Autoblog

Click on the pic above for our high-res 2009 Ford F-150 gallery

As staggering as it may seem, the 2008 Ford F-150 pickup can be ordered in billions of different combinations. That's all going to change for 2009. In an effort to reduce complexity and cut spiraling costs in the process, Ford will be slashing the number of possible F-150 configurations by 90 percent. The automaker isn't leaving the rest of the lineup alone either. The Ford Expedition goes from 250,000 combos down to fewer than 10,000. The 2009 Lincoln MKS debuts with about 300 combinations, and the 2010 Ford Focus will offer only about 150, which is 95 percent fewer than the current model. Are you in the market for a 2009 Ford F-150 and worried that you won't be able to get it exactly the way you want? Don't fret, Ford will still offer more than 9 million combinations for next year's model, including a brown one we presume.

[Source: Automotive News, subs. req'd]

If you're in the market for a Focus sedan, the question is, exactly what kind of Focus will you buy? According to Ford's option sheets, there are 100,000 different combinations you can create. Eighty percent of Focus sedan sales, however, are comprises of just 4,000 of those combos. This glut of choice has increasingly become an issue that translates into lost money, unhappy customers and overwhelmed dealers for the Big Three, and now they're going to trim the options tree.

Ford's new marketing chief Jim Farley has said, "Coming from Toyota, I can tell you that the opportunity is there to reduce the complexity of our line-up." Toyota cars are not known for an obscene wealth of choice, although Nissan has found itself with too many choices on the Maxima and Altima, and has cut them down recently. Meanwhile, the domestics are working to figure out how to rationalize the choices they offer -- and the money they spend on them -- with the need to give people want they want.

Ford is doing it by shrinking the number of "buildable combinations of the 2008 Focus by 99 percent." Chrysler has reduced its own complexity by a claimed 93-percent over the last two years by jettisoning options. And GM's global platform strategy aims to severely curtail the expense of developing and building a car. Said marketer John Tulloch, the manufacturers can win this fight "if the savings are used to improve remaining models and reduce sticker prices." We can only hope.

[Source: Yahoo]

Part of Ford's revised business strategy is to make it easier for both dealers and consumers to get a hold of the vehicles they want. As such, Ford is implementing a plan that will reduce the number of options on its models so buyers aren't overwhelmed with choices and dealerships can stock up on the most popular models packing the most sought after equipment.

The plan is make more of the optional equipment standard and Ford is looking into what buyers want so it can outfit the vehicles accordingly. Aside from giving customers the options they desire, it means that dealers won't have stale product collecting dust on the lot. Mark Fields cited one of the most egregious offenders, the Lincoln LS (discontinued in '06), as being available in some 50,000 different configurations -- unfortunately, none of which involved a manual and a V8.

The move seemed to get a fair amount of support from dealers when it was announced at the NADA conference and Ford hopes to keep pace with other automakers that have been doing this for decades. The simplified options list will make its debut later this year on Ford's 2009 models sold in the U.S.

[Source: Automotive News – Sub. Req.]

At the prodding of Alan Mulally, Ford Motor Co. is relenting and giving its customers what they want. At least most of them. What Ford's up to is reducing the number of options for buyers to choose from and rolling all that goodness into the standard package. By reducing the number of possible variations on the general theme, production costs decrease. With fewer configurations, things move more smoothly at the assembly level, and engineering and management costs decrease, as well. The effort has already kicked off, and it will snowball from model to model, making it easier for customers to get what they want, and increasing the odds that dealers will have the cars customers want on their lots. The simplification effort is a step that can be enacted quickly; a lot faster than bringing over a platform from somewhere else. It's all part of an effort to chip away at the losses and return black ink to the ledger. More stuff, packaged the way we like it? Sounds like a win.

[Source: Auto News - sub req.]

This is how this writer would take his GranTurismo... how would you like yours?

Oh, how these fancy online car configurators are fun. And time-sapping. The Veyron's, as you may recall, is stylish and serene, but even with the new options coming out there's still not a lot to chose from, two-tone paint schemes notwithstanding. Maseratis, meanwhile, are decidedly nowhere near as exclusive as Bugattis. The MC12 might have come close, but that supercar was offered in one color scheme and with little to no options whatsoever. The Trident marque's more "mainstream" models, meanwhile, offer buyers a seemingly endless array of color choices.

The configurator for the new GranTurismo recently went online. Head over to GranTurismo.Maserati.com and you can fantasize you're a customer spec'ing out your own GT, choosing from a seemingly endless spectrum of colors for every detail big and small, both outside and in, including the paint, brake calipers and wheel finish on the exterior, and just about every swath of leather and trim inside. Then check out your selection from every angle. All that's missing is a changeable backdrop of the marina, golf course and five-star hotel to see how it'd look in its element.

[Source: Maserati]

Let's admit it: playing around with the customizing tools for cars you never intend to buy is fun. Although the Veyron's is one of the nicer ones we've tinkered around with, the lack of choices gets boring pretty quick, two-tone paint schemes notwithstanding. Fortunately the good folks at Bugatti – those same good folks who brought us the 1000hp ultra-mega-über-super-car – have decided to bestow upon us a few more criteria to tinker with. Alright, maybe it's more for the actual customers, but since there won't be another Bugatti model coming anytime soon, as we sorrowfully reported several months back, we'll take what we can get.

Future buyers ponying up the million clams it takes to put a Veyron in their (undoubtedly immaculately paved) driveways will now be offered several new choices: a few new color combinations, some new leather trim options for the interior, and colored wheels. The latter will likely please individualistic buyers the most, as a 250-mph supercar can't take just any wheels the aftermarket has to offer.

Reports also suggest that Bugatti is working on a revised exhaust system following client feedback that the exhaust note was not sufficiently impressive, muffled as it were by the four turbochargers (!) and whatnot.

If anyone needs us, we'll be spending the next little while sorting out our new preferred Veyron specs.

[Source: Spiegel Online via German Car Blog and Motor Authority]