MusicMan66

That's a dangerous position to take. If Ford were to go that route, they'd essentially become a specialty carmaker (see Panoz, Ferrari, et al) which is OK for making money, but they'd have to eliminate most of their work force in order to be profitable since they'd only be producing a fraction of their current production. It's simple: either (1) serve a market niche that isn't being served (not likely), or (2) serve a market better than everyone else. The latter is where Ford (and all other domestic car companies) should position themselves.

TexaStang

Answer for Ford's problems.

#1 Get rid of the unions, file bankruptcy to nullify contracts with UAW
#2 Lay off 40% of the workforce including management
#3 Hire on more designers and concept engineers
#4 Have said designers and engineers come up with 1 uniform "identity" for all vehicles, not all look the same, just be able to tell they are Fords
#5 Improve overall build quality
# Bring over the Ford Falcon from AU, and the Euro Focus.
#6
#7 Profit

mustang_sallad

hahaha! okay man! mail it into that site for the ideas!

Autotooner

Focus & Falcon=

Rickster

Euro vehicles are certified to Euro regs (ECE/EEC) and US vehicles are certified to EPA/FMVSS regs. Often the two directions are not compatable for certain items. This makes it very difficult to bring vehicles over here or send them over there in any large volume without spending a lot of money... and money is tight right now.

htwag

For some reason, in the 60s/70s/80s GM and Ford built really crappy small cars for the American market. The Japanese paid attention to the market, quality, and what people wanted - they won over the hearts and minds of millions of young couples with kids - those couples are older now and their kids buy Japanese - because "Mom's car always worked." My sister had a mid-80s Caddy with a plastic radiator - it was nothing but trouble as was her '70s era Lincoln. now she only drives Japanese stuff.
I would place a Focus above the Cobalt - but I'm not sure if Ford's Focus quality is that much better than the Cobalt. I think both Ford and GM are going to have to stress price/value and quality - and that takes dealership involvement. As an example, the dealership three miles from my house put muy rear anti-sway bar on upside down. When they fixed it yesterday (for free) one of the tech's told the service advisor that I had added bracing to the car - he was referring to the body stiffeners that are OEM items on the 'vert. Go figure. Also, GM/Ford need to design smart in small cars - like the Euro-Focus - and do it on this side of the Atlantic.

Zastava_101

Ford doesn't have to care that much about desing - they should care more about quality. Look at Toyota, most of their cars are average looking (Fords look a lot better), but they have quality and that's why people are buying them.

mustang_sallad

I think ford needs good design to attract people initially to their new cars so that people will actually notice any improvements in quality. If they made boring cars with improved quality, nobody would notice. Ford's reputation would only improve once people started buying their cars and noticing they've got better quality. To attract those people in the first place, they need outstanding designs, me thinks.

Zastava_101

Toyota makes very boring cars but with good quality and they're very succesful. My Camry is so boring to drive, I can't even describe it.

mustang_sallad

yeah... i totally agree... but what i'm saying is that those cars sell well cause toyota has had a good reputation for a long time. Ford currently has a bad reputation in terms of quality, so in order to get people to give them a chance to change that reputation, you have to find another reason to get them in the car in the first place, cause until they get in the car, they're still gonna think fords have poor quality.

Give them good styling and a decent price, like the fusion, people will be like..."Well i swore to myself after that crappy Ford Tempo that i'd never buy another ford, but this one is cheap and it looks pretty good, i'll give it a test drive"

Zastava_101

mustang_sallad

i take it you liked my reference to the Ford Tempo, Zoran?

Zastava_101

Hehe.
My best friend used to have late 1980s/early 1990s Mercury Topaz (same car as Tempo). Nothing was working correctly on that car, but it run. So we would take during the night and go around the neighborhood and hit other people's trash cans. Man, those were the days. He sold it few years later and bought 1998 Dodge Neon.