Ford claims to be the best, But if they are, or were.Why were they about to go bankrupt?
2007-05-14 13:35:34 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Cars & Transportation ➔ Other - Cars & Transportation
They kept making the Taurus (the car that saved the company from bankruptcy before) the same old boring way and with less & less reliability. The camry & accord took over most of their biggest market share...also the GM trucks are just better then theirs, and will hold more value.
2007-05-14 16:31:27 · answer #1 · answered by Shifty 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The were too big. They were operating like it is was 1975.
Another issues is hertiage costs, a problem all the Big 3 face. For every new car Ford sells, they take $800 off the top to pay healthcare and cost of living for it long since retired works. GM has it worse at over $1500 per car.
Until these issues work themselves out, the Big 3 will have a rough time making money.
2007-05-14 13:43:08 · answer #2 · answered by Radio dude 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
TOYOTA. The #1 selling car company in the WORLD for the first quarter of 2007. Quality, reliable cars, good gas mileage, etc. Ford needs to start focusing on what the customer wants if they want to stay around for another 10 years.
2007-05-14 14:44:30 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
unions, too many chasis to maintain, too much capital equipment to amortize, gigantic pension liability, benefits packages which are excessively costly, expensive distribution, shoddy workmanship, antiquated assembly techniques, reliance on gas guzzling vehicles (e.g. Explorer) while gas prices have soared, no competitive hybrid vehicles, and a slowness to respond to market requirements, The company should be broken up and sold to private equity who will strip them down to bear bones and retool them from top to bottom. Ford is a metaphor for everything that is wrong with America. Very sad.
2007-05-14 13:42:32 · answer #4 · answered by dustyrustie 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They got there by making really crummy unappealing products for the last 50 years. With the exception of the Mustang and maybe the Crown Victoria, their products have been known to be unreliable and shoddy. The UAW helped a lot too.
2007-05-14 15:03:04 · answer #5 · answered by squeezie_1999 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
One of the big reasons is the deals they made with the unions many years ago for retirement healthcare. The cost of healthcare is more than the cost of sheet metal for each car, around $1400.00. The Toyota plants in the us only pay about $100.00 in healthcare per car. This extra expense makes it harder for them to pay for the research and development that the other companies use to advance their design and manufacturing techniques.
2007-05-14 13:54:12 · answer #6 · answered by webb1socoolguy 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
American Unions. Health care. Lousy products. None of the car companies in the U.S. learned from what happened to them in the seventies.
2007-05-14 13:51:19 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Bad decisions and DULL cars!
2007-05-14 13:40:41 · answer #8 · answered by Dartanion 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋