Ford to use own platform for next wave of mid-size vehicles
04-16-2009, 11:44 AM
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Ford to use own platform for next wave of mid-size vehicles
http://www.freep.com/article/2009041...ture+next+time
So all their platforms for mid size or smaller cars and crossovers etc will come from Europe....
The 2010 Fusion and its siblings will probably be the last Ford cars that use an architecture developed by Mazda.
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The Fusion, Lincoln MKZ and Mercury Milan all come from a Mazda-led engineering program that created the architecture for those vehicles and the Ford Escape, Edge, Mercury Mariner and Lincoln MKX crossovers and the Mazda 6 midsize sedan, Tribute SUV and CX-7 crossover.
An architecture is a set of components and systems that can be used as the basis for a wide variety of vehicles.
Ford turned to Mazda for midsize help when the Dearborn company inexplicably forgot to develop any new midsize models of its own. Since then, Ford has made its European engineering centers its global centers for engineering midsize, compact and subcompact cars.
The next generation of the Fusion will share its architecture, and much of its styling, with the replacement for Ford of Europe's Mondeo.
Ford has reduced its stake in Mazda, but the companies still cooperate closely. The next Mazda 6 could use the Mondeo's architecture, but that's not set yet.
By Mark Phelan
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The Fusion, Lincoln MKZ and Mercury Milan all come from a Mazda-led engineering program that created the architecture for those vehicles and the Ford Escape, Edge, Mercury Mariner and Lincoln MKX crossovers and the Mazda 6 midsize sedan, Tribute SUV and CX-7 crossover.
An architecture is a set of components and systems that can be used as the basis for a wide variety of vehicles.
Ford turned to Mazda for midsize help when the Dearborn company inexplicably forgot to develop any new midsize models of its own. Since then, Ford has made its European engineering centers its global centers for engineering midsize, compact and subcompact cars.
The next generation of the Fusion will share its architecture, and much of its styling, with the replacement for Ford of Europe's Mondeo.
Ford has reduced its stake in Mazda, but the companies still cooperate closely. The next Mazda 6 could use the Mondeo's architecture, but that's not set yet.
By Mark Phelan
04-16-2009, 11:49 AM
#2
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iTrader: (7)
European platforms? This coudl be interesting.
Prepare for tiny little fords driving around everywhere
Prepare for tiny little fords driving around everywhere
04-16-2009, 12:52 PM
#3
04-16-2009, 01:37 PM
#5
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