I seem to remember that a number of years ago Ford stated that by about the beginning of 2002 (IIRC) they would be fitting DAB digital car radios in all new Fords sold in the UK. It's now the second half of 2005 and no sign of this policy/promise being fulfilled. Anyone (especially Ford employees in the know) able to explain why ?
(Originally posted a few days ago but lost in the "Bermuda triangle" event)
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I'm guessing it's 'cos the company is in hot water at the moment. Bear in mind that they just removed the CD player from the base model Fiesta as it was costing them too much!
Blue
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I thought that reliability and coverage of DAB would be the main problem, but it seems that most places are now covered by it. I think the main reason is the expense of the technology and the philosophy that if it aint broke, don't fix it. I'd sooner Ford fit full-size steel spares than roll-out a technology which adds little to the function of the radio.
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Mike Farrow
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Hello.
Blue why are ford in hot water.
Are they in trouble.
p.s i dont think much to the base fiesta even the ghia has less features than previos models.
Does the ghia have more soundproofing etc and a better build quality.
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(iam not a mechanic)
Martin Winters
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See www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,155624,00.html
for Ford and GM financial difficulties. Meanwhile Toyota seems to be rolling in money.
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Thanks for that expat.
Yeah, Ford are in trouble, in this country they caused themselves some serious reputation damage with the early 90's Escort, and in the US they crippled themselves with the Explorer debacle. To recover, they had a vision, the Focus, which they spent hundreds of millions of pounds on developing, in fact, they spent a bit too much on the development and caused themselves more grief.
As for the Fiesta, the base model wasn't too bad for equipment levels, until they "re-aligned" the range and reduced the specs in the base model. As for the Ghia however, it is now very well specced, Leather, decent alloys, A/C, body colured plastics etc. What more could you ask for in a small car?
Blue
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Oh, forgot to add, no, the Ghia doesn't have a better build quality in the Fiesta. It is the likes of the Mondeo Ghia which have nicer suspension etc.
Blue
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Hello Blue and everyone else.
What are the diesel engines like in the new fiestas.
I remember the time when the base specs had less soundproofing in them compaired to the higher models.
Does anyone know what the facelift at the end of the year bring.
I wish the ghia had body coloured wing mirrors.
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(iam not a mechanic)
Martin Winters
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The 1.4 TDCi is nice, econimical, if a little sluggish. The 1.6 is almost as economical but it is a lot quicker, very nice engine really.
Got no idea what the face lift will bring I'm afraid. You get body coloured mirrors but only on the ST IIRC. Easy job to have them sprayed though.
Blue
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Body coloured mirrors arnt all they are cracked up to be, judging by the blue scrapes on the tip of my red one!
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The Mondeo Ghia has better suspension than the regular Mondeo?
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IIRC engine-for-engine the same supension settings are used across the range (the estate has different rear suspension that the hatch and saloon), the ST's have tweaks to the supension and steering though basically the same geometry.
Re DAB radios, seems that Ford published ambitious plans based on broadcast industry projections, the fact that they have not delivered is more to do with the broadcast industry and market demand than Ford's ability to do so.
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The Mondeo Ghia has better suspension than the regular Mondeo?
I suppose it does depend on how you define "better", it's tuned for a more comfortable ride than the suspension on the Zetec rather than a sporty ride. This coupled with the better seats makes it fairly different to drive about in than say a Zetec, and it's a very different animal to the LX.
That's in my opinion anyway.
Blue
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Yes - but even the Ghia still doesn't have a DAB radio as standard. Time to name and shame Ford for renaging on their promise.
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As I said before the fact that Ford have not fitted DAB is more to do with the broadcast industry (network coverage) and market demand than Ford's ability to do so.
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Maybe Ford should have researched the broadcast industry a bit more before making such statements. We won't touch on the market demand aspect...wouldn't want to accuse them of not understanding the demands of the automotive market.
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I would wager that satnav will become standard equipment before DAB radios do.
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