Man I hope Ford gets their shit together soon.


Just as General Motors and the Chrysler Group are ramping up their performance vehicle operations, I get the impression that Ford's own in-house performance group, the vaunted Special Vehicle Team, is in danger of losing its autonomy and focus.

Worse still, replacements for SVT's core products, the Mustang Cobra and the F-150 Lightning, are months behind schedule, leaving a potentially embarrassing gap in Ford's performance-vehicle lineup. Even if everything goes right, the next-generation Lightning probably won't reach dealerships until model year 2006, while the next-generation Cobra may not hit the street until model year 2007--a year later than planned for both products.

And the next-generation SVT Focus? May not even happen, according to the speculation among suppliers.