Sagging SUV sales affecting Ford turnaround plan

The drop-off in big SUV sales is hurting Ford's turnaround plans, according to company executives. With Explorer sales dropping 25% and Expedition sales down 21%, Ford has backed away from their previously announced goal of $7 billion in pretax profit for 2006. What's interesting is that while GM has maintained that their SUV sales are sagging because they're at the end of a model cycle (with the implication that the upcoming GMT900s will be the cure-all solution), Ford flat-out admits that fuel prices are the problem. According to Ford VP Steve Lyons, "With gas at $1.80 per gallon, like it was a little over a year ago, we'd have a very different picture here at Ford." It's good to see a company admit that there's a problem; now what remains to be seen is how well they can react to the market conditions.