Ford going out of business?

[triple7allstar]

I'm sure others have posed this question, but what is everyone's opinion on Ford's recent financial woes? I'm not so sure that Ford will go out of business. They seem to be doing things right with their newest vehicles (fusion / edge).

Opinions?

[lectra]

GM just went through the same thing. I wouldn't worry too much. If nothing else, at least the Ford guys are smart enough to scale down the company down, if necessary, they can take it down to a "local-sized" company (but I'm seeing way too many Fords on the road for it to go that far!). GM's obviously still here, and I expect Ford to stick around awhile longer too. They are not Enron!opcorn:

[Focus On Mustangs]

We just started working overtime on F150s at the KC plant, and SUV has been working overtime for a while. So, someone is buying. Sucks that toyota is #1 seller this quarter.

[lectra]

I don't know, Tojo is known for being pretty good as well. However, Ford has to be pretty high on the list as well.

The vehicle I bash most is Chevrolet.opcorn:Many people I've known has had nothing but trouble out of those (and for some reason, just Chevy and not all of GM. ).

[Focus On Mustangs]

I heard Toyotas have more problems than any other domestic, but for some reason only the domestics make it to headlines when there are problems. Pretty fishy. Maybe since they are just Japanese nobody cares if they fall apart, but since domestics are held to much higher standards everyone freaks out when something out of the ordinary happens.

Just a thought.

[lectra]

A possibility. However, most of the Japs I've been around have been pretty good as well. Chevy is the only name that sticks out when it comes to defective vehicles 'round here. You'll have a dud occasionally, but somehow all the Chevy duds seem to be found in Alabama. ...and none of the Fords.

Also FoM, did you shuck that T-bird?

[triple7allstar]

Interesting, I've just been thinking about this lately. I've contemplated getting the new fusion, although I'm thinking I'll probably get the new accord.

I didn't really ever think that ford would be going anywhere. They seem to be pushing the marketing beast and have done a very good job and designing fresh new cars for a younger market.

my $.02

[lectra]

Ford is not going anywhere, unless it's to Alabama. I'm seeing plenty of F-150's on the road everywhere 'round here. Worst case, Ford scales back, moves to Alabama, and sells only F-150's. opcorn:I'm, probably seeing about 35% Fords (mostly F-150's, and lots of Rangers), about 25% Hondas, and the rest everybody else. Ford is alive and well, especially around Birmingham!

[12Ounce]

What Ford has done in the "New Economy" ... is to continue to do what worked for years. But the customer has changed, and Ford can't seem too.

With very little market survey, they continue to decide what's best for us .... then design and build it. Often wrong, but sometimes it's close.

After this new product is in the marketplace, if there are design/build errors ... they are first "denied" by Ford ... after that they are "corrected" by lawyers/judges, not engineers. This formula has worked for decades, and now that customers have more choices and don't have to buy crap .... Ford can't change the way they do business ... they continue to be just too know-it-all smart for their own good!

Just try calling and having an honest two-way conversation with some human being in Ford Corp ... you know, "customer to corporation person". It ain't gonna happen. No people skills. If you persist in getting beyond the selection menu, they do have a few phone-idiots whose purpose is to shunt you off to some local (independent) Ford dealer.

Kiss Ford "good-by" in not so many years. A buy-out perhaps. VW? Kia? Dominoes' Pizza? ???

[lectra]

Strangely, most of the Fords I've seen have been either pretty darn close, or dead on in quality, giving an apparant "do it right the first time" impression. They didn't get as big as they did by offering crap, and to this day it appears they still don't offer crap. As with everyone, you may get a dud here and there (and it may seem like every dud they make is in your area, as Chevy does in Alabama), Ford seems fairly respectable here, whather they are good or not elsewhere.

[JoeTex]

well what i think the problem is ford as mutch as chevrolet and chrysler is that they dont put to mutch effort on there cars ,,,its that they wanna keep them at a low price and with low price comes low quality..so if they keep it up being cheap skates ,all the domestic car companies will sell nothing but suv's in the near future..

[lectra]

...SUV's and big trucks. In my opinion, anything bigger than a minimalist F-150 should be available in diesel, especially with gas prices lately. Not sure why the diesel market isn't any stronger than it is, especially with the seemingly wide availability of on-road diesel (I'm seeing an avarage of one of every four gas stations has low-sulphur diesel). Not only that, but few realize that diesel can be converted to straight vegitable oil, which some restaurants may be willing to give you for free.

[bobss396]

Nah, it won't happen. Too many fleet service cars are Ford products and some gov't agency will always bail them out like AMC and Chrysler in the past.

Bob

[Bootsgamer]

Well im going to start by saying i like ford alot also Ford isnt just in the USA its everywhere the Focus is the only US car in france. Theres more places that have Fords than GMs.