from Ford)" but they do ask for SVT Tauruses or SVT Crown Vics is simply because THEY DO NOT THINK FORD CAN COMPETE in this arena.

The SVT Contour was actually a bit ahead of its time. No one had really figured that someone other than BMW could put a hot engine in a 4 door sedan and really challenge the Germans at their autobahn burning game.

Fast forward to 2002 and now everybody is doing it - Nissan (Altima 3.5SE), Acura (3.5TL Type-S), Infiniti (G35) and these products are all getting their share of good reviews.

I believe the key to the success of SVT products is the success of the cars upon which they are based. The F-150: no one disputes its success, and American loves trucks anyway, so the Lightning is an easy win. The SVT Focus - Focus is one of the top selling cars, and so a few years later, in the middle of the hot hatch revolution, we have the SVT Focus, which is already a big hit with the enthusiast magazines.

The SVT Contour never really had a chance - no one had seen Ford do a credible job in the midsize sedan market, and when their amazingly revolutionary Tempo replacement world car came out in 1995, Ford didn't stay the course (it was European, but pricey) and the car went downhill from there. On an aging and less than totally successful platform, the SVT Contour was born....one people's minds were ingrained that Contours were either a) Tempo replacements or b) rental cars. Its doom was imminent.

What I'm saying is that SVT should NOT underestimate the "demand" for a hot sedan. Just people aren't asking for a hot Contour doesn't mean there isn't a market. Nearly no one who bought an SVT Contour was probably looking for a Contour in the first place. They were looking A4, G20, 328i, Passat, C230, 9-3. (I was.)

Much like Apple (Macintosh, PowerBook, iMac) - you're gonna have to show the public what they need - and the SVT Contour did that. It blew people away - people who didn't think a hot sports sedan could really come from Ford. That's why no one asks for a hot sedan from Ford.

The Mondeo would succeed in North America now that the lines are blurred between "American" and non-domestic cars. The classes are clearly defined: small (Protege, Sentra, Civic) and midsize (Altima, Accord, Camry, Passat). Look at Nissan - they took their Altima upmarket. Don't think they didn't do it for a reason - their turnaround depends more on the Altima than any other product in their lineup. Their research is right - compete on performance and give people what they want - sportiness (perceived or real...it doesn't matter), and don't give journalists anything to whine about (overall length, interior size, rear seat space, lack of features). Guaranteed winner. Same with Passat. Don't use the Taurus analogy - everyone knows the Taurus is not competitive in the Passat/Accord/Camry race.

Bring the Mondeo here. Right now. Ford needs to go head-to-head with Nissan and VW. The grocery getters will always buy their Accords and Camrys. The rest of us are going to migrate to 3 series, A4, Altima, Passat, Acura, Infiniti. The slice of pie for the Taurus is shinking and will continue to do so.

Kerry

I think if ford is going to try and make something to compete in the 32k sport sedan arena it might not have a ford badge on it. Why? Simple. Image. Ford doesn't have the same image here that other car companies do, people see them mostly as being utilitarian and not that quality. Changing a company's image is possbile but it takes years. Where would they put the BMW fighter if they made it?

-Lincoln? Even with the LS (a very good car,btw) Lincoln is still ford's cadillac
-Jaguar? (the x-type is proof that it's too little car for too much)
-Mercury? maybe, if they can differentiate themselves as being more of a niche maker (luxury or lux performance) it could be possible

-Pete

I'm not sure exactly what you are referring to here. All three years of the SVT Contour are still on our website. We are and never will be embarrassed about the SVT Contour. To some of us here it is still out favorite SVT vehicle to drive. Also, at that event we were actually giving out what we call the "99 Family Poster" which has a Cobra, Lightning and the SVT Contour on it.

The thing is, SVT doesn't advertise. We get the word spread through magazines and enthusiast events. Good magazine articles are obviously what we want and are something the SVT Contour had a lot of. Kind of like the SVT Focus is doing now. We also participate in events where we feel our customer will be. This is how people find out about our vehicle. This is also probably why when you run into a non-automotive enthusiast they will have no idea what your vehicle is. They don't go to car shows and they don't read magazines.

sheesh! see what happens when you surf the boards, troy!

i am actually sort of glad SVT stopped making the Contour. it makes the car that much more rare. it's a shame to loose the spot in the line-up, especially since the demise of the SHO.

i do wish, however, that SVT especially (and for in general) would pay closer attention to how their dealers run their shops. i know they are privately owned, yadda yadda... but, run spot checks on them for customer service and competance. the best way to keep a customer is to never let them see your mistakes. and no where are mistakes more apparent at Ford than at the service counter and in the service bays.