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Why I think Ford is screwed


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(By popular demand, well, Michael Reynolds asked for it)

 

Ford's not doing squat with the Escape, and they're not going to change it for another 34 years, and meanwhile Toyota is going to produce 150,000 new revisions to the RAV4 and its going to outsell every single car out there except for the all new Saturn VUE which is going to be extra super awesome becauase the old VUE sucks big time, and the Lambda crossovers are going to eat Freestyle lunch and dinner and the GMT900s are going to outsell the F150 because it gets like a million times worse gas mileage or something and then Ford's going to close all the F150 plants and have Carroll Shelby assemble them or something and when the new SuperDuty comes out only like five people are going to buy it because the PowerStroke was a piece of crap and nobody is ever going to buy another SuperDuty and the Expedition is another joke. What a piece of crap. It looks just like the 1992 Ford Explorer. Ford is never going to change all their cars are 500 years old minimum and Bill Ford should be electrocuted and what does he think he is anyway if he had a different last name but was otherwise exactly the same person he would have been fired a long time ago and I don't know why Ford doesn't build a new Panther. Mark Fields is going to fix things except Bill Ford doesn't want him to or something and then there's the Ranger. What is the deal with that? I don't know why Ford always leaves all their stuff on the lot to rot except for the vehicles that get updated that don't get updated enough. Like the 2009 F150 it's going to be a real piece of crap and the Tundra is going to eat its lunch and the Fusion is a good start but Ford doesn't know how to follow-up on anything and I like the Shelby GT but why can't Ford build it themselves and then there's the MKS Lincoln is totally going down the tubes I'm so tired of Ford screwing up Lincoln back in 1924 they were a performance sedan and everybody wanted one and then Ford bought Lincoln and screwed it up just like they did Jaguar which was just fine before Ford bought them. Sure they had quality problems but they didn't have to worry about the Chinese which are going to buy Jaguar and that will be the end of Ford in Britain and I think Ford is totally screwed. Like Mercury? They don't know what they're doing with Mercury. I think that Mercury should have nothing but V8 RWD vehicles. That would be way better than the crap they've got now it's nothing but Fords with different grilles and steeringwheels and then Ford never updated the Focus and I think that's so stupid because the Focus was as important as the Taurus and the Taurus should've been updated and it never was and now look at it it only sells to fleets and that is so stupid and why isn't it RWD? Because everybody wants RWD just look at the 300. That is what the Five Hundred should've looked like but it didn't and the 427 was sooooo cool but as usual Ford didn't build it because it would've been successful and Bill Ford wants to kill the company and did I mention I think he should be fired? Because he should. Mark Fields is the only guy there that can find his butt without using two hands and a flashlight, and everybody else is just a bunch of politically correct hires so Ford can have diversity and that's what's killing the company they're more concerned about who they hire than what they build and that brings me to the Explorer. They totally screwed up that one. The Explorer was the greatest thing on the planet and now look at it? Ford always never changes their cars and that's why they're in so much trouble, because they never updated the Crown Vic, and if they updated the Crown Vic they'd sell 400,000 of them a year. Or if they imported the Falcon from Australia, now that would be cool. Why can't Ford build cool cars in America? Because the Focus RS would be like totally awesome, and Ford should sell Land Rover because they're crap and only Volvo was worth buying Ford shouldn't sell Volvo, or Mazda, and I don't know why Ford bought Volvo in the first place. Nasser was an idiot and all the problems with Ford started with him or Trotman, or Bill Ford, Jr. who should be trampled by elephants because he doesn't care how many peoples lives he ruins because he's an idiot. And Ford never spends anything on updating cars because they think that they can just keep selling the same stuff and nobody will notice, and the Dodge Charger is going to kill the Crown Vic and the Crown Vic blows up when you rear-end it and I think that Ford cars are terrible except for the Mustang, but the Mustang is too heavy and the Mod is a pig and the LS2 V8s are way better because they are bigger and the Hemi sounds cool to say, and Dodge was real smart with that Hemi thing and their commercials are great and at least they're trying with Dr.Z, but I'm talking about what's wrong with Ford and the answer is everything. Like the S-Max, why can't we get a minivan like that? all we get is the Freestar and that totally sucks and 137 years ago Ford had all kinds of problems with the 3.8L head gaskets and that's why I'll never buy another Ford and even if I did, I would never trust them, because they're the only car company that ever has problems with engines and that whole thing with sludge on Toyota engines? That was just a big scam, not like the exploding spark plugs on the F150 and the F150 is too heavy and it's almost a one-ton truck and I don't know why they don't make the F150 smaller which brings me back to the Ranger. The Ranger needs a crew-cab, not the Sport Trac, but a Ranger crew-cab and Ford never did a thing with the Ranger and now it's being outsold by the Tacoma and that's all Bill Ford's fault and besides if Bill Ford really knew what he was doing he would've fixed the LS and where do they get off trying to say the Zephyr is any good? It's a Mexican Mazda and it's FWD? And no cars should be FWD at all. Ford should go back to its roots and build only RWD cars. Solid axle too, because back in the 60s when Ford was the greatest company in the world except for GM, Ford had RWD cars and only after they screwed up and build FWD cars did they get into the problems they're having today and if you ask me, I'd fire Bill Ford and then I'd fire Mark Fields, and why is the Mod so big anyway? Because it's a pig that's why. And Bill Ford should be fired and he should be forced to change his name so they can fire him and anyway it's all his fault.

Edited by RichardJensen
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Wow Richard! If you sift through all the sarcasm, you can find some truth in there!

Of course there's truth. Problem is people want everything fixed all at once, and failure to address their #1 priority is taken as proof that the company is doomed, and you might as well just call the coroner and tell him to get on his way because Ford is doomed, and it's a real shame too because Lee Iacocca was a genius, and if Henry Ford II hadn't told him and Hal Sperlich both off, Ford could've had the K-Car and the minivan instead of the Taurus and the Explorer, or some such nonsense.

 

As 2005Explorer said, many people that think they know how to fix Ford would bankrupt the company in a year.

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(By popular demand, well, Michael Reynolds asked for it)

 

Ford's not doing squat with the Escape, and they're not going to change it for another 34 years, and meanwhile Toyota is going to produce 150,000 new revisions to the RAV4 and its going to outsell every single car out there except for the all new Saturn VUE which is going to be extra super awesome becauase the old VUE sucks big time, and the Lambda crossovers are going to eat Freestyle lunch and dinner and the GMT900s are going to outsell the F150 because it gets like a million times worse gas mileage or something and then Ford's going to close all the F150 plants and have Carroll Shelby assemble them or something and when the new SuperDuty comes out only like five people are going to buy it because the PowerStroke was a piece of crap and nobody is ever going to buy another SuperDuty and the Expedition is another joke. What a piece of crap. It looks just like the 1992 Ford Explorer. Ford is never going to change all their cars are 500 years old minimum and Bill Ford should be electrocuted and what does he think he is anyway if he had a different last name but was otherwise exactly the same person he would have been fired a long time ago and I don't know why Ford doesn't build a new Panther. Mark Fields is going to fix things except Bill Ford doesn't want him to or something and then there's the Ranger. What is the deal with that? I don't know why Ford always leaves all their stuff on the lot to rot except for the vehicles that get updated that don't get updated enough. Like the 2009 F150 it's going to be a real piece of crap and the Tundra is going to eat its lunch and the Fusion is a good start but Ford doesn't know how to follow-up on anything and I like the Shelby GT but why can't Ford build it themselves and then there's the MKS Lincoln is totally going down the tubes I'm so tired of Ford screwing up Lincoln back in 1924 they were a performance sedan and everybody wanted one and then Ford bought Lincoln and screwed it up just like they did Jaguar which was just fine before Ford bought them. Sure they had quality problems but they didn't have to worry about the Chinese which are going to buy Jaguar and that will be the end of Ford in Britain and I think Ford is totally screwed. Like Mercury? They don't know what they're doing with Mercury. I think that Mercury should have nothing but V8 RWD vehicles. That would be way better than the crap they've got now it's nothing but Fords with different grilles and steeringwheels and then Ford never updated the Focus and I think that's so stupid because the Focus was as important as the Taurus and the Taurus should've been updated and it never was and now look at it it only sells to fleets and that is so stupid and why isn't it RWD? Because everybody wants RWD just look at the 300. That is what the Five Hundred should've looked like but it didn't and the 427 was sooooo cool but as usual Ford didn't build it because it would've been successful and Bill Ford wants to kill the company and did I mention I think he should be fired? Because he should. Mark Fields is the only guy there that can find his butt without using two hands and a flashlight, and everybody else is just a bunch of politically correct hires so Ford can have diversity and that's what's killing the company they're more concerned about who they hire than what they build and that brings me to the Explorer. They totally screwed up that one. The Explorer was the greatest thing on the planet and now look at it? Ford always never changes their cars and that's why they're in so much trouble, because they never updated the Crown Vic, and if they updated the Crown Vic they'd sell 400,000 of them a year. Or if they imported the Falcon from Australia, now that would be cool. Why can't Ford build cool cars in America? Because the Focus RS would be like totally awesome, and Ford should sell Land Rover because they're crap and only Volvo was worth buying Ford shouldn't sell Volvo, or Mazda, and I don't know why Ford bought Volvo in the first place. Nasser was an idiot and all the problems with Ford started with him or Trotman, or Bill Ford, Jr. who should be trampled by elephants because he doesn't care how many peoples lives he ruins because he's an idiot. And Ford never spends anything on updating cars because they think that they can just keep selling the same stuff and nobody will notice, and the Dodge Charger is going to kill the Crown Vic and the Crown Vic blows up when you rear-end it and I think that Ford cars are terrible except for the Mustang, but the Mustang is too heavy and the Mod is a pig and the LS2 V8s are way better because they are bigger and the Hemi sounds cool to say, and Dodge was real smart with that Hemi thing and their commercials are great and at least they're trying with Dr.Z, but I'm talking about what's wrong with Ford and the answer is everything. Like the S-Max, why can't we get a minivan like that? all we get is the Freestar and that totally sucks and 137 years ago Ford had all kinds of problems with the 3.8L head gaskets and that's why I'll never buy another Ford and even if I did, I would never trust them, because they're the only car company that ever has problems with engines and that whole thing with sludge on Toyota engines? That was just a big scam, not like the exploding spark plugs on the F150 and the F150 is too heavy and it's almost a one-ton truck and I don't know why they don't make the F150 smaller which brings me back to the Ranger. The Ranger needs a crew-cab, not the Sport Trac, but a Ranger crew-cab and Ford never did a thing with the Ranger and now it's being outsold by the Tacoma and that's all Bill Ford's fault and besides if Bill Ford really knew what he was doing he would've fixed the LS and where do they get off trying to say the Zephyr is any good? It's a Mexican Mazda and it's FWD? And no cars should be FWD at all. Ford should go back to its roots and build only RWD cars. Solid axle too, because back in the 60s when Ford was the greatest company in the world except for GM, Ford had RWD cars and only after they screwed up and build FWD cars did they get into the problems they're having today and if you ask me, I'd fire Bill Ford and then I'd fire Mark Fields, and why is the Mod so big anyway? Because it's a pig that's why. And Bill Ford should be fired and he should be forced to change his name so they can fire him and anyway it's all his fault.

I am going to admit I didn't read all of that, but the first 50 lines i read, if you de-exagerate it, much is said is true. I know will disagree but it is.

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Of course there's truth. Problem is people want everything fixed all at once, and failure to address their #1 priority is taken as proof that the company is doomed, and you might as well just call the coroner and tell him to get on his way because Ford is doomed, and it's a real shame too because Lee Iacocca was a genius, and if Henry Ford II hadn't told him and Hal Sperlich both off, Ford could've had the K-Car and the minivan instead of the Taurus and the Explorer, or some such nonsense.

 

As 2005Explorer said, many people that think they know how to fix Ford would bankrupt the company in a year.

This is coming fom you who until this sarcastic over the top post, fail to even acknowledge a lot of the problems and twist them into good things. You defend a lot of the mistakes that got ford into the miserable mess they are in now, their are plenty of good things to defend ford for and plenty of terrible things, you see everything as fantastic.

Edited by DCK
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Wow Great Rant! I am in awe of your sarcasm and sentence structure. The fact is that Ford has been down before and they have come back. They are in some trouble now. Even those of us who really like Ford can see that. But its not fatal or even bankruptcy.

 

It continues to seem that the most negative "sky is falling" posts are coming from people who don't like Ford or Ford products and would never buy them. I don't really understand why they spend so much time here. I don't like Toyotas amd never have. I don't go on the Toyota lists and tell them what uninspired little appliances I think Toyotas are or what lousy gas mileage the 4Runner and Sequoia get.

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This is coming fom you who until this post fail to even acknowledge a lot of the problems and twist them into good things.

Frankly, your perspective is so skewed that anything that is even one degree closer to reality appears to be unfounded optimism. Furthermore, you have consistently viewed my requests for justification for your allegations as a defense of the status quo. It's not a defense of the status quo, it's a request for PROOF, for some logical construct, some reference to outside evidence, that your approach is better. A not unreasonable request, in my opinion.

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Frankly, your perspective is so skewed that anything that is even one degree closer to reality appears to be unfounded optimism. Furthermore, you have consistently viewed my requests for justification for your allegations as a defense of the status quo. It's not a defense of the status quo, it's a request for PROOF, for some logical construct, some reference to outside evidence, that your approach is better. A not unreasonable request, in my opinion.

You become ignorant with your requests and see everything as black or white, common sense doesn't happen. If someone said Toyota makes more per vehicle transaction you would want hard evidence when it is only logical looking at the soaring incentives and lower proices of Ford vehicles you would not accept it until there was an article posted that specifically stated it, even though it is only a matter of common sense.

 

Wow Great Rant! I am in awe of your sarcasm and sentence structure. The fact is that Ford has been down before and they have come back. They are in some trouble now. Even those of us who really like Ford can see that. But its not fatal or even bankruptcy.

 

It continues to seem that the most negative "sky is falling" posts are coming from people who don't like Ford or Ford products and would never buy them. I don't really understand why they spend so much time here. I don't like Toyotas amd never have. I don't go on the Toyota lists and tell them what uninspired little appliances I think Toyotas are or what lousy gas mileage the 4Runner and Sequoia get.

Oh yes, because people would waste their time to come hear even though they don't like ford. I don't post here often about the good descisions that ford makes because that job is already filled with the many cheerleaders to cover that position to the extreme. I post about what needs to change, its in the product. God forbid someone realize what a giant mess ford is in and even now they have no clear since of direction, they aways end up on the fence about virtually everything and always end up accomplishing nothing. They need a clear direction and gun for it. But someone who is critical of Ford must hate them and wish for their demize, not in the least bit. I am very critical of Ford's mistakes because i want to see them taking the correct action when it comes to their products because i want to see them succeed.

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You become ignorant with your requests and see everything as black or white, common sense doesn't happen. If someone said Toyota makes more per vehicle transaction you would want hard evidence when it is only logical looking at the soaring incentives and lower proices of Ford vehicles you would not accept it until there was an article posted that specifically stated it, even though it is only a matter of common sense.

Yes, yes, you have me pegged.

 

I would undoubtedly look at the PROFIT from Toyota's NA operations, and the LOSS from Ford's NA operations, and INSIST that this was nothing more than CIRCUMSTANTIAL evidence that Toyota MAKES MONEY in the US while Ford does not.

 

In fact, you have frequently taken Ford to task for not changing enough sheetmetal on the Expedition and Explorer (among other things). Everytime you blame Ford's lackluster Explorer sales on the insufficient sheetmetal changes, I ask how it comes to be outsold by the Trailblazer which is even OLDER than the outgoing Explorer. You, for some reason take this as my unequivocal support for the Explorer's refresh (in fact, I think the grille is ghastly, and have said so more than once). In reality, I merely want you to justify your direct connection between changed sheetmetal and sales volume. You repeatedly fail to do so, and somehow I end up being labeled someone who says everything is fantastic just because I consider your arguments simplistic and poorly constructed.

Edited by RichardJensen
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You become ignorant with your requests and see everything as black or white, common sense doesn't happen. If someone said Toyota makes more per vehicle transaction you would want hard evidence when it is only logical looking at the soaring incentives and lower proices of Ford vehicles you would not accept it until there was an article posted that specifically stated it, even though it is only a matter of common sense.

Oh yes, because people would waste their time to come hear even though they don't like ford. I don't post here often about the good descisions that ford makes because that job is already filled with the many cheerleaders to cover that position to the extreme. I post about what needs to change, its in the product. God forbid someone realize what a giant mess ford is in and even now they have no clear since of direction, they aways end up on the fence about virtually everything and always end up accomplishing nothing. They need a clear direction and gun for it. But someone who is critical of Ford must hate them and wish for their demize, not in the least bit. I am very critical of Ford's mistakes because i want to see them taking the correct action when it comes to their products because i want to see them succeed.

 

Could it be that, the minute someone objects with reasonable and factual evidence you dismiss it? Hmmmmm

 

And for crying out loud, this thread was meant to be funny......why is it that some people around here take things sooooooo f'in seriously. Sheesh. Get a grip, get a life, get something.

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AT THE CURRENT RATE OF IMPROVEMENTS OR CHANGES, WILL FORD BE ABLE TO STAVE OFF TOYOTA AND STAY PROFITABLE? Can't we all just get along? :doh:

"stay profitable"? I think they've got a solid shot at getting back to profitability. Closing Norfolk, TCAP, Wixom and Atlanta get them a long ways towards profitable utilization numbers. Their multi-line low volume product strategy makes capacity utilization easier to manage too. However, it's not clear that they'll be able to stave off Toyota. Best they can do is make Toyota gain marketshare with higher incentives and more fleet volume.

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(By popular demand, well, Michael Reynolds asked for it)

 

Ford's............ And Bill Ford should be fired and he should be forced to change his name so they can fire him and anyway it's all his fault.

 

Man Richard you took the words right out of my mouth.....

 

Everything thats wrong with FoMoCo summed up in one huge paragraph. I love it! :rockon: :happy feet:

 

Richard, with all that BLUE blood that runs through your veins I'm very suprised you haven't joined all of us NEGATIVE NANCYS up here in the land of the Lay Off.

 

I think all that Sun, all those 1/2 naked babes, foreign cars, rising home prices, and growing economy have made you way to positive. You really need to come join us up here in gloomy michigan (Houses are cheap right now), I'd give you about two weeks of nightly news reminders about how bad G.M., Delphi, Ford, are doing before you start posting some terrific doom and gloom on these boards.

 

Come on up Brotha'......join the dark side. We all know misery loves company. ;)

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Magnificent rant Richard. I have this mental image of you finally going off the deep end, being restrained by a crew of goons in white coats, and administered shock treatment by Nurse Ratchet, with the rubber thing in your foaming mouth and the whole bit.

 

There is a lot going on. Yes, you regurgitated several of my pet issues. For whatever reason, Ford is my car company - but by no means guaranteed to stay that way. Between price and mechanical foibles, the T-Bird is sorely testing my loyalty. Yet, I feel so lucky to own it. How perverse is that? I think I'm projecting my marital issues onto the car, or displaying a pattern, or something ..........

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Lots of internet geeks think they know it all and post rambling rants.

 

They seem to think the world can easily go back 40 years to all RWD solid axle V8 cars with no emission controls, safety regs, and all leaded gas.

 

And btw, some 'kids' call anything with RWD/v8 a 'muscle car'. Oh, and to them the Japanese invented FWD in the 70's, and there were no 6 cylinder motors til Buick invented them in the 80's GNX.

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"stay profitable"? I think they've got a solid shot at getting back to profitability. Closing Norfolk, TCAP, Wixom and Atlanta get them a long ways towards profitable utilization numbers. Their multi-line low volume product strategy makes capacity utilization easier to manage too. However, it's not clear that they'll be able to stave off Toyota. Best they can do is make Toyota gain marketshare with higher incentives and more fleet volume.

Don't forget about shutting STAP and Essex Engine and more.

Brilliant management--The incredible shrinking company.

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Very clever and well-written Richard...BUT, when credible insiders on other sites start saying that bankruptcy is a very real possibility for the Blue Oval within the next 12 months, I get very worried.

 

Like it or not, people do not buy slogans, PR efforts or restructuring plans. They buy new vehicles. And Ford is still short of the type of vehicles that can effectively compete with Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai or even (gulp!) GM.

 

I just saw several new Saturn Auras at the local Saturn dealer last night...if this car is indicative of what the newly focused GM can do, then Ford (and Chrysler) are in for some rough times. The styling is right, and the fit-and-finish is excellent. The interior is a HUGE step forward for GM. And anyone who thinks that the new GM pickups won't hurt the domestic competition - not to mention Toyota and Nissan - is proving that denial just ain't a river in Egypt.

 

The sleeping 800-pound gorilla seems to be awakening...and that could make things rougher for Dearborn. I'm a Ford fan, and am hoping for the best, but Ford has to get off its duff and play to win. No more half-hearted, milquetoast cars (Five Hundred), revamped models that look uncomfortably like the old model, or allowing once-successful models to wither on the vine, because its cheaper to unload 30 percent of production on Hertz and use rebates to lure customers instead of keeping the vehicle up-to-date.

 

Bill Ford has had over five years to turn this around. He seems like a nice, down-to-earth fellow, but if he were Bill Smith or Bill Jones, he would have been ousted by now.

Edited by grbeck
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I just saw several new Saturn Auras at the local Saturn dealer last night...if this car is indicative of what the newly focused GM can do, then Ford (and Chrysler) are in for some rough times. The styling is right, and the fit-and-finish is excellent. The interior is a HUGE step forward for GM. And anyone who thinks that the new GM pickups won't hurt the domestic competition - not to mention Toyota and Nissan - is proving that denial just ain't a river in Egypt.

 

I wonder how many low credit score loans GM made to get these off the lot?

 

Check out this one

Edited by g48150
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