Originally posted by svtcarboy: Well, I will say the SVT Contour did not have direct competition, but the non-SVT Contour fit right in the center of the entry-mid-size market, against Stratus, Sebring, Grand Am, Malibu, Sonata, Galant, Altima, and the like. It presented a top-grade offering at a reasonable cost.
True, although I always thought GM had too many similarly sized cars too. I think they could maximie profits cutting down a platform or two.
Contour is no doubt different than the Focus and Taurus left. But I think what the majority of consumers want can either save money with a Focus, or get a bigger car for the same money in the Taurus. The Focus is prety big inside. I'd rather sit back there than my Contour (6'4"). I cannot blame Ford for optimizing profits. The key problem is that I, and I suspect you, are not in the majority of customers.
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That the sportier variant of the SVT is a currently unoccupied niche makes all the more reason to have a product here. Yes, us current owners are aspiring to something more (well, I'd be happy with a newer SVT Contour design one more time around), but there are a LOT of people with lesser cars that would aspire to the SVT Contour if it were there to aspire to.
I agree that the Contour would be a great step that many people aspire to. It might cause a good number of people looking to upgrade to head elsewhere this time around. But the market for used now makes it even more of a bargin (in my mind). The Ford loyal will find good qualities in the remaining models. Heck, maybe Ford will even sucker them into buying more expensive models. The others that float around with brands, should be wlling to come back to Ford if they bring back a similar model or the comsuner has different needs for which Ford has a model to compete.
