Jack Frost

For sure by now you've all heard the dire news coming out of Ford (if not, see this thread: http://forums.bradbarnett.net/showthread.php?t=52021 )

So, what's it gonna take to reverse mounting bad news?

There have been so many missteps by management, and lack of vision, that I, personally am of the opinion that Ford is past the point of no return.

This saddens me greatly.

The only way I can see Ford surviving is by entering a partnership, like Chrysler did with Daimler Benz. Or maybe a full buyout. But surely only Toyota could manager that...and I would hate to see that happen.

If Ford tries to soldier on by itself...I can't see Ford amounting to anything beyond being a shadow of it's former self.

What do you think is needed to save this great American icon?

Or, perhaps you think the current problems are overblown?

T Town Bobby D

Ford needs to get rid of Bill Ford and all other family members in management positions.....

This family has screwed up not only Ford but also the Detroit Lions.....

What company in their right mind would want to merge with Ford ?

Zastava_101

Why, what's wrong with Ford ?

Tiberius1701

Remember, Ford is a Global Company. At this particular point in time the North American Auto operations are having difficulties. (I know, it sounds like I am trivializing the problems, but I do not mean to.) Ford is doing well elsewhere on the planet and Ford Credit is hauling the mail quite nicely. Mark Fields is an extremely gifted individual and there are few others that I would like to see in his place. Give the man/company a chance. Recovering from years of Trotman-Nasser misguidedness will take time.

Regarding Bill Ford-or any other Ford, for that matter, don't even think that there will be a time when there is no Ford family member involved with high-level operations, good or bad.

I dream of having the likes of Don Peterson and Red Poling back in command.

Car companies need to be run by car guys!!!!

Jack Frost

I recall some analysts musing about Toyota making a play for Ford shortly after the GM, Renault, Nissan merger talks started.

I imagine there would be a lot of interest in taking over Ford...just few are capable of it because, even with Ford's current paltry market cap of ~ $15 billion...an acquirer would still need deep pockets.

There's still a lot of value in the Ford brand.

But I'd hate to see Toyota be the suitor...of all auto makers, Toyota is the most souleless, boring auto company out there IMHO...they are the Wal-Mart of the auto world as far as I'm concerned.

Vermillion06

It's not Bill Ford's fault that gas prices went up so quickly which lessened demand for trucks and suvs from the North American arm of the company faster than was anticipated. They were already planning for diminishing demand for SUVs (i.e. the revitalization of the car side of the business, with the S197, the Fusion, 500 and crossovers like the Freestyle and Edge) but not this quickly. Cars sales are up this year, but unfortunately, not enough to cover for the drop in SUV and trucks. Ford is doing well in Europe and other parts of the world currently, so all is not lost.

He put a plan in place and they are trying to accelerate it due to the changes going on in the world around them. It'll take time to turn the ship around though. Ford has been through tough times before and survived; I'm hoping they can do it again.

Jack Frost

No, it's not his fault that gas prices have surged...but yes, it is his fault for not having the foresight to see it coming. Instead, deciding to rest on the laurels of the massive profit margin of trucks and SUV's.

Well, it's come to bite him in the back side now.

Besides, surging gas prices are not a recent phenomenon. Remember the oil embargo of the 70's? Well, evidently, the lessons of that were lost on all of North America...because we seem to have learned nothing from it...as folks went on to buy bigger, fatter gas guzzlers.

Politically, we had 30+ years to rid ourselves of the dependence of foreign oil.

Commerically, Ford, and others, also had 30+ years to build alternative vehicles.

We're all paying for it now...one way, or in Ford's case: another.

Hollywood_North GT

You may forget that about five to six years ago, Bill Ford was internally championing the case for the company to "go green" and begin working on more economical vehicles that would lead the industry. He was shouted down by a board who couldn't see beyond SUV and truck profits. So cut the guy some slack.

Yeah, this company has made a lot of bad decisions, and its customer service is often abhorrent. That being said, the company has a large cash reserve, which, when combined with these most recent cutbacks (part of an accelerated Way Forward plan) will enable it to introduce more new product, faster. My concern is, can the company introduce products that are appealing and relevant enough to lure people away from Toyota and Honda. I'm more concerned with their philosophy towards what makes a great car than I am about their financial troubles right now, frankly. (The Edge looks terrific, but the company still has a ways to go with interiors - GM is doing its latest interiors better, IMHO.)

As to mergers, I can't see Toyota being a candidate. Oddly enough, despite the Renault/Nissan-GM talks, I think Ford would be a better candidate to merge with Renault/Nissan. Remember, Ford and Nissan have worked together in the past. The Mercury Villager is one example.

Moosetang

Still don't see a merger as a good iea, its starting to bite DCX in the ****, despite their very good products begotten from said merger, and the field's too thin as it is.

PaulF

No one saw that gas prices were going to spike the way that they did. Hurricane Katrina was really what pushed the prices up to the point that they are at now, along with the limited production facilities in the United States. Unless you had a crytal ball, that is.

Heck, even the Arabs have been telling us for years that we have plenty of oil, more than we need, we just don't have the resources to convert it to gasoline quickly. And the problem there is that the oil companies and the government couldn't/wouldn't get that done.

As for getting rid of the dependance on foreign oil, I'm sorry, I just don't see that happening anytime soon. Not unless we can drill all the heck over Alaska and even then we won't see anything significant for a long, long time. Same goes for the oil sand deposits in the US, that are now being looked at, since Canada is turning a nifty profit.

Personally, I don't want to drive a "Green" Mustang. I won't be impressed with corn technology until I see the military switch over and an M1 (or whatever MBT is rolling around for the US military at that time) is rolling full time on corn juice.

Jack Frost

Adjusted for inflation, the all time high oil price is in the neighbourhood of $US90 / barrel back in the 70's.

We haven't touched that...yet. The point is...it's inexcusable for the car manufacturers to not have a business plan in place to account for increasing gas prices...something that is clearly here to stay as long as were burning fossil fuels to get around. Don't need a crystal ball to realize that.

Clearly, increasing oil prices is playing into the hands of some manufacturers:Toyota, while killing others:Ford above all.

But let's get back to the topic: what needs to happen for Ford to survive?

Jack Frost

But then, maybe Chrysler wouldn't be around today were it not for it's 'merger' with Daimler Benz.

97svtgoin05gt

I truly believe that Ford has been way too slow to address the small car issue. People are scarfing up gas sippers right now, and lets face it, the Focus has NEVER been a looker. If you look at the bulk of what Toyota and Honda are selling, they are selling boring, copy-cat stamp out kinds of cars. The Camry is (I'm fairly sure) the number one selling car at the moment. Now, talk about a snoozer of a vehicle. I mean yea, now they've got a fairly impressive v-6 but most of the Camry volume isn't of the V-6 variety. The design of the car is just a snoozefest. They are as boring as it gets. The public however has the impression (with good reason in some cases) that they are the most fuel efficient and reliable vehicles on the market. The American public OFTEN trashes Ford. I trumpet the positives to friends, family and coworkers often. But I tell you, Ford has had a series of really big mistakes and issues that have hurt them bad. Unfortunately perception is reality. People bought Dell computers like crazy from about '98 till recently because Dell told them they do it better yada yada. The sheep lined up in droves to buy Dell computers. What's happened now? People complaining about inferior quality and poor support.

All that aside, Ford needs to come up with fuel efficent, good looking reliable small cars to combat the imports. Fuel prices definitely have to be factored into this situation, but lets face it, the car piece of Ford's business ESPECIALLY the small car segment has been all but ignored. Some others have made the suggestion and I understand pricing is an issue, but we need the European Focus ASAP. Other than that, just like with Dell, it's going to take some time for people to realize that the grass isn't always greener. The question is, can Ford control the bleeding and last long enough for all that to be realized.

I for one certainly hope so.

tacbear

M1's can run on just about any kind of fuel--it is the ultimate FFV!!

Jack Frost

Amen to that.

I've worked in Europe a fair bit over the past decade and drooled over the older Focus RS. What a car!

Ford should've seen Subaru selling buckets of WRX's and clued in to at least have given the RS a chance in North America.

Hollywood_North GT

The situation isn't helped by articles like this.

The bad press further erodes Ford's image, because the average person now sees the company as the Titanic, and thinks: "Well that's just one more reason to stay as far away from Ford as possible."

In the past, I've been inclined to think that this company was gonna pull out of their tail spin, but now I'm not so sure. They may indeed bleed to death before they ever get a transfusion.

Jack Frost

Can't argue with much of anything in that article.

Perhaps a new thread is in order: How long before the iceberg strikes?

Zastava_101

There are so many things wrong with Ford now. Five Hudred, Freestyle and Montego do need more powerfull engine. Focus and Ranger need redesign ASAP. F-150 could use 5-speed-automatic.

T Town Bobby D

Maybe Ford is looking at the wrong cars to sell off or stop production on,

What about dropping Mercury and Lincoln ?

Hollywood_North GT

Well, Lincoln is Ford's prestige brand, and I think they need to keep that. But I think they should jettison Jaguar and Land Rover and then perhaps leverage some of Aston Martin's DNA and design engineering into Lincoln.

Mercury, on the other hand, is just badge engineering. They should get rid of it and all the administrative and logistical overhead that goes with it. Use the money they save to build better, higher-end Fords instead.