Ford confirms development of new RWD platform
click above to view more images of the Ford Interceptor Concept
Like General Motors, Ford may be shifting its powertrain development away from V8 engines for its passenger cars in favor of its EcoBoost powertrains that use turbocharging and direct injection to make up for a lack of displacement. Also like GM, that doesn't mean the Blue Oval will be abandoning big, rear-wheel-drive vehicles in the future. Automotive News reports that execs from Ford have confirmed that the automaker is developing a new rear-wheel-drive architecture. Details are scarce, but Ford leaders, including group vice president of global manufacturing Joe Hinrichs, said that even if the company decides to use a new rear-wheel-drive architecture being developed in Australia, that doesn't mean production of the platform for export to global markets including the U.S. would necessarily be sourced in Oz. This is where Ford parts ways with GM, which is sourcing production for its rear-wheel-drive Zeta platform used in such vehicles as the 2008 Pontiac G8 and 2009 Chevy Camaro in Australia.
As for what rear-wheel-drive vehicles we can expect from Ford in the future, your guess is as good as ours. It gives us hope that a right-wheel-driven production sedan based on the Ford Interceptor concept (shown above) is still being considered, which is something you would already know if you've seen the movie I Am Legend.
[Source: Automotive News]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Freestyle4x4f150 11:02AM (1/09/2008)
Sweet, bring it!
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Avinash machado 11:05AM (1/09/2008)
The Interceptor would make a great Mercury.
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Ed 11:47AM (1/09/2008)
I think that is what Mercury would best serve as; a performance brand.
Kinda like what GM is trying to return Pontiac to.
Mercury needs a new Cougar that is unique to its line, and a large RWD sedan like the Interceptor. Those two changes alone would do a lot to justify Mercury's existence.
But with Ford's efforts having gone into turning Mercury into a woman's brand, I have a feeling we're not gonna see any tire burning Mercuries again.
Jared 11:56AM (1/09/2008)
Ford would be best served in Mercury was given a dignified burial, right next to Oldsmobile. There is no brand equity left in Mercury. Put a fork in it, it's done.
mk 3:09PM (1/09/2008)
Mercury is not dead, it is just starving.
Ford does need to feed it. RWD performance makes perfect sense.
However, I don't agree that the Interceptor should be that car.
Interceptor seems like a replacement and upgrade from the Crown-Vic, and seems more like a Ford to me.
Take that chassis, and build a more modest size, sleeker, sportier car. (rather than burly and muscular "BOSS" sedan)
The new RWD chassis should become the underpinnings to at least 6 cars. Three sedans, three coupe/convertibles
Ford:
Interceptor muscle-sedan, 300C/future Impala competitor, and Mustang retro-chic muscular 'pony' car. IRS for both. If Explorer can go IRS, and then even unibody in the future, then Mustang can survive without a live axle from the factory. FRPP catalog can handle selling 9" live axle retrofit kits, if the drag racers want them.
Mercury:
Marauder sport sedan: 4-seat sleek roofline 5-door hatchback sedan. (RWD mazda6-like 5-door type of thing) what some erroneously call a "4-door coupe" that is at least has hot as the C-XF concept, and certainly not as bland as the production XF. Priced dead on against the Hyundai Genesis, and more sport than lux.
Lux->Lincoln.
Cougar: similar premise, three-door fastback coupe. V6, EcoBoost (dumb name) turbo, and V8 options, and sleek looks like a modern successor to the 93-97 Probe GT, with RWD, or an Aston Martin/Jaguar XK for the masses, and nicer than the Genesis coupe, and on par competition with the G37. A Modern and lighter weight foil to the retro Mustang, but sharing underpinnings for cost management and aftermarket support. Something cool should be included.
Lincoln:
MKR: RWD lux-performance sedan. Right at the 335, Infiniti M, BMW 5, Lexus GS, and Merc E and CLS-classes. Something bigger than the CTS, and sportier than the DTS, and less expensive than the STS, right in the sweet spot.
Mark IX 4-seat hard-top convertible: Successor to the Mark VIII, but a sleek sexy lux-convertible. The car that the Lexus SC430 wishes it looked like, instead of the bathtub it is. It would undercut the Mercedes SL, and more practical and slinky looking than the XLR. Priced to appeal to some who actually did like the retro T-bird revival while it lasted, high 30k-50k, depending on engine and lux options.
DI V6, DI turbo V6, and Boss DI V8 options, manual transmissions for Ford and Mercury, even on the top trim lines, which FoMoCo so far is loathe to do on cars like the Fusion and Milan, unfortunately.
This could work. Do it. DO IT.
Martman 11:47AM (1/09/2008)
If Ford is serious about staying alive they had better get a couple of cars like this to the market place very fast. I mean serious cars with world class engines and style.
The new Ford Focus is such an ugly uninspring car, I mean who could build that then stand back and say "wow what a wonderful world class car"
I live in western Canada, and the Asian import cars are so strong here that it will take a very serious commitment form Ford if they ever hope to regain any market share.
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010111 11:53AM (1/09/2008)
i have not seen I Am Legend... care to fill me in?
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C.W. 1:09PM (1/09/2008)
during the opening of the movie, when Will Smith is cruising in his Mustang GT500 hunting in the streets of New York, there is a billboard in the background advertising the Ford Interceptor. It is brief and you have to really pay attention. It's up high and it just flashes on the screen for a moment. Considering Ford provided all of the vehicle support for the movie, many feel it was planted just so the savy viewer would see it and keep the excitement alive... or maybe it's Ford's way of hinting at some secret info knowing only a few would see it and the rumor mill would start pumping...
Sam 11:58AM (1/09/2008)
make the interceptor with a V8!
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Freestyle4x4f150 12:03PM (1/09/2008)
I was thinking the same thing, i have not seen i am Legend also. Is this car in the movie??
Sam 12:08PM (1/09/2008)
theres a poster of the car in times square. only the gt500, expedition and escape are in the movie...only the most obvious product placement ever.
Justin 1:43PM (1/09/2008)
Sam, you're forgetting about the Dodge "vehicle" used in the Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer. It's great because supposedly it's a vehicle built by Mr. Fantastic...but it's plastered with Dodge symbols.
Though that movie sucked so I'm guessing more people saw the Fords in I Am Legend.
Sam 1:49PM (1/09/2008)
oh jeez, justin, i totally forgot! Sorry freestyle, Fantastic 4 dodge "vehicle" is and will forever be, the worst product placement ever.
Frylock350 1:56PM (1/09/2008)
@sam. I'd say Transformers was the most obvious product placement ever. The cars weren't props for the characters they WERE the characters :). That said kinda hard to do a movie about transforming vehicles without some actual vehicles. I just hope GM offers Camaro with Bumblebee's paint color.
Punkcrisis 12:07PM (1/09/2008)
Ecoboost and now RWD maybe Ford isn't an dumb as they appear to everyone, Its awesome that they are talking about bringing out wicked cars again, I am even more interested in the fact that they are more dealing with the FPV devision of Australia. Look forward to see future progress from Ford.
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Mercury Fan Forever 12:20PM (1/09/2008)
I hate to see the Panther Platform being put to rest, because it has served Ford/Mercury/Lincoln so well for 30 years now.
I just hope they keep the Grand Marquis and Town Car nameplates alive, or bring back the Mercury Marauder.
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Frylock350 1:59PM (1/09/2008)
I too would miss Panther. Its the last BOF car platform left. That just leaves full-size SUVs for those who want a traditionally American feeling vehicle. I'd love to see a Crown Vic with the 5.4L Triton or even better the 550hp supercharged 5.4L GT500 motor.
mk 4:09PM (1/09/2008)
@Frylock...
"a traditionally american feeling automobile"
Meaning heavy, overly long, prone to body roll and pillowy ride, underdamped and under sprung, and generally archaic. I would like to think that "American" and "Automobile" paired together would be moving to something a little more modern than 1970's technology.
We all know how well the american domestic companies are doing financially as they have failed to adequately modernize as fast as their competition since their late-60's heyday.
If you want a BOF big car, but a Vicky, Grandma-rquis, or Town Car. There are more than enough of them. You can find one so cheap, you could probably afford to put a GT500 supercharged 5.4 in it.
Buy a black government surplus model. You can be like Elwood Blues, with cop tires and cop shocks, and even the coveted "Interceptor" badge on the back. Cheap and relatively easy to build on your own.
But if Ford tries to do that on the showroom floor, they'll never get out of the hole they are in. New car buyers want new cars, imagine that.
FOB is good for trucks for pure strength and weight bearing, but what exactly makes them so wonderful for cars, other than nostalgic warm feelings in the cockles of certain brand-devotees hearts? Good-ole' days mentality. As Billy Joel once wrote, "the Good-Ole'Days weren't always good, and tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems."
The Panther has had a good run. For pete's sake bring something better, keep the nameplates if you like, but there is better to be had, and that is why FoMoCo is in the dire straits it is in. Fox/SN95 was nearly as bad, and the Ranger platform as well. What is it with Ford resisting improvement? (not just change for change sake, but there have been a lot of improvements in 20-30 years.)
Cire 12:25PM (1/09/2008)
I hate to say this, but Mercury will probably not be around in the future. I know Ford keeps denying this, but all the signs are there:
1) Lincoln's move downmarket into Mercury's near luxury segment.
2) Ford merging U.S. and European design philosophies in the future.
3) No new future product announcements for Mercury.
If Lincoln was positioned upmarket into full scale luxury territory, then Mercury would have its place in Ford's U.S. brand hierarchy as a near luxury division. It seems Ford has given up on restoring Lincoln back to its former glory, so this leaves no room for Mercury. I would rather see Mercury die than see it continue in its current faux premium, badge engineered, Ford clone state.
As far as the Interceptor concept, I would love to see it evolve into a production flagship Galaxie sedan for the Ford brand on the new rear wheel drive architecture. I would also love to see the rear wheel drive platform utilized to create a proper flagship sedan (and maybe a coupe-cabrio) for Lincoln (the sedan should be based on the gorgeous MKR concept car).
I'm also wondering if Ford is considering using this platform for the future unibody Explorer.
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Esprit bird 1:19PM (1/09/2008)
Mercury back into the performance market? it will be tough, but it can be done, it can keep the Milan and stuff just to fill the lot, but they need a Cougar with like, 4 variations in performance and maybe another Marauder and a hot hatch.
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