Good news for Ford


Ford : SUV becomes USA's top police car Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY 11:03 a.m. EDT March 23, 2014              Ford says the police version of the Explorer is now outselling other police vehicles, partly because it has all-wheel drive. (Photo: Ford)  SHARE 36 CONNECT 27 TWEET 6 COMMENTEMAILMORE   Ford has already claimed that the police verson of the Explorer SUV has become America's new most popular cop car. Now it says it has the numbers to prove it.
Ford sold 14,086 Interceptor SUVs last year, as the police version of the Explorer is known, up 140% from the year before. At the same time, it sold 10,897 Taurus outfitted for police work, up 31% from 2012.

Together, they account for almost half of all police vehicles sold among the major brands -- Dodge, Ford and Chevrolet, according to Ford, which bases its analysis on data from industry statisticians R.L. Polk.

The industry as a whole was up 22% last year. Taurus competes in the police sedan market against Dodge Charger and Chevrolet Caprice. General Motors announced a new Chevrolet SUV in February that will go up against the Explorer. All are trying to fill the gap left by Ford's decision to kill the venerable Crown Victoria sedan, the mainstay of America's police agencies for years.

Ford says it has prospered three ways, according to Jonathan Honeycutt, police marketing manager at Ford:

•The new utility vehicle body is suited to the changing role of police officers, who need to carry more equipment to be ready for any contingency.
•Some 90% of the Interceptors being sold now come with standard all-wheel drive.
•More choices of turbocharged engines are being offered.
"Many officers told us, 'We need more space, but we also need performance'," said Honeycutt in a statement. "We knew with the amount of equipment officers now have to transport that our utility vehicle would be a hit."
   

Considering their market share was probably in the 80-90% range before Dodge released the Charger, I'm thinking they're putting lipstick on a pig here. They've lost market share to Dodge and Chevy over the last several years. With Dodge coming out with a AWD Charger this year, I think they're looking at stiff competition in a market that they've dominated for a decade. If Dodge or Chevy can make a competetive mid-sized SUV, they may steal even more from Ford...the Taurus is nearly universally hated in LE for lack of interior size and won't save their police market share.

I've been pretty impressed with my mom's Explorer of this latest generation. We've owned Explorers from pretty much every generation ('93, '98, '02, and now the '10).  Ours is just a base model, FWD 4-cylinder model, but that's okay. It's got a lot of room. I've spent hours in the 3rd row and it is quite alright. Plus, the cargo space is great, with or without the 3rd row folded.  The seats are a little too stuff for my liking all around, but I've driven the thing for 4-5 hours at a time without any real discomfort.  Yeah, it's not a "real" SUV...but for people like my mom, it's great. She's used to an SUV, it has tons of room, won't get stuck as long as it has some winter tires (she got stuck once on the A/S tires and dad bought her a set of winters shortly after), and gets surprisingly awesome fuel economy. And it isn't a minivan.

I can understand why it's selling well to police. More fuel efficient than a Charger (depending on engine choice, I suppose), but with more room, towing ability, and off-road ability.

Quote from: bing_oh on March 23, 2014, 09:09:25 PM
Considering their market share was probably in the 80-90% range before Dodge released the Charger, I'm thinking they're putting lipstick on a pig here. They've lost market share to Dodge and Chevy over the last several years. With Dodge coming out with a AWD Charger this year, I think they're looking at stiff competition in a market that they've dominated for a decade. If Dodge or Chevy can make a competetive mid-sized SUV, they may steal even more from Ford...the Taurus is nearly universally hated in LE for lack of interior size and won't save their police market share.

Good point.

So tell me, why do cops shops even buy many cars anymore?  The SUV would seem to be a much more practical choice. 

Quote from: CLKid on March 24, 2014, 06:14:31 AMGood point.

So tell me, why do cops shops even buy many cars anymore?  The SUV would seem to be a much more practical choice.

Cars are still the norm in LE, actually. SUV's in the past have had many disadvantages for LE..particularly that many weren't pursuit-rated, had a significantly higher base cost, and had higher fuel consumption. Most times, they were limited to special purpose vehicles. The new Explorer is, realistically, probably the first in a new generation of LE vehicles..."compact SUV" or "SUV-ish" is probably the best description, considering it's not really a full fledged SUV. There are obvious significant advantages in such a vehicle (besides the fact that it looks like you're going to pick up groceries in the damn thing...the Charger is still the most "cop looking" cruiser out there IMO). I'm honestly surprised that Dodge never heavily marketed the Durango as a compact SUV cruiser as opposed to the special purpose market they put it in...especially after they cracked the LE market wide open with the Charger.

If 80-90% market share was profitable for the panther, Ford would still be making them, even if market share was dropping due to the charger/caprice. 50% market share of profitable vehicles (explorer/taurus) is far better if it is profitable. It is strange on the durango, it makes better sense than the chevy SUV.

Quote from: SVT32V on March 24, 2014, 08:54:48 AM
If 80-90% market share was profitable for the panther, Ford would still be making them, even if market share was dropping due to the charger/caprice. 50% market share of profitable vehicles (explorer/taurus) is far better if it is profitable. It is strange on the durango, it makes better sense than the chevy SUV.

I seen a good number of Police Edges up around this way.  A little surprising, as it's GM territory.

I think the main reason the Crown Vic isn't around anymore is because the car was and old design and it would've cost a lot of money to adapt the car to new government standards.   When GM ditched the Caprice in 96 pretty much every major department went with Ford.  GM had the crappy Lumina and then made a package for the Tahoe but it didn't really catch on back then.  I'm not sure if anyone will get over 50% of the market again with all the options out there. 

GM did seem to sell a decent amount of Impalas for PI use, though. I don't think I've seen a state cop in an Impala but a lot of the local PDs use(d) 'em.

oof that DARE paintjob is awful

Quote from: Mustangfan2003 on March 24, 2014, 10:59:28 AM
I think the main reason the Crown Vic isn't around anymore is because the car was and old design and it would've cost a lot of money to adapt the car to new government standards.   When GM ditched the Caprice in 96 pretty much every major department went with Ford.  GM had the crappy Lumina and then made a package for the Tahoe but it didn't really catch on back then.  I'm not sure if anyone will get over 50% of the market again with all the options out there.

Aren't cop cars exempt from many of those standards?

Tahoes are really popular with the NYS Troopers.  They've been using them for a while, and I think they are just buying more to replace their aging CVPIs.

Quote from: MX793 on March 24, 2014, 06:58:12 PM
Tahoes are really popular with the NYS Troopers.  They've been using them for a while, and I think they are just buying more to replace their aging CVPIs.

Ugh those fucking things.  On the Thruway.

Quote from: CLKid on March 24, 2014, 06:44:53 PM
Aren't cop cars exempt from many of those standards?

I believe for fuel but I doubt it for safety. 

Quote from: CLKid on March 24, 2014, 06:44:53 PMAren't cop cars exempt from many of those standards?

I've never seen any formal exemption for LE vehicles. Realize that the Big Three don't really see LE vehicles as a separate market, per se. The market for them is "fleet" and the vehicles they market for it are nothing more than modified versions of the standard civilian vehicles...the modifications for LE, like larger alternators and such, are relatively minor. Stopping production of the CVPI was a financial decision regarding whether or not to continue tying up a manufacturing line on an old, outdated design. They decided that the profit wasn't worth the expense and it would be cheaper to take a couple of their new civilian designs and engineer the necessary modifications for them to meet fleet standards.

Quote from: J86 on March 24, 2014, 05:11:05 PM
oof that DARE paintjob is awful

I don't think it's possible for DARE to be anything else.

Quote from: bing_oh on March 24, 2014, 09:15:08 PM
I've never seen any formal exemption for LE vehicles. Realize that the Big Three don't really see LE vehicles as a separate market, per se. The market for them is "fleet" and the vehicles they market for it are nothing more than modified versions of the standard civilian vehicles...the modifications for LE, like larger alternators and such, are relatively minor. Stopping production of the CVPI was a financial decision regarding whether or not to continue tying up a manufacturing line on an old, outdated design. They decided that the profit wasn't worth the expense and it would be cheaper to take a couple of their new civilian designs and engineer the necessary modifications for them to meet fleet standards.

makes sense.  when you figure opportunity cost into the cost of the CVPI Ford was definately losing money. 

Quote from: CLKid on March 25, 2014, 08:11:23 AMmakes sense.  when you figure opportunity cost into the cost of the CVPI Ford was definately losing money.

The LE market isn't a particularly lucrative sector for auto manufacturers. There's just not much profit built in when you're talking about local government contract. That's why there are no LE-specific vehicles on the market (ie, they're all modified versions of civilian models). The only one that I remember even being attempted was Carbon Motors, and they never produced a single cruiser.

Ford toyed with the idea of a police specific cruiser/interceptor, but police departments didn't bite. Only the concept/prototype was built.

Quote from: bing_oh on March 25, 2014, 12:52:38 PM
The LE market isn't a particularly lucrative sector for auto manufacturers. There's just not much profit built in when you're talking about local government contract. That's why there are no LE-specific vehicles on the market (ie, they're all modified versions of civilian models). The only one that I remember even being attempted was Carbon Motors, and they never produced a single cruiser.

Do you have an estimate of how many police cars are sold each year?  A Motor Trend article claimed 65,000-70,000 in pre-recession days.  Admittedly, that's not much when, as you say, the profit margins are slim since the manufacturers have to sell them cheap to make them attractive to police departments.

I remember the Carbon Motors car.  They closed their doors for good about a year ago. 

Quote from: CLKid on March 25, 2014, 05:08:03 PMDo you have an estimate of how many police cars are sold each year?  A Motor Trend article claimed 65,000-70,000 in pre-recession days.  Admittedly, that's not much when, as you say, the profit margins are slim since the manufacturers have to sell them cheap to make them attractive to police departments.

I remember the Carbon Motors car.  They closed their doors for good about a year ago.

I couldn't even guess how many cars are sold to LE in an average year. I'd go lower than the Motor Trend numbers post-recession...one way that many departments have cut budgets is by keeping vehicles longer.

Last thing I heard from Carbon Motors was they were dropping the cruiser idea and were getting into the specialty armored vehicle market. Never heard a peep out of them after that. I just assumed they went belly-up. It's too bad...they were generating alot of interest in LE. I don't think it ever would have been profitable, though, and their maintenance/repair scheme wasn't particularly realistic.

Quote from: bing_oh on March 25, 2014, 05:22:45 PM
I couldn't even guess how many cars are sold to LE in an average year. I'd go lower than the Motor Trend numbers post-recession...one way that many departments have cut budgets is by keeping vehicles longer.

Last thing I heard from Carbon Motors was they were dropping the cruiser idea and were getting into the specialty armored vehicle market. Never heard a peep out of them after that. I just assumed they went belly-up. It's too bad...they were generating alot of interest in LE. I don't think it ever would have been profitable, though, and their maintenance/repair scheme wasn't particularly realistic.

Now if all LE agencies were to unite and develop one stand set of specifications I'd bet a bespoke police car would be feasible.  I suspect the odds of that happening though are slim to none.

All the LE agencies up here would want A/4WD. 

Quote from: CLKid on March 25, 2014, 05:08:03 PM

Do you have an estimate of how many police cars are sold each year?  A Motor Trend article claimed 65,000-70,000 in pre-recession days.  Admittedly, that's not much when, as you say, the profit margins are slim since the manufacturers have to sell them cheap to make them attractive to police departments.

I remember the Carbon Motors car.  They closed their doors for good about a year ago. 

The article said Ford sold 25,000 police cars last year and that half of the market is Fords, so my guess would be 50,000.

The various LEO agencies & departments round here seem to be opting now for Chargers & Caprice PPVs. Don't really see any Ford police vehicles, other than legacy Crown Vics.

Quote from: Morris Minor on March 28, 2014, 01:08:17 PM
The various LEO agencies & departments round here seem to be opting now for Chargers & Caprice PPVs. Don't really see any Ford police vehicles, other than legacy Crown Vics.

The OPP have been replacing their Crown Victorias with Tauruses (Taurii?) up here.

Quote from: Morris Minor on March 28, 2014, 01:08:17 PMThe various LEO agencies & departments round here seem to be opting now for Chargers & Caprice PPVs. Don't really see any Ford police vehicles, other than legacy Crown Vics.

Seems to depend alot on the area for some reason. The Chargers seem to be pretty widespread, but some areas have gone Caprice while others have gone Taurus...frequently, to the total exception of the other. There are exactly zero Caprices in my area...I have yet to even see one up close.

Out of all the new cars half of our troopers seem to be going toward the Charger while the other half seem to be going toward the Tahoe.  Sucks for us speeders. 

Quote from: 3.0L V6 on March 28, 2014, 05:54:23 PM
The OPP have been replacing their Crown Victorias with Tauruses (Taurii?) up here.

Yeah I think the OPP tried out all of the available choices (I remember seeing all 3 of the available sedans in OPP guise over the last couple of years) but have decided on the Taurus.

The Explorers we have are decent but they have been less than reliable.  The Caprices are good with the exception of the two earliest ones we bought.  Both use too much oil but they are being dealt with under warranty.

My efforts right now is to package computers that use less space in the car.  We are testing a Panasonic ToughPad right now but the high resolution, small display combination isn't very good.  Here's the setup in one of our Caprices (Attached).  Lots of PD's are going to this type of setup.  With the lowest unskewed resolution set at 1280 x 800 the text size is tiny set at 100%.  We can bump the text size to 125% DPI but that typically breaks some our .Net apps that detect the OS DPI settings and apply them to the application.