"Decay buys too many beaters" (decay)
06/13/2014 at 12:16 • Filed to: None
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"Decay buys too many beaters" (decay)
06/13/2014 at 12:16 • Filed to: None | 3
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But does the recent Mustang "weight-gate" feel like a bit of a marketing ploy to anyone else?
Here is what happened in order...
1. The new mustang could lose 400 lbs, and there was massive rejoicing. At this point I was contemplating trading in the FR-S for a '15 Mustang
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
2. The Mustang gains 300lbs, and there was a lot of anger.
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
3. Mustang didn't actually gain 300 lbs, but will likely gain about 150lbs, response is mixed...
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
4. Mustang "only" gains 100lbs, and there is now rejoicing?
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
Personally, it smells a bit to me like Ford realized that they had quite a few people expecting a lighter leaner Mustang and arranged for a series of leaks (knowing how the blogosphere eats shit like this up) to ease the public into the idea of a slightly heavier Mustang.
Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow
> Decay buys too many beaters
06/13/2014 at 12:19 |
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Certainly seems like something one of those devious marketing bastards would do.
Says the devious marketing bastard. ;)
PS9
> Decay buys too many beaters
06/13/2014 at 12:28 |
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Not to me. Edmunds made the claim using an anonymous source. Fact is the 'anonymous source' is ever journo's go to when they want to put some unverifiable (but maybe close to the truth) bullshit out there. Remember that people who cover cars are likely to be car lovers themselves, and wouldn't it be just great if the MY 2o15 took a step closer to being a V8 BRZ? Wish fulfillment has masqueraded as breaking news many times before in the Auto news sphere. Remember that world beating carbon fiber hot hatch McLaren was (NEVER) going to make?
You don't really need a secret media campaign to ease people into a 50-75 lb weight gain, because A) that's not a lot of weight and B) no one who buys a mustang does it because they want a lithe competitor to the Lotus Elise. The entire thing had nothing to do with what Ford claimed officially (and they would have LOVED to make that claim. "Hey guess what, Chevy AND Chrysler? Our new Muscle Car will be just and fast and weight almost 1k lbs less than yours today. YOUR MOVE!"), and was generated by people in position to stir the pot and hopefully nudge Ford in a 'V8 BRZ' direction, because that's what they want.
When they run the same game on the new Camaro when it starts it's testing run/reveal cycle, don't be shocked.
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Decay buys too many beaters
> PS9
06/13/2014 at 12:46 |
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I'm aware that the first release about the 400lbs weight savings was an anonymous source (aka that dude looking back in the mirror of the journalist who wrote the article) . But everything after that seems like easing people away from the idea of a lighter mustang.
For instance, if the first leak after the 400lbs weight loss claim had been the actual weight, I expect that the response would have been similar to when it was "leaked" that the new 'Stang would be 300lbs heavier.
GhostZ
> Decay buys too many beaters
06/13/2014 at 12:50 |
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So, since it's not losing weight, that means that it's just a 1999 SVT Cobra with added luxury features and better MPG, right?
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Decay buys too many beaters
> GhostZ
06/13/2014 at 12:59 |
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Now that's a marketing campaign I could get behind.
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PS9
> Decay buys too many beaters
06/13/2014 at 13:11 |
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The second 'leak' was due to someone at steeda supposedly (but kinda not really) weighing the car. The claim turned out to be bullshit . If it were really ~400lb lighter, there wouldn't have been any leak, and Ford would have been sure to release that information so they could use it to both humiliate and put pressure on their competitors.
I simply don't buy the idea of a media conspiracy to hide a two-hundreths-of-one-percent weight gain. That does not seem reasonable. The entire scandal from start to finish was generated by figures in the media who were daydreaming about a significantly lighter Mustang, and is absent any input from anyone officially connected to the project.