Point made......I think we all just need to hang in there and ride it out with them. You never know what this new guy, Mulally, is capable of doing but we shall see! Great discussion!!! [sm=smiley20.gif]

 

This guy from Boeing is known as a cost cutter. You can imagine what that is going to mean.... additional plant closures, thousands of layoffs, selling of land rover, most likely even Jaguar (despite what they say now), possibly Volvo, discontinue Mercury, merge Ford and Lincoln dealers, price increases and maybe even cheaper materials in the their cars.

All of which lower their loss in the short run but will have consequences in the long run. Being that the Mustang is their last saving grace I would imagine there are going to be numerous models available to us in different price ranges to spur sales. The GTO was too expensive for the local "punk" and lost out. I would assume the new Camaro is going to be priced very aggressively.

Ford's biggest problem is they have a poor line up of automobiles. They are soley relying on financing incentives to move their product at this point. The mustang and possibly the f-150 (to a lesser degree) are the only things going for Ford. The era of the big suv and truck are over. This adminstration has given record profits to the oil industry yet has managed to destroy the domestic auto manufacturer.. After the Nov elections expect the price of gas to near three bucks a gallon and suv sales to tumble even more.

Ford announced they are leaving the mini van segment, there is no family car, no small car, expedition/navigator sales have fallen by the way side, things look horrible for Ford. Relying on fleet sales and trucks for the last 10 years have crushed Ford.
Chrysler at least has introduced several sedans and are designing a new minivan. At least they have something going for themselves. We have the Fusion and this new cross-over? At this point, let Mazda and Volvo take over the sedan design segment, and get rid of Bill and all of his family members from Ford.

With the writing just about on the wall, Bill ISN"T going to throw alot of his personal cash into this business. It lost over 250 million in one quarter! He's looking to bow out slowly and get as much cash as he can. Gm's got the same problems, all of their old, white mid western client base is either dying off or switching to more economical Toyotas and Hondas. I can't blame them. The last place I would look would be at my ford or gm dealer for a new sedan.

 

It's a little late to throw my $.02 here now, but this is definately a very informational post, and I have learned even more about FOMOCO.... Good job guys, thanks for all the good info and not getting off topic on irrelevant rantings

..I will post some of my findings tomorow in case you guys care lol

 

Just like to add that its been the best selling truck for 26 or some years..