Who thinks Ford is having problems?

Question

Actually it's not literally Ford i'm thinking about, but i'm worried about Ford, lincoln, mercury, vovlo, land rover, and the others. Because GM has made a great comeback in competition when they came with the totally redesigned tahoe, escalade, and yukon, and the other cars. they all seem to be more reliable, better gas mileage, more horsepower, and are just somehow better. When they first came out i saw them everywhere on the streets, and i still do. i mean like every other car is a new GM. On the other hand, I have only seen about 4 new expeditions so far, absolutley no new navigators, and barely see any of their sedans. they still seem to be behind in what the public wants, unlike GM where they changed everything to have what the public wants. I think the only thing keeping Ford alive is their trucks. i see their trucks everywhere too. so who agrees with me the GM might make Ford bankrupt. the sad thing is, is that i am more of a ford fan than a gm, so i feel sorry for them.

Answer 1

Dude, nobody thinks, they know, that Ford has issues, and BIG ones at that
definitely the main issue was the fact they left the passenger car cupboard empty for far too-long....depending on SUV's & the F150 was a stupid idea
Jaguar should hav stopped the retro idea 10 years ago, not in 2007, Volvo was poorly managed and priced and Land Rover suffered Ford's problems...poor quality. Then there was NOTHIN done about better interiors, Hybrids or fuel economy
Mazda is amazing, Aston Martin is for quick cash (though could make sense) & Volvo is finally becoming sportier, so there is hope.

Im no expert on Mercury & Lincoln, but they seem MUCH too similar...

Lincoln: needs a real Cadillac-style push to kick-start it. start with firing all of Lincoln's designers, because the new cars stink. add some Mazda advice on how to build a real handler

Mercury: needs a Saturn-style revival..push a emphorsis on the customer, and offer some European models...how about the Ford Fiesta, and a HEAVILY diversefied model of the Euro Focus Mk3? push it towards Saturn/Volkswagon & Honda as a rival

Volvo and Jag need to keep heading in their current direction, and they will achieve sucess, Mazda is there, they just need the next Mazda 2 in the USA

Ford: stuffed, and will be for the next 3 years...for now, they meed to push and push what they currently have, as well as the other brands....the new 2010 Focus will help, but the Mk2 Focus should have been introduced 2 years ago...too late now

Mondeo from europe could help the brand, but will need the Fusion to scrap its lower powered models in order for it to work, as well as diesel engines...that or sell it as a Mercury

Talking about Fusion, well it's going....replaced by a new RWD car from Australia, the Ford Falcon...next generation model due in 2008, so a subsequent US built model makes sence..plus this car is fantastic, and if built in mexico or the US, could be very price competative

and for the whole place...WAKE UP!!! design is critical, and while some designs (Edge, Fusion, Mustang) are intresting, the rest STINK! they look managled and damn-right confused
interior quality needs a massive kick-up-the bum...try looking at what Hyundai is doing, but learn from any mistakes there and improve...and please, invest in some new suspension systems, ok?

im a GM person, but i dont wanna see Ford die

Answer 2

guess you don't look past car and driver.

Ford lost some 5 BILLION last year and GM was right on their tale in loss as well.

BOTH are standing on the edge of collapse and grabing for any rope to pull themselves back in.

GM is removing almost all of their trucks and SUV's in the next few years...so these redesigns mean nothing.

The only thing that is keeping GM's nose above Fords in sinking...the fact GM owns Opel. Opel is a far supperior car that Chevy, Pontiac, Buick, Caddy, etc etc. The Opel was imported as the Caddilac Caterra and recently it is the entire new car line up for Saturn, the new Saturn Coupe, the new Pontiac Coupe (both of these are the Opel GT, reborn after the original Opel GT aka Bubble Bee). Even the new Chevy Impala is the Opel...actually its the same car as the new Saturn sedan. They just put different bumper skins, grills, trim, interior parts to make all these same cars look different, trick they have used for many years now.

Chrysler only grew 1/2% but they aren't doing much better than Ford and GM. But Toyota grew by 9%....thats just unheard of.

It is going to be a repeat of the 1980's where American cars dominated the 70's and then the 80's were japanese compacts...this is when Honda and Toyota got their feet in the door. The big 3 will be forced to finally ditch the old thinking, the large bank rolls on worthless junk and get down to basic building of cars....like how they all originall started.

After all...GM was started by making parts for Ford...and Ford only became big because Henry invented the assembly line which in turn lowered the cost to build in turn making it cheaper for the masses (most think he invented the car...I still laugh over that one, Benz invented the car around 1876, Henry was 25 yrs later)

Ford is being smart and Bill stepped down and put in a real business CEO...that was the smartest move he could of done to save the company. Cause now its not family, personal, its all biz.

GM is doing what I said they should do over a year ago but I still don't think they are doing enough. They need to just flat up close down Chevy, Buick, Caddy, etc and import their Opel divisions among others. Even the Pontiac GTO isn't new or Pontiac, but has been a sports car made by Holden in Australia...GM again.

GM is good all over the world with most of their brands....but their USA brands have just hit rock bottom finally and are rated with Hyundai's and Kia's for the most part now its sad to say...and its getting worse.

Answer 3

Possibly, but the real underlying cause has to do as much with American labor as it does with management. Labor costs have priced the company's products out of reasonable competition in relation to the products offer.

However, Ford could be poised for a monster, industry changing comeback. Nobody dismantles a championship team in the midst of their success (except maybe Huizenga), but once a team starts rebuilding there is potential for real change. In a like manner, now that they need to make changes, giving Americans reliable, fuel efficient, eco-friendly transportation could save the company.

Why would anyone pay $20K or more for a vehicle that a) gets worse gas mileage than what they have now and b) has a warranty of less than 10/100?

Yes, Ford could be in trouble. So is the industry.

Answer 4

If they expect a ex-boeing exec to bail them out I see bad things for them unfortanely. FORD needs to re-invest in engineers. The Japs have 4 engineers to every 1 FORD has. They need to sell off Jag, Land Roacher mazda etc to reinvest in their own brand instead of building their cars overseas by unqualified people with inferior metals and plastics.they also need to get back into the performance industry instead of relying on roush, saleen to keep the aftermarket alive.Like NASCAR you dont hear the media saying how much FORD has put into their engine program like you will about Toyota this yr. Because FORD doesnt have an engine program they rely on Roush/Yates. Same with sport compact drag racing. Honda and toyota, Gm spending big bucks here because they know the youth will spend their bucks here.

Answer 5

Have you checked the news lately. Ford lost 12 billion in 2006. GM also lost billions.
Ford and GM have been competing with the Japanese since the 1960's.
Neither has gotten it right. Management in both companies have only themselves to blame. In any competition there are going to be winners and losers.

Answer 6

Goto Fords website... they are up 4.6% in sales from last year.... their sales include.....

Explorer now accounts for %36 of all SUV sales in the US,
Ford has sold over 5.5 million explorers
Explorer is the best selling SUV 15 years straight
Escape is the best selling small SUV in the US for 2006
Mustang is the best selling sports car in the US for 2006
F-150 is the best selling truck in the US for 2006

No Ford has done the best in 2006, Chevy lost money and so did Dodge.

Goto Fords website and read.

Answer 7

IT 'S PREFFERENCE, GM HAS SOME NEAT INOVATIONS THAT THEY MARKET TO CONSUMERS, SAY FOR INSTANCE, ONSTAR . THERE ARE SOME GREAT FEATURES THAT ARE EXCLUSIVE FOR GM, THAT WILL GIVE A FORD FAN A SECOND THOUGHT WHEN YOU GO TO BUY. BUT FORD IS A MAJOR PLAYER IN THE GAME THEY ARE COMPETITIVE , I LIKE THE (NEW) GENERATION FORDS HAVE (2) AND I HAVE NO COMPLAINTS PLAN TO GET ANOTHER 1 IN TIME. ALOT OF FEATURES THAT ARE EXTRA ON GM COME STANDARD ON FORD PRODUCTS.

Answer 8

As a Ford tech.I agree that ford is slowly sinking.Products are no ware near as good as the Japanese products.When you work on them day after day you notice that the product is not as good as it should. Just my 2 cents

Answer 9

they are closing the plant here in norfolk virginia that makes f150s. i buy ford i get a new one about every 2 years. but i think ill buy elsewhere cause i know they are just sending jobs overseas

Answer 10

i think that the funding on ford mo co is low thats why they had to lay off some factories so wouldn't their funding for new cars be low