Dude, they already STRUCK the iceberg...many miles ago.

The question now is can they turn this ship around before it sinks?

 

There is a car website I enjoy reading called www.thetruthaboutcars.com They write very good automotive commentary, They've had a series called the GM death watch for a few months and recently started a Ford Death watch.

What Ford needs to do to fix the situation is get back into the small car market FAST. They need to import the Fiesta, and build the Euro-focus for the north-american market. Unfortunatley, by the time north america gets the euro focus, europe will get an even better next-gen version.

Not having the foresight to realize that the SUV craze was a fad could probably cost this company its entire existence. Even if oil prices drop, I believe the bubble has burst on this segment.

What looks to be a problem in a few years is the amount of product overlap in the crossover segment. The Freestyle, Edge and Fairlane (when produced) will all be competing against each other. The Freestyle should be reskinned to be more stylish and the Edge should have been a larger 7-passenger model. They will both be 5-passenger crossover CUV's with 4-wheel drive options and V6 powertrains.

In either case, their vehicle lineup is very top-heavy and they will need to really work on their small car lineup.

Closing plants and slashing production helps slow the bleeding by helping reduce incentives and inventory, but the only way they can pull out of this mess is by building reliable, stylish cars with great quality and features.

 

Agreed. The question is: CAN they do it...and can they do it in time?

We tend to focus so much on Mustangs on this site, for the obvious reason that we're enthusiasts. But the Mustang and all its iterations are doing little for this company's bottom line. And to some degree I think that trotting out Shelby GTs as an example of how "quickly" they can circumnavigate the trudging corporate decision-making process is deliberately misleading, because they can't seem do that with the one thing they most need: an exciting, affordable small car lineup. Taking some off-the-shelf parts and stickers, and giving them to Shelby Automotive to put together a car for a niche market, hardly demonstrates swift, innovative engineering.

I'd love to see Ford bring its Euro lineup over here (especially the ST). Unfortunately, that's probably impossible from what I've been reading, because their manufacturing capacity overseas isn't large enough to produce for this market, and the European cars would never pass North American safety and emissions standards.

 

BC . .

Why are you enamored with the Euro lineup? I ask from the standpoint that no Euro-Ford has EVER been a 'hit'. (If I'm wrong jog my memory, please.) I think we are all in agreement Ford needs to seriously address the small car segment, but I just can't remember a Euro-Ford having a tremendous amount of success here in N/A.

 

Well, Ford is the number one selling brand in the UK, and I think that anytime Ford has brought anything over to North America from Europe, it has only been quirky, niche stuff, like the Merkur. And remember, too, that the last time Ford DID bring anything over here (1980s), the North American marketplace and its tastes were fundamentally different. Ford desperately needs cars to TRUMP the Japanese onslaught, and unless it starts thinking outside the box... well, you know what the outcome will be.

Tell me this car wouldn't sell well over here against GTIs and STIs...

That said, I'm beginning to think that Ford's reputation is so badly damaged here in North America now, that the company needs a complete makeover: vehicles, dealerships...god forbid, maybe the blue oval logo itself needs to go away and be reborn.

I think the company may need to start with a fresh sheet of paper, because when I surf around on non-Ford enthusiast sites, people just TRASH the blue oval as pure junk. Once that happens, it becomes next to impossible to win customers back again.

 

Gerald,

I don't think Ford's image is tarnished nearly as badly as you think... although I don't have any data to back it up. Ford has rebounded from precarious situations before. The dealerships, at least where I am from have all been renovated in the last 5 years.

Ford's vehicle lineup does need a huge injection of style and function. The Chicago triplets (500, Montego and Freestyle), were perfectly timed, the big issue was their styling was truly lacking in addition to being slightly underpowered. They had the timing right, but they dropped the ball on the execution.

As for the small cars, they need help, big time. As for the B-segment, mini has that market cornered and they will have to come up with a striking, agile and functional car.

As for hybrids, some people might not agree with me, but I think Ford should pull much of their R&D money out of it. It is a bit of a gamble, but given the very small profit margins on these vehicles, and the market is very small. This would free up precious R&D money to develop the mainstream volume cars.

The flipside though, if they do decide to build a Prius fighter, they need to find any way possible to make it the segment buster and offer the first plug-in hybrid. If they feel hybrids are the future, they have to do something to leapfrog Toyota. I personally think that Diesel is a much more inexpensive alternative, and incredible fuel mileage can be attained and can attract many more conquest sales

As for Mercury and Lincoln, I don't see Mercury surviving a bankrupcy. They can easily consolidate Ford and Mercury into a full-line brand. Lincoln also needs a real brand identity, they need to do more than have FWD and AWD if they are going to compete with Acura and Lexus, let alone Cadillac.

 

I think Euro lineup in USA is nothing but trouble, not just for Ford, but also for GM and Chrysler. GM is starting to import many Opel models in USA and sell them under Saturn name. We'll see if that was good idea or not.

But look at recent history: Ford Contour, Mercury Mystique, Cadillac Catera, even Ford Focus. Nothing but failure.

Took at Toyota for example, they have different models for each market and that's right way to go. Just because Ford is a good seller in U.K. for example doesn't mean that it will be good seller in the US.

 

Who's Gerald?



You make some good points. But I do firmly believe the company's image is badly damaged. When I even bring up the name "Ford" with any of my friends or associates, they just look at me like I have a third eye or something. That's not good.

I don't know what to say about hybrids. Nothing wrong with the technology per se (at least in the interim), but it might be a better pursuit for a company with tons of cash (like Toyota)...a claim Ford definitely CANNOT make right now. Maybe better to get the core business working properly first, and just work on the alternative fuel R&D behind-the-scenes for a while.

Ford needs exciting small cars to get the public passionate. It should be a guaranteed market, because people are flocking to them, and most of the competitors' vehicles look like sh*t. What happened to the Reflex idea, or was it merely another styling 'flash in the pan'?

Cars like the Mustang and 300C prove that customers will buy something that gets their hearts going. I read an interesting article a few months ago (can't remember where now) that talked about how people are prepared to trade a little dependibility for a vehicle that excites them and makes a statement. Why not inject this same philosophy into the 'B' segment? It works for the Mini. If Ford can sell an equally stylish but less expensive and more practical alternative to the Mini...with the reliability of a Yaris or Fit, then they would really have something, because god knows most of the Japanese cars now all look like egg-shaped appliances.

The Fusion seems fine - just needs a little refinement here and there.

The 500 needs a complete makeover, this time with some serious design excitement.

The Edge will be runaway hit - just watch. It looks phenomenal.

Mercury should - as you say - become integrated into Ford's full line brand. Badge engineering in this marketplace confuses customers and wastes productivity and money.

Lincoln ought to borrow from Aston Martin's braintrust and figure out how to build serious Lexus/Caddy fighters with comparable reliability and more style. The MKZ isn't a bad car, but the interior still falls down compared to the imports.

In fact, it's interiors where the domestic automakers still lag behind the imports most dramatically, though GM does seem to be turning a corner on this issue with a number of its current and upcoming models.

 

In the business section of today's Toronto Star, an analyst wrote a lengthy column on the current state of Ford.

He said the only thing Ford can do to save itself is to turn into a pure truck play...just like the Volvo Group did after selling off it's car division to Ford.

Interesting factoid: the Volvo Group sells one sixth the number of vehicles that Ford does, yet Volvo group's market cap is more than double that of Ford.

Hmmmm...

The analyst said Ford has to either turn into a pure truck company within the next 5 years, otherwise it will be merged out of existence.

I'm not saying I necessarily agree, just posting somebody else's thoughts on what has to happen.

 

That's the funniest one yet . . . .

 

Three words: ain't gonna happen.

 

I don't think you meant to say Freestyle as a 5-passenger. This is a 6 or 7 seat vehicle. This doesn't at all cross compete with the Edge. The other reason why they didn't go with 7 passenger with the Edge, is because its built on the Fusion platform. Had they tried this, the 3rd row would be a joke. Remember when the Fairlane comcept came out? The chassis on the concept was from the Fusion. They realised that if they wanted the 3rd row to be at all feasible for a new "people mover" the chassis had to be bigger, hence the reason why the Fairlane won't be built on that chassis, but on the 500/S80 chassis.

If you haven't heard, the new Arcadia, the new Crossover from GM, alot of people are saying its a little too big for today's market, especially with gas the way it is. I personally like the size of the Edge. It will be a runaway hit.

And to the other person who hopes for more power out of the 500 and Freestyle, don't worry, the '08 model will be redesigned with the 3-bar grill, and will get the new 3.5L V6.

And lastly, the 2008 Focus. If anyone on here surfs on Blueovalnews.com, there is a section for Focus info. Someone saw the 2008 test mule out and about. He said it looks nothing like the current car, all new interior AND exterior, with a cool new grill. He obviously couldn't open the hood, but specualtion it that the 2.3 may be standard (finally) but this car that teh fellow saw was the NEW COUPE!!! He said it looks very cool and bold. Can't wait to see it.

 

I think one thing that would help them is putting a six speed trans in the stang so they would get over 30mpg on the highway and over 20 in the city. They put the 6 speed in the fusion why not the stang?