ODE to the Death of a Three Letter Acronym: SVT
It’s difficult to figure out why an automaker makes certain decisions, especially those manufacturers that are suffering financially and therefore subject to pressure from shareholders at one end and workers’ demands at the other, not to mention what its customers might want. Ford Motor Company is a good case in point.
Where it made one of the best decisions it could have in choosing to revitalize its long neglected but still surprisingly successful Mustang coupe and convertible, the new version of which has single-handedly hoisted the sport coupe segment back from outer darkness into a newfound relevance, and then followed that up by scoring at least as well in resurrecting its moribund midsize sedan sales volume by bringing to market a Fusion four-door that is truly appealing, even causing import buyers to step up to the plate and take a swing for the home team, but there have been some choices made that hardly make much sense.
But then again, it is possible that allowing its SVT (Special Vehicle Team) performance division to quietly slip into obscurity wasn’t a decision at all, but merely one postponement after another, followed up by “oh well it’s too late now” cancellations and finally questions as to whether a skunk works tuning team will even be part of Ford’s “Way Forward” future at all.
Some will argue that, in this time of crisis which Ford is indeed facing it needs to focus all of its efforts on building the best core products possible, rather than piddling around with low-volume, niche-market muscle cars, super trucks and hot hatches. It needs to invest its money into light trucks, such as the recently redesigned F-150, so that Toyota’s much ballyhooed 2007 Tundra doesn’t get the upper hand; or throw some more green at its Lincoln division so that it can compete one on one with Lexus, Infiniti or Acura, or for that matter BMW, Mercedes-Benz or Audi; not to mention Cadillac, let alone its own second cousin Jaguar. Saab anyone? And what about hybrids? With only the Escape Hybrid currently being sold, oh, and a Mercury badged variation only available in the U.S., not only does the investment need to get spread out among other models to reduce its HEV per unit cost, but being a forerunner in a hot market segment is essential to the automaker’s growth.