Ford cutting production big time in 2007
A week ago, Ford posted a $5.8 billion loss due to sagging North American sales. To make things worse, CFO Don Leclair announced yesterday that Ford expects North American production for the first six months of 2007 to be down 8 to 12 percent from 2006 due to lower demand for its products and at least partially due to the demise of the Taurus. The second six months of '07 are expected to be up 5 to 10 percent compared with '06.
For the entire year of 2006, For expects production numbers to be down about 9 percent from 2005.
Can Ford pull out of this spiral with new products such as the Edge, MKX, and MKZ? Initial reviews have been good, but we will reserve judgment until we have had them through the Autoblog Garage. Watch for our reviews and comments on all three vehicles very soon.
Wall Street is keeping a close eye on Ford as well. Nervous stockholders saw Ford shares down 19 cents, or 2 percent, at $8.10 in morning trading Monday.
[Source: Detroit News via AP]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
pow 8:32PM (10/30/2006)
they need to hurry up and bring some better cars.
SUV/trucks/CUV's they are not too bad,
and if I wanted a Mazda 6 i'd go buy the original one, and skip the CTS/G35 wannabe Fusion
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Mike 8:21PM (10/30/2006)
Why doesn't Ford understand the products they sell here are not appealing to anybody under 40!!! I love their European models!! They should really think about us kids who just graduated college and are looking to buy a new car. I've given up on american cars.
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Gunderson 8:30PM (10/30/2006)
They keep saying the cars over there cant meet the federal standards here.Which is a lie but whatever.
All I want is for them to atleast bring the designs here.
Why cant the fusion look like the European fords? Why cant the 500 look like the australian falcon?
Even the Focus, they changed the design and make it ugly just for us. Why cant it look like the cars there even if under the skin we get crap pushrod engines and shit suspensions.
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RZ 8:36PM (10/30/2006)
Earlier today we read an article here on Autoblog about how Ford will become more fuel efficient and all that bull. I am sure that Ford managment thinks that MKX and Edge are the new Priuses but i doubt that the consumer will.
#1 You just realized it? By the way Gm and Ford make pretty cool cars in Japan as well. They are.....different, i mean how many more SUVs can a company produce, we want something different.
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RZ 8:39PM (10/30/2006)
"Why cant it look like the cars there even if under the skin we get crap pushrod engines and shit suspensions."-------------------OK we are talking about Ford in here
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Howard Kerr 9:17PM (10/30/2006)
I guess the new plan at Ford is to make all their products so hard to get, by keeping dealer supplies short, that customers will pay a premium for them. It could work. Instead of selling cars and trucks at huge discounts, they might begin selling at or near window sticker prices.
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RC 10:07PM (10/30/2006)
Pushrod engines, number 2? Are you sure youre not talking about GM. Ford has been using SOHC and DOHC cam engines since the early 90's. Unlike GM who still uses many pushrod engines. Out of date technology, but cheap horsepower.
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james 10:45PM (10/30/2006)
decreased sales != decreased profits.
Decrease production and decrease sales to match demand is good.
This is demonstrated by Nissan, who has decreased sales (which for some weird reason the media complains about), but INCREASED profits.
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naggs 11:22PM (10/30/2006)
it seems to me that for years ford was much bigger than the market that was buying its cars. it just took this long for ford to bite the bullet and layoff workers and close factories.
had they made changes earlier it wouldnt have been so painful but they always thought they were one round of cost cutting away from profitability.
i doubt ford will ever fully recover from its mistakes, at this point we need to hope for the survival of the company.
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Aki 4:30PM (10/31/2006)
"Decrease production and decrease sales to match demand is good.
This is demonstrated by Nissan, who has decreased sales"
Actually Nissan is seeing decreased sales, and Ghosn is getting flak right now for not doing enough after all the cutbacks.
The thing is, decreasing production doesn't make for more desirable cars. The underlying issue isn't resolved at all--that they're product lineup is severely lacking. Whereas GM seems to be learning its lessons, Ford sticks with the same, backwards mentality of hoping its trucks and SUVs save the day. Fairlane? Edge? Where are the desirable sedans and compacts? Where's the Euro Focus, the Iosis? Why the heck can't they kill Mercury?
Ford's moves are far from bold--and they still need a kick in the butt for them to change.
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Foetoid 1:06AM (10/31/2006)
It's thier own fault. If they would take the entire lineup from Ford Australia, my god. You cant turn your head around here without seeing a Ford. www.ford.com.au and www.fpv.com.au Check out the lineup, it is amazing. The F6 Typhoon from the second site i posted is a mammoth beast of V8 killing muscle. Fords sell very very well here, bringing the Aussie lineup to the USA would help IMMENSELY...WAKE UP FORD!
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GhostDoggy 5:03AM (10/31/2006)
Mike, I am 41 and their models don't appeal to me either. Not even in a pure functional standpoint (ok, maybe the Superduty pickups, if I needed one).
Foetoid, it would be interesting if Ford did just that. Let them follow along side Toyota and the Scion. Introduce these as another brand sold within the Ford dealership. Makes no difference if they are the same vehicles.
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JarryHames 10:08AM (10/31/2006)
Ford should let the Edge be their last SUV/CUV or whatever they're calling it. They've focused very heavily on their SUVs. Well except for the Freestyle. Now they're saying that the cars are coming. They're almost coming a little late. The Five Hundred is just terrible and the Fusion is probably the only major hit the moment. The Focus should have been completely redesigned a few years ago. It is a good car. They should have made it a better car. They're always wasting money on needless products and late to table with an exciting mainstream product. I'm in my mid 30s and they lost me a long time ago.
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rocketpunch 11:05AM (10/31/2006)
Well, looks like someone at Ford finally got their night school econ 101 diploma. Supply and Deman! WOW! what a concept!
Moving Forward >>> just to catch up with reality.
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ruggels 12:28PM (10/31/2006)
"Why doesn't Ford understand the products they sell here are not appealing to anybody under 40!"
If this were true, and ford models appealed to people over 40 then ford would be just fine, as the majority of America is over 40... the problem, as Ghostdoggy (i'm hoping that's based off the movie ghostdog, if so, awesome :P) illustrates is that people over 40 don't find their products appealing either. A critical mass of americans find their products unappealing and thus they're in the current free fall. Releasing CUVs when everyone including bush's dog are indicating the current trend is towards smaller cars isn't going to do jack for ford sales. they truly don't 'get it' anymore.
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KT 1:47PM (10/31/2006)
"Releasing CUVs when everyone including bush's dog are indicating the current trend is towards smaller cars isn't going to do jack for ford sales. they truly don't 'get it' anymore."
Wrong. The CUV market has just started up in last year or so. These vehicles are utility type vehicles on car platforms. They get better gas mileage than conventional SUV's. Do a little research, how 'bout it.
"... if I wanted a Mazda 6 i'd go buy the original one, and skip the CTS/G35 wannabe Fusion"
What? When did the Fusion become an entry level luxury vehicle? When has it ever been compared to either of these cars on any level? Again, some research or just common f'ing knowledge is needed before you post...PLEASE!
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Middle Aged Man 2:14PM (10/31/2006)
I am mid-40's(unfortuantely, as I do not feel 40's).
Ford stuff appeals to me as much as eating rotting trash from a dumpster.
The only 2 people I know of that own Fords: one is a 60 year old lady, the other is my In-Law, and he is 32 and likes the Taurus(his 99).
Me?
Well, they showed that Ford Refl3x at the autoshows: Where Is It? You want import buyers? Bring this type of stuff out, in one form, or another.
Small cars are big sellers( read they are actually outselling suv's. Not by much, but by about 100,000 units so far this year).
Where's Ford's? Overseas.
At Least Chrysler is trying, sort of.
GM? Same as Ford, to me.
Want more sales? Bring out what people want, not what some 80 year old guy thinks we want.
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MTV Sucks 2:29PM (10/31/2006)
'Bout time Ford cut production. Less F-150s and Explorers please.
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