FORD has reported its worst financial results in more than 14 years and has warned that its business is likely to worsen in the months ahead.
New chief executive Alan Mulally, a former Boeing executive, said the car maker needed to change the way it approached the US market.
Ford posted a loss of $US5.8 billion ($A7.7 billion) for the third quarter. Chrysler is today expected to join Ford in reporting dismal results for the past three months.
This year Toyota, which lagged the three Detroit companies in US sales, passed DaimlerChrysler to become the No. 3 car company in the US.
Toyota is likely to pass Ford within the next few years. Ford executives have acknowledged that the company is only likely to hold 14-15 per cent of the US market once its transformation is complete — 10 percentage points less than it held in 2000.
“the car maker needed to change the way it approached the US market.”
Why should anyone be surprised at this? The cars marketed in the US are the bottom of the barrel compared to the rest of the civilized world.
Now with gas prices we will see a repeat of the late 70s.
Maybe the hybrid and electric cars still have a chance.
The writing was on the wall years ago, but the top-heavy car companys are too ignorant to read it.
100,000 mile bumper to bumper no-questions-asked warranty.
If they’re building better cars now, let them prove it.
I was never a big fan of Ford anyways.
This is unrelated to the ford story… but whats going on with TWiT?
For years now Ford’s method of improving their bottom line has not been by improving quality, making the customer happy, etc… it’s been by laying off workers to decrease their costs.
Unfortunately, the wrong workers are being laid off.
I bought one Ford — never again.
I have been astounded when I visit other countries and see/drive the local FORD products. Especially when I visited Australia, the FORD Falcon. What a great car! I’d buy one in a second if I could. Of course after our NTSB and CARB got a hold of it, it would be like all the other junk that we get to drive from the Big Four… The Australian Falcon reminded me of a BMW 5 series. It drove great!
Ford loses $6 billion.
– they should try looking behind the cushions on the couch. I lost my keys there once.
#2 you are right Ford & GM should put their money where their mouth is. I have owned cars from all of the major manufactures over the years, and yes some do improve and some do get worse.
About 12 years ago I bought a new Hyundai and what a junker, I got rid of if after only 1 !/2 years it was so bad. Five years ago Hyundai introduced the best warranty in the business 100 000 bumber to bumer (in canada) I bought one and have had no regreats. Companies can change but if they do they need to prove it to their customers. Ford and GM both need to do this. Chrysler make good looking cars but the quality is still 3rd world. I still own my hyundai , and i also have a Honda and a Camry…Toyota and Honda are staring to slip.
“I have been astounded when I visit other countries and see/drive the local FORD products…. What a great car! I’d buy one in a second if I could.”
Both Ford and GM are profitable outside the US. As someone who lives near the original motor city, it’s my belief that both Ford and GM wants to fail, in the United States.
Paying the health care costs of its workers are killing both of them. They’re eventually going to close up shop here but continue selling automobiles here made outside the US.
Maybe they shouldn’t led every new year with over half of their cars SUVS and Muscle cars.
6. Yeah, and while theyre looking, see if you can find the 3 Trillion $ the Pentagon lost in 2001. Its always the last place you look.
“Both Ford and GM are profitable outside the US. As someone who lives near the original motor city, it’s my belief that both Ford and GM wants to fail, in the United States. ”
Yeah, I believe your right. Another lost to the overseas market.
Maybe if they hadn’t put those annoying seat belt warnings in their cars. And maybe if they’re chairman weren’t so busy complaining about how bad cars are, and that they pollute too much.
America can survive without Ford and GM. It will be sort of like Nicaragua, but hell, we’ll survive.
thats a lot of backwages
make me glad I dont have a ford vehichle
I’m curious, how much did the Iraq war cost to date?
Ford, here’s some free advice:
Build better cars. The electric window mechanism on my Ford crapped out. Why? The plastic thing attached to the metal gear cracked. Why is plastic used in conjunction with a high-torque window moter? On the same note, why does it use freakin’ bicycle brake cables to raise and lower my window, instead of a scissor-gear system? Stooopid design. Last, but not least, if you sell a car in Minnesota, don’t put Goodyear RSA tires on the thing — they don’t work well in snow or rain.
Build less powerful cars. Nobody needs a 350 HP vehicle to commute from the ‘burbs to downtown. Nobody needs a 350 HP vehicle to go to soccer practice, pick up groceries, or most other normal day to day activities. WTF does somebody need a 350 HP vehicle for? Dick waving. Just a big prick waving, “my engine’s WAY more than I need” competition. Make cars for women instead of men, they’ll be a little more sensible about the realities or life, then.
Build smaller cars. Most people only need a 1-seater for work commutes, with storage for a briefcase or some groceries. How often do you see cars with 4 seats going down the freeway, but only one head sticking up from a seat? Design a FWD 3 or 4 wheel vehicle with a standard undercarriage, and put a single seat in the middle of it. Imagine the drag coefficient of a bullet versus a brick.
Advise people to rent a mini-van for the family trips to Grandma’s house, or better yet, don’t move more than 2 miles from Grandma. If the family wants to visit, ride your bikes or take a walk, you fat Americanos.
Advise people to rent a truck if they need the 350 HP to tow their fat ass boat to the lake. Better yet, start a rental boat franchise, so people can just rent a boat on any lake they desire.
Basically, it comes down to this: society is really screwed up, and if you’re not bright enough to be part of the solution, then you’re part of the problem.
Now go!
I am sure this is Bill Clinton’s fault somehow …
“Build less powerful cars… Build smaller cars.”
Gee, what a great idea. Ford should stop selling its most profitable vehicles! You must be a genius or something!
Seriously, the problem isn’t that Ford is selling large vehicles. The problem is that no one in the US wants to buy Ford’s small vehicles. What Ford has to do is create smaller cars that people actually want to buy.
But like I said up in #8, Ford does NOT want to sell smaller cars in the US. It does not want to succeed, it wants to fail. You want proof? Ford has stopped making its best selling car, the Taurus. What possible reason could there be to stop selling its most popular car other than to drive the company out of business in the US?!
I thought someone might want some proof that Ford is dropping its best selling car. Here it is:
Mmmm… Ford shutting down the American plant which makes its best selling car? Refusing to take orders for a car people want to buy?! Yeah, they want to succeed!
#18, I want to argue with your point, but I can’t think of how you might be wrong.
Just my wishful thinking and your insight.
My Nissan Maxima (this model actually manufactured in Japan) is ten years old and has never broken down. That engines purrs like a kitten and I can outrun BMWs. Oh, actually, the (original)right headlamp burned out last week– the Japanese still have some quality issues to work out.
The ford taurus has been used almost exclusively as a fleet vehicle, for cabs or rentals. Sure, they’ll sell you one, but they don’t really care about the person walking in the door.
To quote from poster #18 provided link:
“…Taurus is credited with moving America away from boxy V-8 powered gas-guzzling…” and that is how it have become for A SHORT PERIOD best selling car (see chart at the same site to note that the Taurus held that position during mid-90’s).
In the same chart you can notice how the Taurus sales have nose-dived recently. It is not best seller for a long time now.
How Ford can regain the title? By repeating what they did right: move us away from V8 gas guzzlers. Make less powerfull cars and smaller cars. And learn how to earn money doing so.
As for the fact that some huge-sized and overpowered things have been money makers for US car industry: you can make suckers of the public only for so long. That is what US car industry have done with SUV craze. Right now they are experimenting with redirecting ads to power (muscle cars) and useless luxury. At the same time Japanese are selling cars as hotcakes promoting technology and quality…
“It is not best seller for a long time now.”
I never said it was the best selling car. I only said it was Ford’s best selling car. There is a difference.
“Sure, they’ll sell you one, but they don’t really care about the person walking in the door.”
Thanks for proving my point. Ford does not want customers. It wants to fail, get away from its health care and retirement related debt in the US, move all of its factories outside the US, and then start to resell their cars all over again.
My prediction: Within five years Ford will bring back the Taurus. Except it’ll be made in Mexico or Canada.
Auto companies lobby like hell to soften or eliminate CAFE (fuel efficiency) standards. The business-friendly administration goes along.
The auto companies build a huge infrastructure around big vehicles “because that’s what our customers want.”
The administration starts a war in the mid-east, driving oil prices way beyond what anyone would have expected.
Nobody wants big vehicles anymore, but the infrastructure cannot be changed for several years.
Japanese companies see the writing on the wall in 2002, American companies can’t see past their noses.
Duh.
I bought a new 1992 Ford Festiva, made in Korea by Kia. it cost $7,000 Canadian. Ford/Kia stopped making them in 1993, though they were I believe selling like hotcakes, I suppose because there wasn’t much profit margin in them. It was a tinny car, but fun to drive. I gave it to my daughter, who’s still driving it. It has 280,000 km or 165,000 miles on it now, still going strong, burns no oil. Would a US-built Ford do that> Oh, and it gets 57 m to the Canadian gallon, or about 46 m to the US gallon….
26,
Theyt QUIT because the US applies HARSH, requirements to ALL imports.
Even more restrictive then the ones MADE in the US.
Between ANTI smog, polution controls, seat bealts, saftey standards…
Very little ever gets here.
Most requirements are 10 times Harsher then US standards.
Its called protectionism.