Death of the Cat, Part 2

Well kids, if you haven't heard by now, let me be the first to break the news to you....the new Cougar is dead. Ford officially killed the New Edge Cat on January 11, 2002 as part of a major restructuring plan for the Ford Motor Company in general (also killed were the Escort ZX2, Mercury Villager and Lincoln Continental). Ford slashed a whopping 35,000 jobs worldwide (22,000 in North America alone) and will be shutting down 5 plants as well. Obviously this is a major event at Ford and that effect will trickle down to you and I, the consumers, in a relatively short amount of time. But is any of this surprising? Not really, if you look at the situation objectively:

- The Escort line, save for the ZX2, was killed in 2000 to make room for the entry-level Focus. The ZX2 was selling quite well so Ford kept it. But the Focus has become a smash hit out of the box and is one of Ford's few bright spots. There was no further need to keep the ZX2---it was a lame duck.

- The Villager (and twin Nissan Quest) was scheduled to have its final year in 2002 anyway, as the partnership between Ford and Nissan officially dissolves. The Avon Lake, OH assembly plant is one of the five that Ford is idling. However, the plant was revitalized about a decade ago to be near state-of-the-art. It's a good bet that Ford won't let it sit idle for long.

- The Continental has long been on the bubble for Lincoln. While there's no doubt of the car's technical prowess, the concept of FWD and performance is still quite alien to Ford buyers. The Taurus SHO is a great example---twice Ford killed it. Does that mean the car wasn't loved? On the contrary, the SHO has a cult following to this day. The Continental doesn't, nor has it ever in its FWD version. Lincoln tried and tried for over 15 model years (since 1988) to beat the "FWD 4-door luxury" concept into the buying public's heads. Cadillac owners flocked in droves (Seville/STS) but Lincoln never saw that happening at all.

- Judging by the new Cougar's sales numbers in the past 2 model years, it's really no surprise that it's getting the ax. Right off the bat the new Cat was an instant hit---because it had no real competition back then. Since 1999 several key new players have entered the small sport coupe segment, including the new Eclipse and the all-new Celica. Those cars have hammered the Cougar something fierce too. The segment has not really changed, just expanded, and in this case competition heated up quickly and savagely.

So what have we all learned from the new Cougar?

- Ford successfully obtained their original goal of the car, which was to bring a much younger crowd into Lincoln-Mercury showrooms. That is evident for probably 8 out of 10 new Cougar drivers. The New Edge Cat has a serious cult following already, too. I like the fact that the aftermarket was very quick to respond to the Cougar, with parts available almost immediately. For those that like the new Cat, it was the right car at the right time. Give them an A for effort there.

- However, that was the ONLY car that brought in younger buyers. The Sable, Villager, and Grand Marquis are still considered "old people" cars to them. Once they trade up on the Cougar, there's nothing from Mercury that appeals to them. The only real choice from all of Ford would be the Mustang, which sometimes has a negative connotation from Gen Y. Plus it's RWD---a big no-no to the import and pseudo-import crowd. The new Escape might be appealing, though it's pricey. Therefore, Ford offers precious little to entice older Gen Y buyers once they've outgrown the Cougar. Ford has to get a D for that.

- For what it is, the new Cougar does offer a lot of value for the money. It's a solid, stable car that is roomier than most of its competition. It gets decent fuel economy and rides well (rather like the RWD Fox Cougars actually). But it fell short of its original goal of getting a high-performance version. The only upgrades were some special editions (Zn, C2, XR) that were just Band-Aids to cover the fact that there would be no performance model. And there was no convertible, as originally intended. So what was at first a major player became a watered-down has-been in just 4 short model years. That's very sad, folks--it coulda been a contender. Ford gets a D+ for execution (and that's being generous).

- The FWD Cougar has successfully alienated just about everyone that bought the old Cougar. Remember that the Cougar was only the second car that Ford ever killed as a RWD vehicle, then brought back as FWD (the Continental being the other). When you do that, you're going to piss off some people, frankly. For 30 years people could enjoy walking into a Lincoln-Mercury dealer and plunking down cash on a good ol'-fashioned RWD Cougar. Then Ford took the carpet out from under everyone's feet. If you're a RWD fan your only choice, again, is the Mustang, and even though it's bigger now than a decade ago, it's still not roomy enough for what we're accustomed to. To get the kind of roominess that compares to Fox or MN12 Cougars, you have to step into a Grand Marquis--which is (all together now) an "old people's car". We want a bigger RWD coupe, not a small FWD coupe. So for leaving all of us out in the cold, Ford gets a D-.

Add this all up and you get a nice, solid C- for the 1999-2002 Cougar. Which goes to show you that smoke and mirrors can only get you so far in the "new" car buyers' market. There are actually people out there that don't want a throwaway car---they crave for something much more substantial. Problem is, nobody's making a car for them, so they keep their 15-year old cars because they WORK.

To me this seems to be 1981 all over again. At that time, Ford had nothing but unappealing boxes to sell. Then someone got the right idea to step into the aero age, and things haven't been the same since. Ford saw the need for a revolutionary car, then designed an instant classic, and it sold like water in the Sahara. What car would this be?

The 1983 Cougar.

So to Ford, I say: We're tired of the crap that's on the market now. We want a good, solid RWD car for a good price. We really don't care about fuel economy either (like one of the guys in Robocop said, and I paraphrase, "I want a car that's really big and gets really shitty gas mileage."). If a V8 ain't available we ain't looking either. Bring back what we want, what we need, and what we truly deserve.

And this time around, if you want to slap the Cougar name on it, be sure it's worthy of the heritage first.

Until next time,

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