Ford's finaglings may not be enough to save it
As if Ford didn't have enough problems, analysts are now saying it may be too little, too late for the Blue Oval. All of the company's current options, such as selling off Land Rover, Aston, Volvo and Jag; teaming up with foreign automakers; and buying back its shares to go private, wouldn't address the core problem with the company, according to analysts.Standard & Poor's credit analyst Gregg Lemos-Stein said he considers Ford's real problems to be "deteriorating product mix, slipping market share and excess production capacity in North America." Recent 0% financing offers might help a little in the short term, but with so many fatal flaws, it's easy to see why Bill Ford has been trying to reach Carlos Ghosn about considering Ford for an alliance should GM balk.
Losing nearly a billion-and-a-half dollars in the first half of the year, Ford has already announced huge closures and layoffs to take place over the next several years. Let's hope black ink becomes Job #1 at Ford real soon.
[Source: Reuters]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Mark 11:29AM (8/26/2006)
how do you manage to drive a company as successful as ford into the ground? how? almost every other car i see is a ford, it just beggars belief it really does
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sean 11:31AM (8/26/2006)
Just give it up Ford, I had hopes with the mass market Fusion. that isn't working. Mutang is awesome, but not you volume car. 500 is mundane. Fusion needed to be a Camry/Accord killer, it's a rental car. Fusion should have been in its current form in 2002, not 2006.why is honda/toyota able to keep the accord/camry name around for ever? I don't know..but it works for them. Why does NA get all the retarted Ford's..saving money? that isn't working to well is it Mr. Bill Ford. I am in my mid 20's, I live in the Midwest,am white. and even my age group doesn't drive ford cars, save for Mustang...where the hell is the Euro focus? why do we have a tin can from the late 90's? geeez, give the consumer what they wan't, not what u think is "good enough". really, who buys a Ford car, save for Mustang....without a steep discount?
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mark johnson 11:40AM (8/26/2006)
One word sums up Fords problem: Taurus.
Once the best selling car in the US, the benchmark. What did Ford do with the Taurus over the past 12 years? What did Toyota and Honda do with the Camry and Accord over the past 12 years?
Ford deserves to die off as a company. Compare what they did with the Taurus vs the Camry and Accord. They shot themselves in the foot and should bleed to death.
Or better yet, they like GM, will blame the media for badmouthing the Taurus instead of themseleves.
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sean 11:53AM (8/26/2006)
Comment above, Yes..how could you let the Taurus die a slow death for 10 freakin years? my God it was introduced in 1986? it was a huge success...instead of constant improvement, it quickly aged, and was forgotten. so badly you even had to drop the Taurus name...I cannot see how you let your most succesfull mass market car in 20 years die a miserable death. I learned how to drive in my Dads '94 Taurus, before you really tarted it up. How did u manage to make the taurus uglier and more retarted every redesign? 1986-1994 were quite good looking cars, then for 10 years they were hidious..hell, my dad's 94 wasn't the most reliable car, but it had appeal, with a solid looking design.and it sold...I don't get it?
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sean 12:08PM (8/26/2006)
U are repeating the Foucus's fate with the Taurus's..a 7 year old could tell you this is not good for the future of Ford..especially when the Focus size car is what is selling. it seems the Fusion and Focus should be the most important segment car now, but your offering in this segment is adequate at best..
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the friendly grizzly 12:15PM (8/26/2006)
I drive a lot of rental cars, which means a lot of domestic-make cars. i have tried the various Fords offered for rent, along with GMs. I find myself avoiding the agencies with Ford as the main manufacturer because there are still Tauruseseses in the mix and I might get saddled with one. Oh, they drive fine, but there is just nothing TO them. There is something about them I cannot quite put my finger on, but I dislike them. Focuseseseses are indeed a darn nice mid-9s car but have no really redeeming qualities.
Ford has a mundane product mix. They have recalls for stuff that was perfected LONG ago. I mean, come on. Burning down a car with the wiring and switches for the cruise control? That's just right out of the question.
Lots of folks here want the European Focus. Me? I'd like to see the Ford Australia line brought over with just TWO changes. Fit the steering on the left, and put MPH on the speedometer. Aside from that, LEAVE THE DARN THINGS AS THEY ARE. The word would get around really fast. It would get to the point that even Toyota and Honda owners would want to give them a serious look.
This will not happen, of course.
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Terrel Owens 12:16PM (8/26/2006)
Just remember everyone, this is GOOD for America.
How dare I say such a thing? Well, the consumer has spoken...and it states clearly we don't like Ford's products, so why would we like Ford as a Company?
We don't!!
Goodbye!!! Adios! Kindly close the curtains and go F yourself.
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Ed C 12:24PM (8/26/2006)
This sucks because Ford makes a great product (sometimes). But these guys seem to not know what the hell they are doing these days.
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Infinihertz 12:24PM (8/26/2006)
While I generally agree with the criticisms (except for the Fusion - I don't think that car is as bad off as sean does), these comments are attacking Ford as a company, when it's really just a group of people. Their current management - especially Mark Fields and Anne Stevens - seem to genuinely "get it," and I think Bill finally does too. Some of the problems you're describing were the fault of Nassar, or even one or two CEOs before him. If they don't turn things around then so be it, but it's not like it's any of their faults (to any large degree anyway).
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sean 12:26PM (8/26/2006)
Ford has a habit of letting there most successfull car models, Focus, Taurus. hanging on life support, untill it's to late.
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nick 12:30PM (8/26/2006)
Ford needs product. Look at Chrysler and the, albeit short-termed, huge success they had with the 300/Charger. All of their vehicles benefited from it. It helped to build up the brand. Ford just needs to get better products on the showroom floor. Quality isnt the issue anymore its the products. People want the better product and such is seen throuhout the entire business world. Consumers will pay more for what is better and demand less for what is not. Example: Toyota's premiums vs. Ford's incentives. They need to stop wasting their time on expeditions and explorers. The Focus was once a class-leader but has fallen the way of the Taurus. Both exceptional cars upon introduction but now tarnished. The Escape is on the same track. Rav4, CRV, Vitara, Outlander, Nitro, Compass/Patriot are all new models while Ford is still working with an 01 Escape less a new headlight design. It will be two more years until the redo arrives. Don't starve that model. The 500 is a lame duck with just average everything. Explorer is no longer in demand (whether they want to believe it or not). Luckily they have the Edge on its way, but still its an SUV no matter how they market it. They need to dump the 500 and develop a real Avalon contender. The avalon has specs that only a 500 could dream about. Build an SVT Fusion to build up model hype and demand throughout the entire Fusion lineup. They F-150 is also doomed. GM and Toyota, the biggest competitors all have new trucks on the way while Ford is stuck. They will undoubtedly loose sales once those new trucks arrive. Bring the European Focus across the pond. Develop a slightly larger Ka and bring it as competition for the Versa/Fit/Caliber/SX4 and they will be in business. They argue profits are in SUVs, Honda just did extremely well last quater and cited their 14K Fit and 16K Civic. It will take time but until they trim production and build better product its all down hill. All they need to do is look at the other automakers and they will be fine. Also, Nissan is not something they should be a part of. They do not need more they need less. Nissan also isn't exactly the best foreign partner either. Out of Toyota/Honda/Suzuki/and even Subaru they would be my last choice and are one of the dimmest foreign competitors. Nissan simply doesn't think on Toyota/Honda levels.
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sean 12:33PM (8/26/2006)
Fusion isn't bad at all, But it should have been here in 2002,and should have kept the Taurus name. but ford f'ked thh Taurus name so badly, they couldn't even keep the name, Tarus was known as a Ford,,,what the Hell does the Fusion anem mean to buyers?
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Infinihertz 12:35PM (8/26/2006)
Terrel, that's absurd. Maybe in the short term it's good if people get a vehicle that's only marginally better (and if you look at recent quality surveys, that's becoming increasingly the case), but in the big scheme of things, leaving millions of Americans unemployed isn't good for America in the long term. If you actually belive Toyota's commericals about being American because they have a few plants here, consider that 93% of their profits still go to Japan. I live in Michigan, and believe me many of these people will NOT find other jobs remotely close to the opportunities they've had. You might want to consider that some sort of social darwinism, but if happens, sooner or later the same thing will happen in other industries and maybe you'll be out of work too.
YES, Ford needs to change its product mix dramatically. They need to cut a lot of their bureaucratic bloat. I hope they do both. But to say that it'd be "good for America" for them to go under is extremely shortsighted.
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Infinihertz 12:38PM (8/26/2006)
sean, totally agree with #12.
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the friendly grizzly 12:47PM (8/26/2006)
I don't think they shucked the name Taurus because it was "f'ked". Ford had already determined they wanted the euphony of "F" names. Ford Focus, Ford Five Hundred, Ford Fusion. Mercury had this years ago with the Mercury Montclair, Mercury Monterey, etc. It's a strange reason to drop a model name, but it seems the likely one. Now, what they need to do is STICK WITH THE NAMES for more than a short time. Chevy is doing it, Toyota seems to be doing so. Folks begin to recognise model names with a particular class of vehicle.
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Glenn Laycock 11:52PM (8/26/2006)
Any yet ... you know when you look a the newer cars Ford makes, they seem to be great vehicles. I really like the Fusion (and is Ford, Mercury counterparts -- should have been made in Canada or the US though).
I think Ford has a lot of car just about to get to the dealerships which are good looking at least. So 24 months from now they might be in much better shape.
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SKluck 12:50PM (8/26/2006)
It must be nice to be able to cheer for the death of such a large american company when it has little impact on your own state.
Those of us in Michigan aren't so lucky. I hope every day that Ford can pull their heads out of their asses without selling their souls to a foreign company, but it seems impossible.
The fact is Ford is a TRUCK company. No one does them better, so they are in the absolute worst possible position for this shift from larger vehicles. They've gotten away with sitting on their car models for 10+ years, but they can't do that anymore.
It's going to take a while but they can do it. They just need to put the same amount of attention on their cars as they do their trucks.
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sean 12:50PM (8/26/2006)
In 1986 Camry and Accord were hot, SO WAS TAURUS...2006 Camry and Accord still hot selling..in fact Taurus outsold both at one time...please explain this...I'm a bit confused!
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sean 12:55PM (8/26/2006)
who the hell cares about "F" model names, Focus fusion Five hundred, is this supposed to excite buyers?
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the friendly grizzly 1:05PM (8/26/2006)
Is a name like Camrr, or Xterra supposed to? It's not a matter of "exciting" the buyers. More a matter of some sort of consistency. In the past, you had the consistency of Plymouths named after upscale hotels, Chryslers named for cities in the Northeast, Chevrolets that were named after resorts. Even Toyota had female names or close to it, and Nissan used trees. None of them were "exciting". I see no harm in it, and it means a hell of a lot more than all this alpha-numeric nonsense being tossed about by some makers.
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