A Change Every Three Years

The one thing that is constant in life is change. You can’t stay idle forever. Once that happens, people will start to lose interest. And it’s important to keep people interested. Coming up with refreshing ideas will make people come back for more. When they see something new and exciting, they start spreading the news. And we all know how powerful of a tool word-of-mouth can be in terms of promotion. This is why Ford has decided to adapt to change and have resolved to remodel their vehicles every three years.

It’s a good thing Ford decided to do this. It’s been a long time coming. Most of its competitors in the automotive industry have been doing this for years. This has helped the competition in generating interest from their customers and provide new and innovative car designs for them to choose from. While this was happening, Ford sat on their laurels and just let whatever they had at that time stay the same. Not anymore. As part of this new cycle, Ford will only retain a model’s design after three years. No more, no less. Also, as a part of this program, the company has stated that they will be reducing the age of their Ford, Mercury and Lincoln lines. According to Derrick Kuzak, vice president of global product development, Ford will concentrate heavily on implementing changes in design and to focus on technical improvements.

“One way to differentiate yourself and bring people into the showroom is with great design,” he said. “You don’t design for the masses; each vehicle has a target audience.”

And based on what they have in store for us, it looks like Ford means business. Based on their future plans, the company will be reducing the number of its platforms and engines and will focus on building 70% of their vehicles based on eight platforms only by 2012. That’s worldwide folks. They also have plans of introducing a dual-clutch transmission for their North American brands in order to help cut fuel cost for Ford drivers.

Talk about taking it to the next level. Now who said that change isn’t a good thing?

Sources: Left Lane News, The Truth About Cars, Wikipedia