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Originally Posted by Ribos  until they go bankrupt for having what is essentially the same business model as GM.
Seriously, both Ford and GM seem obsessed with this misguided notion that the American public doesn't mind buying expensive, oversized, gas-guzzlers. And sales have been falling as a result. The Prius is about the best thing Ford has going for them, and the fact that they've been selling like hotcakes should be a slap in their face about where they need to take the company.
Honda has been surviving because they've managed to provide cheaper reliable vehicles that are, simply put, just more efficient all around.
Ford made it big making easily-affordable cars that were easy (and thus cheap) to maintain. Now they seem to think every American needs a giant pickup truck. I do not understand Ford's thinking on this at all.
Note, however, that I totally called this happening when the whole bailout package was announced. I was saying that without a major change in leadership, the bailout money would be meaningless and the auto manufacturers would go under anyways.
Ford's only a few months away from following GM. |
You dumb. You forget one very important fact, every single vehicle fleet in the United States runs on three very distinct vehicles. The Ford Crown Victoria, the Ford E150 Cargo Van and the Ford F150 Light Pickup Truck.
Ford isn't half a step away from bankrupt, the entire collection of mini governments inside the united States has been bailing them out for years. The track record of quality and reliability that their vehicles provide is unmatched in any market. I've never seen a used Honda with 250000 miles on it run as well as an 87 Crown Victoria, and I never will. Ever. Its that simple. When you build well, so that maintenance doesn't actually have to happen (because typically, Police and government vehicles are the LEAST maintained automobiles in the country) and then give the car the ability to take a beating, the car is going to keep working, no matter what you do to it.
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Originally Posted by Ashura96 And there you have it...
Ford is and always WILL be the best American car brand. |
Duh.
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Originally Posted by Ztype Ford production is up 10% actually, and they show no signs of slowing. The new Fusion and Focus have been receiving numerous accolades. The Focus is actually cheaper than the Civic, has more features, and has received far more awards, and in my opinion is a far better car feature-wise.
The only problems Ford is facing now is that Chrysler and GM are both essentially divisions of the US Government so they have in essence limitless budgets, while Ford, after all the hard work they have done to redesign their brand and image (without any government intervention), has to make do on it's own. So much for America and capitalism. Certainly their Ford Explorer started Americans down this path of automotive gluttony, but they have certainly redeemed themselves with their new lineup. |
Yeah don't forget that Ford just re-figured out the regular market. Ever wonder what happened to the Ford Escort? They said "Wow, we're producing two lines of vehicles that do the exact same thing. That's dumb. Axe the low end one and lower the price of the high end one." Now you can buy a Taurus for just pennies more than the same Escort used to cost. More value, More features, Lower cost. Holy shit. That's customer service. Ford does that and GM didn't, that's why GM is in the toilet, and Ford isn't going places fast, but isn't Sinking either.