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Automotive News & Views What about the future of Ford Inc?? 
1858 messages, Last post on Oct 16, 2006 at 6:25 AM
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Ford certainly isn't done taking their lumps yet, but I agree that they're in a better position than GM and overall don't look too bad assuming they can get their costs under control. If you think about the types of vehicles all the people jumping out of large SUV's these days are going to buy, Ford is well positioned. I'll bet a majority of those people aren't going to go from a big SUV to a Prius; they're going to want something with the practicality of an SUV without the mileage overhead. The 500, Freestyle, Escape (hybrid) and Fusion are all good choices depending on what their needs are. All of those can carry a family around (depending on the size) and the 500, Escape and Freestyle have the AWD option, so they cover most of the bases that large SUV's cover. If you are a GM guy and want out of your SUV, you have some choices, but they are generally inferior to the Ford offerings, with no true crossover option like the Freestyle. I think we'll see Ford's fortunes start to pick up once Fusion sales are in full swing. I think there's pent up demand from people like me who would like to own an American make but aren't willing to buy something that's second rate just to wave the flag around. Ford seems to have their act together with their new products and I think they're going to earn back some of their lost market share over the next few years. |
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Chrysler is where it is on the list because they earned thier bad reputation. Sure they have some good looking vehicles and even if they are better in quality now than they used to be, they still have a long way to go.  They other side to it is anyone who has had to deal with thier service deptartments will be turned off to the brand. My bad experience was in the early 90's and the service was so bad (3 different dealers), I just will not consider them. Its kind of like the issue with the Durango's front end componants failing. Chrysler's stance was that it was not a major concern. Well nothing is a major concern to them! I want to like their cars but for now I will buy elsewhere. |
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Replying to: igor2 (Oct 24, 2005 10:30 am) Not saying I disagree NECESSARILY, but if Ford forces their suppliers into the impossible position of cutting every corner to meet the spec while reducing their prices, isn't something inevitably going to give? I understand that while Toyota uses a lot of outside suppliers like everyone else, it makes more of its parts in-house than most manufacturers, which to me seems really smart for stuff that is not universal (obviously for stuff like tires, batteries, etc yu look to outside suppliers). It reduces the type of problems you have with the parts, you can control costs better if you make it yourself, and the number of hiccups like the Fusion thing get reduced. Certainly when it comes to stuff like ENGINES, I fail to see why the manufacturer isn't making them themselves, especially if they are having a lot of problems with the outsourced ones, like Ford apparently is with the big diesels. I am sure someone will explain this to me... 
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Replying to: nippononly (Oct 24, 2005 11:05 am) Ford probably saved a bundle by allowing another company to handle development and manufacturing costs. The previous generation Ford diesel - which was also developed and manufactured by another company exclusively for Ford - had a very good reputation. Some of my relatives are farmers, and they all swore by the previous generation of Ford Powerstroke diesels. As for Ford's higher warranty costs...could this also be because the company is being more generous in handling warranty claims? One way for a company to cut warranty expenses is to get tough on claims and start denying them, which looks great when the expenditures are tallied, but doesn't necessarily mean that quality has improved. The last few launches - Five Hundred/Montego, Mustang, F-150 - have gone well for the company. The bugs seem to be worked out of the Fusion and the Escape. I'm not quite sure that this higher level of expenditures is necessarily an indicator of declining quality. |
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Your point on the homeowner and his mortgage make good sense, but I do not believe it applies here, because while the mortgage is probably a fixed debt for a specific time, the debt on the automakers just goes on and on...plus, with their credit downgraded to junk, their interest costs will increase...which is like the homeowner with an ARM at 2%...he can afford it now, but not when it goes up to 5%...plus health care costs are increasing (despite that agreement), retiree costs are going up, but profit is not going up...their highest profit vehicles, SUVs and trucks will take a beating with $3 gasoline, while their high-mpg vehicles make them almost nothing...remember, even with the high profits of SUVs, GM and Ford lost money on North American vehicle sales, what will happen when the only vehicles sold are the low-profit, no-profit vehicles... Oh, and don't forget...their pensions are underfunded by, I believe, at least 5 billion each...if they had to pay that money in from savings, their savings drop quite a lot... Lastly, I predict July 1 as the midyear point...nothing says it may just wait until Oct or Xmas of 2006...
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Replying to: nippononly (Oct 24, 2005 11:05 am) Yeah, but even Toyota is beating up their suppliers on price, and I think it's showing in the increased number of Toyota recalls (just recently we've seen one for 800K cars, then one for 1.5M cars). Maybe their suppliers are making better money than the Big 3 suppliers, but that doesn't mean the parts are better. I don't think Ford scrambled to get parts for the Fusion - they just delayed the car until the properly made parts were available. Similar things happened with the launches of the Mustang and the Five Hundred, and because Ford delayed them to get things right the vehicles had much fewer problems.
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Replying to: mirth (Oct 25, 2005 8:00 am) I guess I could also say the radio has been an issue with some folks too. (CDs skipping) Once again, that is provided by an outside vendor and not necessarily Fords fault. They have been replacing radios as needed. All in all though. A poor radio seems to be the only"across-the-board" issue with the Freestyle. |
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exactly - what was the big Toyota recall for? A headlight switch! The truck recall back in May was for poorly manufactured ball joints. Toyota should be making all that stuff itself, then it wouldn't be subject to huge recalls like that. And the irony is, the recent cars recalled for the switch were almost all in Japan, Toyota's home turf, rather than around the world! If Ford's bottom line is being hurt because warranty claims are so frequent on these diesel engines, it seems like it wouldn't have much to lose by building its own. It obviously has plenty of experience building engines. |
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| The issues with the diesel engine are not the only warranty cost dragging on Ford's bottom line. That's just the singular example Ford's spokesman was willing to name. | |
| The major auto companies just can't afford to make the majority of parts themselves. It's just not manageable - they can't do it and still be competitive. I'm afraid that parts quality is becoming the victim of the increased competition in the auto industry. | |
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