Good news Thunderbird lovers, the Thunderbird will return

[Borla Babe]

Recently, I had the privilege of speaking in person to Carl Yarber, Saleen/Ford Specialist, of Team Ford - Marietta, Georgia. We spoke in detail about the Thunderbird, the COP problem, about customer service, about the shake up in top management, and that we should expect to see many Ford dealerships closing in the near future.

Some of the highlights that Carl spoke about:

2010 will be called "The Year of the Mustang". (ok Mustang lovers, that news is out of the way....nuff said, I have no details on the new Mustang, but thought you would be pleased to hear that bit of info)

Now most importantly, Thunderbird lovers will be pleased to hear that our beloved Thunderbirds will make a comeback in 2012. Ford will call 2012 "The Year of the Thunderbird". When asked if the car would be a 4 seater, Carl replied "Ford has never even considered bringing back the 4 seater, the 2012 Thunderbird will definately be a 2 seater". Carl stated the biggest change in the Thunderbird will be the materials used in making the car, with emphasis on a lighter weight car and fuel economy. That is about all I was told, except that he did say "Thunderbird lovers will love this car". Yes, there is a prototype Ford is working with now, but Carl was not forthcoming with any other details other than what I mentioned above.

Carl stressed that we should all read the book "1908, The Year That Changed Everything". He said that only after reading that book will we understand what Fords future goals will be for the next 100 years. A panel of Ford executives was put in place and as a result of reading and studying that book, all upper top management were let go recently and a whole new management team was set in place with new goals. The main goal being a return to customer service and satisfaction, and getting those lost and unhappy customers back into the Ford dealerships again.

When I mentioned Fords "NO customer service", he said that Ford realizes their mistakes and intends to change and some of those changes have already been implemented. He said in the months to come we will see big changes in dealerships and a new better relationship with the customer. The dealerships around the country are all being reviewed and not to be surprised when we see the doors of some close. He said to keep in mind that "all changes and closures will be for the good".
We briefly spoke of the COP problems with the Thunderbird, there was no need for me to explain or go into detail as Carl knows about the COP issue and all he could say is "hopefully Ford's position on taking care of only the 03 car will change soon to include all retro Thunderbird years". He says Ford is aware of how unhappy we are with their decision to take care of only the 03 owners. I can't stress enough how many times Carl said to continue to call customer service,
1-800-727-7000, and to begin the conversation with "I am a service customer with a service concern". As I mentioned above Ford is under all new management, and there is now in place a special team who acts on complaints from customers with special needs or complaints. In other words, there are key trigger words that you might use in your conversation with customer service that they are told to react to immediately and switch your call to this new team who will then really listen and react to your complaints. Carl told me that "special team" has the authority to override any decisions made by your dealership that made you unhappy enough to call customer service in the first place.
Carl then gave me his business card and told me to call him anytime with any Thunderbird issues or complaints that I can't get resolved through customer service and then called his new general manager over and introduced him to me. That man also gave me his business card, and on that business card I not only saw his work number but his cell phone number. He also told me that if I have any issues that customer service will not help me with, I should call his cell phone any time of the day or night and he will take care of the problem for me.
Well Carl was right when he said I will notice some new changes immediately, how many of you out there have your dealerships general managers cell phone number?

So Thunderbird owners, in short, I know Carl was sincere and honest in the information he gave me. Now all we can do is wait and see if it all happens as Carl described it. At least now we know when our Thunderbird will make another appearance. I don't want to wish the next 4 years away, but I'm very excited and I eagerly await the new Thunderbirds appearance in 2012,

[5bird7]

Julie, you are good! That's just what you told me on the phone. I couldn't remember all those details that you went in to.

That would be great if another Thunderbird came out in 2012. George said to start saving my money. I said, I like what we have for now, and our financial advisor would have another fit. Knowing timelines, the 2012 might get pushed out but it would be fitting to have another tbird model coming out 10 years after the retrobird model came out. If this comes to pass, maybe they'll be able to keep the Thunderbird nameplate out there for more years to come.

[Jim Young]

Good info Julie, thanks for sharing..
Jim

[Ol'Dave]

Here is a FORD Prototype running arround in Germany now. Remember the word "prototype", but it is badged "FORD" and "CAPRI" possibly the Mercury counterpart to the new T-Bird.................IF

[jims]

Harumph! That doesn't look like a Thunderbird to me! Maybe white walls and fender skirts would help.

[5bird7]

Some facts:

1 - Ford has promised that the Thunderbird will return.

2- Ford does not want to lose the copyright or trademark name so they have to use it sometime.

3 - It's the most recognizable nameplate around. It's the first one that articles mention when articles are written about car names.

[5bird7]

Styles should evolve and not be retro all the time. white walls and fender skirts don't make the Thunderbird (and they're a pain in the butt IMO). It's the feeling that one gets with the name attached to good styling.

I've got my dream car and it's now the next generations turn to get their dream car that still evokes a personal feeling. Most convertibles have a personal feel to them so I hope that the convertible model is kept.

I don't think that style above will be the next future model - it's too "present" and by that I mean too masculine - it fits the Mustang image better - the Thunderbird should lead in the style it takes.

[jims]

Dot: So do you agree with the "Harumph" part?

[5bird7]

Originally Posted by jims

Dot: So do you agree with the "Harumph" part?

yes, on that part

[Ray]

Great stuff, Julie! Thanks!

[Daktari]

Good morning to everyone,

About the Ford 'Capri' Shown above. Coming from Britain I grew up with various models of Capris and they always seemed like a diluted, European version of the Mustang. They were a 2+2 configuration with 2 doors, some had a hatchback I think. The biggest engine offered I believe was a 3.0 litre V6 then later a very sporty 2.8inj which had quite a cult following.

I think Ford were hoping to carry on the Capri feel when they introduced the Cougar but it never seemed to take off the same.

That is what the car pictured above looks like to me, a Cougar on steroids.

By the way, I will be taking our Retrobird in to our local Ford dealership next week for a service and computer up-date so I'll see if the new Ford positive philosophy has filtered down yet. Let's hope so.

Gordon.

[fums6]

WE can only hope!

[Monty]

I just hope they will decide to keep it as a roadster and not some fancy coupe or 4dr and call it a Thunderbird.

[My Raven]

Forget the retro, IMHO ... We can't continue to live in the past with fins and portholes. Our cars filled that void.

The new Thunderbird should be bold with a styling cue here or there from its' heritage but I want a Thunderbird that looks more like the Aston Martin below on a tad more conservative scale ... But that is just me: To each his own.

[MintTbird]

i could totally go 4 passenger it would make a daily drive for me! if it looked sweet like this

[Borla Babe]

Originally Posted by Borla Babe

Recently, I had the privilege of speaking in person to Carl Yarber, Saleen/Ford Specialist, of Team Ford - Marietta, Georgia. We spoke in detail about the Thunderbird, the COP problem, about customer service, about the shake up in top management, and that we should expect to see many Ford dealerships closing in the near future.

Some of the highlights that Carl spoke about:

2010 will be called "The Year of the Mustang". (ok Mustang lovers, that news is out of the way....nuff said, I have no details on the new Mustang, but thought you would be pleased to hear that bit of info)

Now most importantly, Thunderbird lovers will be pleased to hear that our beloved Thunderbirds will make a comeback in 2012. Ford will call 2012 "The Year of the Thunderbird". When asked if the car would be a 4 seater, Carl replied "Ford has never even considered bringing back the 4 seater, the 2012 Thunderbird will definately be a 2 seater". Carl stated the biggest change in the Thunderbird will be the materials used in making the car, with emphasis on a lighter weight car and fuel economy. That is about all I was told, except that he did say "Thunderbird lovers will love this car". Yes, there is a prototype Ford is working with now, but Carl was not forthcoming with any other details other than what I mentioned above.

Carl stressed that we should all read the book "1908, The Year That Changed Everything". He said that only after reading that book will we understand what Fords future goals will be for the next 100 years. A panel of Ford executives was put in place and as a result of reading and studying that book, all upper top management were let go recently and a whole new management team was set in place with new goals. The main goal being a return to customer service and satisfaction, and getting those lost and unhappy customers back into the Ford dealerships again.

When I mentioned Fords "NO customer service", he said that Ford realizes their mistakes and intends to change and some of those changes have already been implemented. He said in the months to come we will see big changes in dealerships and a new better relationship with the customer. The dealerships around the country are all being reviewed and not to be surprised when we see the doors of some close. He said to keep in mind that "all changes and closures will be for the good".
We briefly spoke of the COP problems with the Thunderbird, there was no need for me to explain or go into detail as Carl knows about the COP issue and all he could say is "hopefully Ford's position on taking care of only the 03 car will change soon to include all retro Thunderbird years". He says Ford is aware of how unhappy we are with their decision to take care of only the 03 owners. I can't stress enough how many times Carl said to continue to call customer service,
1-800-727-7000, and to begin the conversation with "I am a service customer with a service concern". As I mentioned above Ford is under all new management, and there is now in place a special team who acts on complaints from customers with special needs or complaints. In other words, there are key trigger words that you might use in your conversation with customer service that they are told to react to immediately and switch your call to this new team who will then really listen and react to your complaints. Carl told me that "special team" has the authority to override any decisions made by your dealership that made you unhappy enough to call customer service in the first place.
Carl then gave me his business card and told me to call him anytime with any Thunderbird issues or complaints that I can't get resolved through customer service and then called his new general manager over and introduced him to me. That man also gave me his business card, and on that business card I not only saw his work number but his cell phone number. He also told me that if I have any issues that customer service will not help me with, I should call his cell phone any time of the day or night and he will take care of the problem for me.
Well Carl was right when he said I will notice some new changes immediately, how many of you out there have your dealerships general managers cell phone number?

So Thunderbird owners, in short, I know Carl was sincere and honest in the information he gave me. Now all we can do is wait and see if it all happens as Carl described it. At least now we know when our Thunderbird will make another appearance. I don't want to wish the next 4 years away, but I'm very excited and I eagerly await the new Thunderbirds appearance in 2012,

Oh my....a biggie I forgot to mention, Carl told me that if I think I have little trunk room now, I better get myself prepared now for even less, the 2012 Thunderbird will have a retractable hard top!

[Bill Brown]

Hot Damn Time to clean out the garage and make room for one more bird. I hope Thunderbird Blue is on the colour chart, 400 horses, articulated porthole top and a better instrument cluster.

[Lonestar]

Let me take a bit of a turn in regards to the COP issue – just something to think about. Yes it is a pain, expensive, and the result of a poor design that at the time of the design it was probably felt the design good. Based on the poll on this website the majority of the people have not had an issue…. yet. But I think we have enough documentation that there are two types of COPS, 1) those that have failed and 2) those that will fail; and we all feel Ford should replace them when they fail. Naturally, the inherent issue that causes the failures can not be resolved except for the water leak fix.

The AJ-V8 platform is a European design originally for use by Jag. It has made it way into the engine compartments of Jag, Land Rover, Lincoln LS, and naturally the Thunderbird. All the variances of the AJ-V8 platform have the same COP design and if you do a little research you will find all appear to have the same COP issue. The COP in the AJ-V8 design is placed in the harshest of environments and it either can not be made to be air tight (so as not to be damaged by oil or water) and survive the heat or “they” have decided to not spend the money in R&D to make a better one that will.

I have no figures regarding the number of AJ-V8s that have been made but it is probably in the hundreds of thousands. COP failures are not a safety issue so the likelihood of a recall is remote. Even if there was a recall, does COP replacement eliminate the issue? Based on the number of people who have had multiple failures, replacement is not a permanent fix.

As we all know, Ford is in deep, deep trouble and we can argue for days about the root cause of this. Ford currently has no less than three huge and very expensive recalls involving literally hundreds of thousands of vehicles. These recalls are safety related and have to be addressed. Ford probably understands the “PR” with the COPs issue but it simply may not be financially feasible for Ford to do a recall, especially since the COP issue is not safety related, so they have opted instead to provide an extended warranty on a small subset (03 Thunderbirds – not sure if the LS is included) of the engines with the issue. Understand that the extended warranty is far from a recall and will only cost Ford a very small fraction of a recall of all 03 Thunderbirds. Will that grow to include other years? That is clearly yet to be seen but I suspect the direction is to address the issues as they occur on an individual case bases. In other words, if you take your 04 with 20K miles in due to a COPs issue & you complain to Ford about it you may get a partial or full refund. IE, grease the squeaky wheel and leave the others alone.

As some TBN members have experienced, the Ford party line appears to be that COPs replacement a maintenance issue – right, wrong, or indifferent. That does not mean we have to like it, agree with it, or buy in to it. It does mean that ownership of a Thunderbird brings with it the POSSIBLE expense of COPs replacement(s) during the ownership period.

In regards to the prototype pictured above. That appears to be a Nissan Z or Infinity G35 copy and a poor one at that. Probably nothing like the next Thunderbird. The next Thunderbird, if it makes it to production, will be built on the Fusion / Lincoln MKZ platform, will be powered by the new Ford V6 Turbo, 6 speed auto, and have FWD… Yuck.

If nothing else, COPs issues and all, the 02-05 Thunderbird looks like nothing else on the road. Do not expect that from the next generation Thunderbird (and I will hope I am wrong).

[BOBBARLY]

Julie, thanks for taking the time to pass along the info. Looks like 2012 will be a very busy year for everyone. Another T-Bird or two in the garage will be something to look forward to (can dream can't we?)

[FritsB]

This is great info Julie. 2012 is still a couple of years away. This means I will have to find a substitute to fill the gap, cause I can not use my Bird all those years to come as daily ride. Hmm....a nice Bad Black Mustang would not be bad....

[gladiator99]

Great News Julie!
Hope they keep the 2 seater T-Bird concept. I didn't mind some of the bigger 2 door birds of the early 60's, but somehow they got lost in the 80's and lost some appeal. Any new introduction should be stylish, affordable, and
a have some similarity to the T-Bird retro styling.
Until then I will continue to enjoy our 02 retro-bird.
Take Care!
Jim

[Ray]

I don't mind taking the hardtop on and off now, but in four years, I will welcome the convenience of a retractable hardtop!

[Mark501]

2012 probably means 2014 if one goes by the dates given by Ford the last time around with Thunderbird production.

501

[ThunderBubba]

GREAT NEWS JULIE!!!!!
I think we need to start a thread Forum to list all the latest info an rumors for the 2012 Thunderbird. We can name it ------
>
>
>
MANAGE THE WAIT

[Skozzy]

ok now I have a reason to hold off replacing my Taurus! I was going to try for a new Camaro but will certainly wait for a new bird! That pic Drew posted would be sweet!