Here’s The Only Way A New Ford Thunderbird Might Succeed

>

First launched in 1955 as a sporty convertible, Thunderbird remained the most popular model, for more than 40 years. The first personal luxury car in the world, Tbird sold more than a whopping 4 million cars for over 10 generations. The 11th generation, however, brought the doom of the whole era of this insanely famous model of all time. Although some still think the last Thunderbird was way ahead of its time, it proved to be a flop in the market. Disappointed with the way Retrobird fell flat, Ford discontinued the iconic series in 2005.

The lineup used to sell like hot cakes till the early 1990s when buyers gradually started shifting away from soft riding cars to SUVs, minivans, and trucks. Sales started slowing down! Ford announced that it would take down the Tbird away after 43 fun years, as the NY Times reported on March 18, 1997. Interestingly, Ford also said that if they ever bring it back again, it would have to make sound business sense. Unfortunately, when they did (bring Thunderbird back) in 2002, they could not manage to deliver. Ford was mistaken that people would lap it up just for nostalgia. However, the resurrection attempt proved to be futile because of a range of factors like ridiculous prices, copy-pasted designs, un-innovative interiors, poor performance, weaker engine, small size, etc.

The only thing that can help a Ford Thunderbird hit home again, is an absolute spin, a total revamp of almost everything they did wrong with the newer models like 2002 or 2003 Retro Ford Thunderbird.

The Retrobird, or, the MN12 Tbird lacked that distinctive style, powerful performance, and luxurious aura of the older versions. They drove okay, but, were slower and not exciting enough. In a review series by genuine owners on VehicleHistory, many owners complained that the newer models gave very poor gas mileage.

While Tbird was indeed a small 2 seater car when it was launched first, its sales had amped up only after the size and number of seats were added in the second year, after the release. Ford didn’t remember this fact, and relaunched a small size car with cheap interiors and fewer amenities, at an MSRP equivalent to Lincoln and high-end counterparts. Resultantly, people didn’t buy it. At this point, Ford could have modified the cars, but, it did nothing of that sort.

Interiors should match the price and paint quality needs to be improved too. Intricate work needs to be done if they want to bring it back again and call it a personal luxury coupé. In current times, Tbird can only be successful if it is enough luxurious, to have its own market base.

RELATED: The Real Story Behind This Stainless Steel Ford Thunderbird That’s Up For Auction

Read More

—————-

By: Medha Karn
Title: Here’s The Only Way A New Ford Thunderbird Might Succeed
Sourced From: www.hotcars.com/heres-the-only-way-a-new-ford-thunderbird-might-succeed/
Published Date: Tue, 11 Aug 2020 14:45:18 GMT

The post Here’s The Only Way A New Ford Thunderbird Might Succeed appeared first on tizBIG.

from tizBIG https://tizbig.com/2020/08/11/heres-the-only-way-a-new-ford-thunderbird-might-succeed/
via IFTTT