ruel24

Exactly why I don't understand why Ford didn't do the same with the MKX, which is little more than a fancy Edge. It would differentiate it more from the Edge.

First of all, I wish they would just get rid of the "MK..blah...blah" names. Geez. I really liked when they used the name Zephyr again, but then it became the MKZ. Anyway, this use of the waterfall grill from the 1939/1940 era is a fail in all the vehicles, personally. The Lincolns back then had a nose that that style of grill complemented. It was pointy. These flat noses look awful with this grill. Second, I don't think using a Flex body is such a bad idea if they'd just do more with it. Mazda did a wonderful job of differentiating the Mazda CX-9 from the Ford Edge. Why can't they follow their lead? While we're on that subject, why can't the MKX be a 3 row, like the CX-9? We only see a product under wraps. Let's hope that this test mule isn't near the finished product, and that the final design will "wow" us...

What I'm sooooo sick of is Ford's unwillingness to accept that there is a market for a 3 door in the US. The original Focus line had a 3 door and it was very popular. Honda sells lots of Civic and Accord coupes, yet Ford refuses to realize the coupe market in the US with the Fusion, Focus, and the Fiesta. I love Ford, but I'm so frustrated by this! Come on Ford...get your collective heads out of your butts! The current 3 door Focus in Europe absolutely ROCKS, particularly in ST and RS trim.

Why would you think that being an auto worker is less than being a nurse? Why do you think nurses deserve more money? I'm not saying they don't, but questioning why you think they do. This whole country has an attitude where everyone thinks they deserve $100k/yr, but the next guy makes too much money for what he does. What's with this attitude? I'm a construction plumber. We get the equivalent education of a 2 yr. degree, and plus some from 5 years of part time schooling and lots of on the job training. The number one cause of death on a construction site is a caved in ditch, suffocating the victim. Where do you think I spend about 40% of my time? In a ditch doing underground plumbing. There are hazards everywhere. Everyday, you hear about someone that lost a foot because someone 6 stories up accidentally kicked a 2x4 off the scaffolding, or some other similar tragic story. So how much to you think I should earn? As much as a nurse? Please tell me... Do you think dental hygenists deserve $30-35/hr.? They make it... Ford will sell it's cars at the highest prices they can get for them, no matter what they pay their workers. If suddenly tomorrow the UAW agreed to a 50% wage decrease, do you think they'd lower the price of the cars any? Or do you think that Bill Ford and the rest of the top level management would just get huge bonuses? Who do you think deserves it more? The guys trying to make ends meet, or the fat cats that get millions in bonuses every year as is? $55k a year is not some lofty amount of money. In fact, when Uncle Sam gets done with them, they live no better than a guy making a little less, as their taxes are larger, too. In my line of work, a 5th year apprentice makes about $20 an hour and a journeyman $28 - $8 less than a journeyman plumber. But when they graduate to the level of journeyman, their take-home pay only goes up a little bit - nothing like you'd expect. Why? Because they just entered a higher tax bracket in the process. BTW, Honda and Toyota pay competitive, but not quite the same, levels of pay and benefits. The Georgetown, KY Toyota plant pays, on average, something like $23+/hr vs. the Sharonville, OH Ford plant's $25+/hr. So what's wrong with what UAW workers earn?

Actually, it's been known for quite some time that they're not fully funded in the pension. This is their own fault. They were the ones that weren't keeping up on their contributions to the fund. Why should the employees take the hit because of this?

Hmmm... The steel industry? The aviation industry? Let me ask you this: How come our economy and all the businesses involved prospered when the unions were much stronger in the 1950's and 1960's but they somehow can't today? It's bull. This is nothing more than propaganda. The wages they now make aren't even that much. I believe they make around $26/hr. That's about $55k a year. Big deal. This is high pay? My forman said that his father was a union plumber and was making $12/hr. in 1971. We figured that that equals out somewhere around $55/hr. in today's money. They definitely don't make that now. This anti-union stuff is nothing but the corporations brainwashing the public into thinking in their terms. Real wages in the US have been on the decline since the early '80's. The public is getting screwed and they've been brainwashed into believing that this is a good thing. As far as the aviation industry is concerned, I live in Cincinnati where there's big Delta hub. I was saying it as much as a year ago: after they get the pilots, stewardesses, and other supporting workers to take a paycut, somehow they'd magically come out of bankruptcy and the CEO and the other top big wigs will get huge bonuses. Corporations only cry wolf many times about wage problems. It's almost as I have predicted. They just posted a record profit last quarter. Who would have guessed? It's only a matter of time before they come out of bankruptcy, now, and the big wigs get their millions for it. It's all a big lie to make those at the top richer and those doing the work poorer.

I don't think so. I mean, when GM and Ford were riding high just 10 years ago, it didn't matter about those supposed "legacy costs". This is just corporate propaganda against the unions. Most companies develop problems because of poor management, not because of what they're paying their line workers - but that's always where they point the finger first. Ford's problems are many, some of which was the promise of quality under the "Quality is Job 1" slogan, but problems went unsolved for the Contour, Probe, Taurus, Windstar and others. This is bad publicity. These are problems in design, and have nothing to do with the line workers or the UAW. I love Ford. I wish them success. I really want them to improve and come out on top.

Where's the recovery? What is being done? Here are my suggestions for a full recovery of Ford: 1.) Warranty - 10 years 100,000 mile powertrain, 5 years 60,000 mile bumper to bumper - no deductibles and fully transferable. This will install confidence in the buying public, and require your engineers to do a better job. The product quality will improve, and your warranty costs should decrease over time. Almost immediately, there should be a sales spike. Reliability equals better resale value, and that means higher residual values, and that means cheaper leases, and that means more sales. Everyone wins. 2.) Don't reinvent the wheel. When something works, why change it? Why come out with these totally new designs that become nothing but a headache of reliability. Stick with the underpinnings that work well, fix those that don't, and give us new where we can see it - not where we don't care about. 3.) Fit and finish - Let's face it, the gaps in Toyotas and Hondas are much tighter and straighter. The interiors of your competition are much nicer grade materials and have better fit. On top of that, you design in bevelled edges where two panels meet, making the gaps seem even larger than they are. Don't give me any of that crap about your target market being too price sensitive. Toyota and Honda are both selling in those same markets and are kicking your butt in most of them. 4.) Design - I love the design direction Ford has, but you're letting others take credit for it. For instance: Bangle and his BMW's. His designs are nothing more than a spin on the Ford Edge design, combined with Cadillac's Art and Science design. But, he's getting all the credit for this design direction that supposedly the rest of the world is trying to copy. However, the Edge design dates back into the 1990's with the GT90 concept. The public thinks Ford is just copying others designs. You need to speak up and let the world know. 5.) Build in the US. I'm not interested in buying a Ford made in Mexico, or China for that matter. I like American cars. If I wanted to buy a foreign car, I'd buy a Honda, which is increasingly becoming a domestic brand. Don't give me the cost crap. Honda and Toyota can build them here (most Honda's have 70% parts, both engine and tranny, and final assembly here in the US these days) and make money, you can too. How do expect people to afford your cars if you ship the jobs out elsewhere? Your great grandfather increased his sales by doubling his workers' pay. Take a note from him and get a clue on American made. 6.) Learn from your partner Mazda. Sporty cars equals sales. I don't want dumbed down, bland offerings. I want sporty. I want visual, tactile, and sonic impact. So does the rest of the market. 7.) When you design a car for a certain market, go for the jugular. Take a look at GM: They designed the Cobalt for a mid-pack offering. It shows. Honda, on the other side, designs to win a segment, and it shows. Guess who sells more compact cars: Ford, GM, or Honda? Don't give me crap about how you can't make money off of certain markets. Others are there competing and making money. Honda makes lots of money selling Civics. You can make money, too, in that market. 8.) Get aggressive. You've shied away from certain markets in the past because the grass was greener somewhere else. This is a mistake. Trends come, and trends go. You have to be ready. You have to compete hard in every market niche out there. If you can't compete in a market segment, don't bother. You're doing nothing but tarnishing your name - which has value. 9.) Shout it out loud - boast about your conquests, improvements, advancements, awards, and what you're doing and where you're headed. Make some noise. Let the public know who you are and what you're about. Make it bold. Give it impact. But most of all, be loud about it. 10.) Place your product outside the need to incentivise. If you're product is strong, you won't need to resort to the tactics other brands try. You'll sell anyway. Did Honda, Toyota, Nissan, or anyone else get involved in your little rebate war with GM? They didn't need to. 11.) Constantly improve your product. Give me a new face every couple of years, and a major overhaul in about 6 years from the product launch. Keep it fresh. And every year, there should be improvements somewhere: in the drivetrain, powertrain, or whatever. Give me a reason to upgrade. 12.) Lastly, make a big announcement with your plans and start implementing them immediately. The world has been waiting for this big turnaround announcement, but so far Ford has been relatively quiet. Immediate change is needed, and the change has to be recognized by both the consumers and the investment markets. Again, make it loud and proud!