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Automotive News & Views Where Is Ford taking Lincoln?
3085 messages, Last post on Aug 17, 2009 at 7:46 AM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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Replying to: displacedtexan (Aug 05, 2007 3:54 am) I agree, but you have to look at where the Lincoln dealers were sitting in 2006 - the LS was a V8 only lame duck and the MKX wasn't out yet. So they would have had the TC, Navigator and Mark LT only. They needed the Zephyr just to fill the inventory and give the dealers something to sell. It was never intended to be launched like that but the dealers were desperate. Terrible planning, but now that the MKX and MKZ are in full production they don't have to make those kinds of mistakes any more. We'll see with the MKS launches next year.
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Replying to: akirby (Aug 05, 2007 4:43 am) A lame duck?!?!? I love my LS!  We'll see with the MKS launches next year. I am certainly hoping for the best. |
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You may have disdain, and I do not know how old you are, but for those of us old enough to remember the junk and crap the Big 3 sold to us in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, it may be difficult for some to forgive them for all the wasted money we spent on junk that barely qualified to be a boat anchor...the Big 3 are ONLY in the position, not because the Japanese are HERE, but because they sold us decades, DECADES of unspeakable junk, and, like the boy who cried wolf, we are hesitant to trust them now... As much as we don't like our dollars going overseas, many find it hard to support their neighbor's auto job when they turn out crap that falls apart...and even if my statement is more emotional than true, that is the PERCEPTION about the Big 3 management and the UAW, that they just don't care, and the memory of decades of junk is hard to erase with some simple childish slogans like "Quality is Job 1", when everybody knows that that UAW believes they should be hired and paid until death as their Divine Right, simply because they are a union... The American people obviously no longer believe in those fairy tales...tha Japanese did not gain market share from advertising gimmicks, they did it with better products...if you remember, HOnda used to just advertise that their cars were "simple" and that they simply worked...gosh, what a concept!!! Meanwhile, the UAW/Big 3 spent billions telling us to Buy American and save our neighbor's job, but never gave us a reason to buy their crappy PRODUCT, but buy it for our neighbor...that ain't a reason, and the under-50% market share shows why... Our products simply do not have the PERCEPTION of quality, and I lay the blame squarely at the feet of the UAW, as there are many folks who simply see the union as something to save the job of workers who frankly do not deserve the job they have...argue if you wish, but they ain't buying Japanese simply because we like the restaurants in Tokyo, they believe they are buying superior quality, and, until the Big 3/UAW changes that belief, WITH BETTER PRODUCTS, NOT SLICKER ADVERTISING, the American auto industry will eventually be bought out by George Soros or Rupert Murdoch... BTW, now that Chrysler is American and privately owned, I am wagering that the new owner files Bankruptcy by Xmas, voids all the union contracts and pension plans, and makes Chrysler competitive again within 2 years, leaving unionized GM and Ford (if Ford is still standing) in the dust...any takers??? |
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Replying to: marsha7 (Aug 06, 2007 8:10 am) Interesting - I doubt they can discharge everything quite so simply - however, Chrysler has NEVER had consistency in their management, much like Ford, so they often put out brilliant designs, only to let them languish with neglect. The Iacocca cars of the 80s were HORRIBLE cars. I had several - they ran pretty well, but they were noisy, rough, handled like a CJ-5, and were just generally junk with that 4 cylinder lawnmower engine. Even with the Mitsubishi V-6, they still had torque steer, wobbles and rattles and all the noise. And Lee sold them strictly on AMERICA....it was a good era for that. GM had consistent leadership - consistently BAD leadership and achieved an aggressive, systematic and carefully plotted decline in market share, whereas, Chrysler and Ford run in fits & starts. The Japanese and European makes tend to operate year to year, rather than Quarter to Quarter - and for all of this, I blame Wall Street more than the UAW. The have their part in it to be sure - however the problem with all American business is that if you're not posting RECORD earning EVERY quarter, Wall Street sells you off, and you're screwed. Therefore the American companies tended to use 3 months as long term planning - ie; what can I make out of the Taurus THIS quarter, because if we don't make a zillion THIS quarter, there may be no NEXT quarter, therefore, decontent the car, make it cheaper, and put it on sale. Dump my inventory into the Rental Fleets. Whatever you have to do. Sell Hertz, or the Tank Division, the only subsidiary that is actually making money....sell GMAC. Whatever it takes! Build seriously better cars? Maybe next quarter if we can afford it after this quarter. Japan and Europe don't care about quarterly profits as much, because they aren't lopped off if they have a bad one. So, they build for the future, and customer loyalty. I blame Wall Street, the UAW, and short sighted management. What's the topic here anyway? Oh yeah, Lincoln. I would need another paragraph or two, but I'll sum it up in two words - Nasser vs. Bill Ford. How much more inconsistent can you get, and LIncoln is the Victim. |
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Replying to: marsha7 (Aug 06, 2007 8:10 am)
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Replying to: euphonium (Aug 06, 2007 9:28 am) I don't begrudge auto workers decent pay. I question how people who screw together our cars think how their particular manufacturing job merits $78 per hour in compensation and benefits, just as I wonder about some of the compensation packages for the bozos at the top who have led the companies so far astray. I only hope that the goose who laid the golden egg is not cooked. And don't get me started on boards. You could replace most of them with a group of monkeys and get no worse decisions. The board that approved the gutting of Lincoln, allegedly to help pay for the Firestone debacle, was so short-sighted they must have been brain dead. And Bill Ford. I think the guy had his heart in the right place, but no ability to realize that he is a lousy car person. He should be made to watch those Ioccaca-style commercials he did a few years ago over and over again. At least until such time as Lincoln recovers some respect.
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...an saw a beautiful 1965 Lincoln Continental four-door convertible for sale. This is what a Lincoln really should be, not a stupid, gaudy cross-over like the MKX or a puny Fusion-Deluxe with a prop rod for the hood.
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Replying to: lemko (Aug 06, 2007 10:35 am) |
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Replying to: marsha7 (Aug 06, 2007 8:10 am) 70s? I had a '74 American car (AMC) that lasted well into the 80s. Bought a Jap car in '84 (Nissan) and in 2 years the interior began tearing of it's own volition. Bought an 86 Cherokee (again AMC) and it finally died this year - 21 years and 1/4 million miles later. In the 90s, had 2 American cars - Mark VIII and Chevy Tahoe. Both were great vehicles with litte to no issues. Tahoe saved my a__ once because it really is 'like a rock'. This millenia? 2 Lincolns, 1 Ford, all great vehicles. Just great. So my experience is obviously different from yours. UAW is BIG part of the problem then and now. When Jap and German companies can hire US workers for 1/3 of what US companies can, it is pretty much checkmate, doncha think? |
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Replying to: gregg_vw (Aug 06, 2007 10:09 am) Ditto - I report to a board of 11 Directors - nice guys & gals, and I generally have them in check, but what they actually know about running a bank??? Well, lets say, if I died tomorrow - so would the bank, even if all 11 of them pooled their entire expertise in the banking business. |
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