Twister

you have to be kidding, in my opinion, Ford only has the Mustang left, I hate the trucks, SVU's are not my thing, the 500 is a 2000 Audi wanna-be, the Fusion missed the mark by a mile, the Crown Vic is dead, the Focus is a Civic wanna-be...I bought a Dodge Magnum

pastor_ice43

i agree....however, i still intend to make six figures.

gwDiesel

I heard some guy once say "The problem GM is they aren't in the auto business anymore, they are in the benefits..they just happen to sell cars to pay for the benefits..." sad but true... alot unions aren't anything to be proud of anymore....

LX200

Sure it has to do with union pay and pensions. In the 60's and 70's, before the global economy, unions could just keep extracting more blood by threatening to strike. To keep the plants open, management had to cave. Unions were protected by labor laws, so company couldn't take corrective action.

Now, in the 90's and 00's, unions have successfully priced themselves out of the global market. It's a fact. It really can't be debated, because it's what's actually happened. Bethlehem Steel, in my back yard, is dead. The people I knew who worked there used to brag how they would dog it during their regular shift so they could stay later and collect overtime. They used to brag about how many tools they stole. They used to brag about how they negotiated a 13 week sabattical into their deal, so that every 5 years, they got 13 weeks additional vacation, to be taken in one lump, in addition to the regular vacation they got. They used to brag how they could get away with anything because the union was so strong, management couldn't change anything, couldn't implement any improvements, couldn't move workers to different units to learn new jobs, etc.

Now they **** and moan about thier medical coverage being gone, and their pensions cut.

rmays06

Not to attack you personally but since you don't like fords truck or the SUV it's only the Mustang? What is that? Talk like this is killing the American car company. "oh those big V8's are gas hogs so I'll by a toyota and save lots of money on gas but not get parts" The Fusion is a great car remember it is in its first year it has gotten rave reviews (a lil underpowered) and what has honda done gone after the truck and suv market in a big way. All the companys copy off eachother "focus is civic wanna be so is the TITAN. Hey thanks for your opinion.

asp

Dodge in touch with their customers? The Dodge Hemi truck, while very fast is the biggest user of fuel you'll ever see. They get 10 mpg if your lucky. Did they go to their customers like Ford did when they designed the Charger? The answer is no. One thing that really hurt the automotive industry is the influx of new competition. Suzuki, Kia, Hyunai. The automotive industry as a whole has to downsize in order to be competative. I know people who still believe that Toyota makes a vastly superior product like they in fact did in the 80's. The fact is all automotive giants utilize alot of the same parts, and design techniques. The Mustang is a fantastic design with modern technology melded with retro styling. Ford did a fantastic job.

pat6674u

Ford is certainly not the only American auto maker guilty of making too many huge trucks and SUVs. I feel like Ford trys real hard but falls a little short of cracking into some of the markets they shoot for (Hybrids, for instance). There was a time during the 1980's that Ford just couldn't compete but they turned it around in the 1990's. All 3 American corps might go under if gas gets any more expensive. We'll all be driving the Prius then.

StoneWolf

rmays06: Just because he owns a Mustang doesn't mean he has to like the rest of the Ford line up. Not everyone wants a truck or SUV. You can't blame the consumer for not wanting what the American car companies are offering. You need to blame the American car companies for not offering what the consumer wants.

That all being said, I love my Mustang

hayburner

[/quote]I heard some guy once say "The problem GM is they aren't in the auto business anymore, they are in the benefits..they just happen to sell cars to pay for the benefits..." sad but true... alot unions aren't anything to be proud of anymore....

gw , not to be a jerk but gm has about 350.000 employees , how many do you think are union and who do you think has the better benefits and perks.

BlueDevil

It's more complicated than saying Ford or GM doesn't give the consumer what they want. With huge fixed overhead (health and retirement) they don't have the financial flexibility the Japanese have. If you only make 800 in gross profit off of a Focus vs. several thousand for an SUV, what would you push? Also, if gas was cheap, the situation would be different. (Toyota only beat Ford by 487 vehicles in July and actually was behind Ford if you include Mazda.) But putting that aside, Ford has TERRIBLE commercials. All the Japanese commercials I see here in Los Angeles build desire for their cars. Ford's commercials look like they are straight from the mid-West. Frankly, what GM/Ford/Kodak/Xerox/Apple all had in common was terrible management. Apple is back, as is Xerox. But the other three need some heads to roll at the top. The fact that Ford has brought in some outside investment banker to help them 'evaluate' what lines to keep or sell shows how far they've sunk. You never saw Steve Jobs or Bill Gates needing to bring anyone into their companies to 'help' them evaluate what they should do. Okay, enough venting for today!