Is ford making a comeback?

Question

i'm not sure what's going on with ford, but everywhere i go, i see the new explorers, 500's, lots of fusions, mustangs, f-series everywhere, and some expeditions. so does anybody know as a fact if they are doing better in the market than before?

Answer 1

You, and much of the general public, have a distorted (mostly by the media) image of Ford. that is what happens when people just read the headlines, but don't read the body of the story.
Ford is restructuring. not destructing.

Don't confuse Ford (the BRAND) of vehicles, with Ford Motor Company ( the MANUFACTURER ) who builds & sells many 'BRANDS'
Ford brand vehicles outsold ALL other BRANDS in America in 2006.

Just as General Motors is, & was the best selling manufacturer. That includes all of their 'BRANDS' . ie Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac, etc

Toyota also has the same confusing scenario.
There is Toyota "brand" & Toyota Motor Company.which also 'manufactures' Lexus.
(ToMoCo, by the way, only outsold FoMoCo, 2 out of 12 months in 2006)

Ford has lost some 'market share' but they still sell a huge amount of vehicles. More than any other brand.

When you hear that "Ford is losing Billions of $$$"
that is due to the restructuring of the company to align with the market. They have 'bought out' employees. That's why they lost $$$.

I know it sounds confusing, but believe me, I have been in the business for 23 years.
Ford isn't "going down" & doesn't need to "make a comeback"
If that were to happen the entire North American economy would suffer. I am talkin' MASSIVE !
Most people have no clue how much the American Auto Industry contributes to the economy.
"Where" an auto is "assembled" is irrevalent.

Answer 2

Ford is a global company therefor the UAW is not the problem. There is entirely too many layers of management and too many models that do not share common componets, this area is improveing with the Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan And Lincoln MKZ useing componets from Mazda.
Also The Range Rover useing Ford owned Jaguar engines instead of BMW engines as they were in past years, The Tarurus (formaly 500)and Station Wagon( formaly Freestyle) and their Lincoln and Mercury counterparts makes extensive use of Volvo componets.
A lot of Ford dealerships have recently closed and combined with Lincoln, Mercury and Mazda dealerships so most vechicles are available at one place much like Chrysler Jeep and Dodge is doing. With all of the restructering it seems that Ford is going in the right direction.

Answer 3

Ford's always been #2, but I think that they are doing better than they had been, since their quality has been better lately, including reliability. Look at Fusion and Five Hundred. I still can't believe that they are better than Camry and Avalon, but Consumer Reports has 'em at the top of the list. Rod tests, it's the same. 2006 Fusion beat 2006 Camry, and for 2007, it's in third place, after Accord and Camry. I was always sure I would never buy an american car, but now I'd buy a Ford for sure in some segments.

Answer 4

Ford doesn't have a problem selling vehicles. In fact, most of their products are very competetive in the market place. The problem comes from their costs are to high. Ford needs to re-structure their entire company. Buying out Union contracts was a start, but they also need to get rid of a lot of middle management. Toyota has very little middle management. That is why they can more efficiently engineer new products. Also, Toyota does not have the UAW shafting them at every corner. Ford is becomming more lean. One thing I liked is that Ford didn't fire engineers and car designers.

Answer 5

You got a few good answers from the US , so Ill field one from Euro side. The FOrd Escort for example , to put it in mild terms, was crap. Poor car ,broke down and very hard on fuel .Many of the older fords were the same here , the " Orion " , "Sierra " and the old " Mondeo ". In appox the last 7 years , it changed. The Focus replaced the Escort ( by the way, i own a focus, greatest car Ive ever had ) , the mondeo revamped. So , to put it in lay mans terms , Ford did make a comeback , on this side of the water anyway , simply through producing better cars !

Answer 6

If you're looking at sales figures for the U.S., Ford (including PAG, but not Mazda) sold 366,838 vehicles in the first two months of 2007, versus 440,215 for the same period last year (for a volume percent change of -16.7%). Ford recently hired a new CEO from Boeing, and Mr. Mulally is instituting a number of major changes at FoMoCo. Major restructuring means loss of jobs and large buyout packages for people willing to retire early. The sales figures include sales to rental fleets and police fleets. Ford has cut sales to rental fleets and will continue to do so.

edit: Those are the facts you asked for. Now here are my opinions. Ford is on the right track, thanks to the change in direction from the new CEO. Product quality and design have improved. The one thing that confuses me is the North American-market Focus (from recent years). It does not come with a serviceable air filter. That is counterintuitive, in my opinion. Sounds like planned obsolescence to me. I like what Ford is doing with Mercury and Lincoln. By the way, Ford will announce Aston Martin's new owner tomorrow.

Answer 7

Where has they been.
Leading truck sales for years.
Explorers leading suv's...