Ford will only build two cars!!

[bpd1151]

Sadly I see this becoming a trend.

Not surprising.

 

[hyperspd7]

Very well said. This is a poor move, and a obvious defeat by FMC. I understand they cannot compete with the likes of Toy, Hon... oh wait. They cannot compete with the likes of the UAW. End of story. This is going to end badly for FMC and all the employees that rely on competent leadership to feed their families. I know a few FMC employees personally. They work here in KC at the Claycomo plant. Most are diehard union guys. They make a significant amount of income for what they do. They churn out an F150 like every 71 seconds. It's insane. My main point is this... you can only squeeze so much from the combustion engine and you can only convince so many people to spend $60-70K on a truck. Gas goes up, prices go up, target audience grows smaller. Younger generation isn't that interested in cars and trucks, at all. With trade wars brewing up, cost of material imports going up and these other factors, it's going to get interesting for FMC, specifically.

I love my Taurus, it's not perfect but it's a great car. I will not buy an F150. Again, I know someone personally who went through the ringer with a brand new 2016 F150 Eco. Dealer he did business with for over 20 years, a small business owner who buys personal and business vehicles every year got SCREWED by FMC and his dealer was NO help. In the end, he's bound by a sealed court agreement to not disclose the terms. I do know he kept the truck, FMC gave him a few thousand and he still had to sell it. FMC would not admit the truck was a total POS. Not even 5K miles. Lemon from ****. I just hope I don't end up in a situation like this with any American car company. I owned a 2010 Tundra, bought new in 2010. It had the cam sensor issue. 5 months after purchasing it, Toyota bought it back for what I paid. I drove their loaner off and on during that time. It wasn't an easy process, but in the end Toy did the right thing.

Ford is down to 1 car in Canada, we don't get the Focus Active.
Of the 2,039,000 vehicles sold in Canada, 31 % of them were cars, does that not sound like a market?

Another fun fact is that if you take the big 3 out of the sales totals, cars represent 45% of the total for the remaining manufacturers.

The troubling question is not that why is the car dying, but why is the American car dying?

When trucks represented less than 31%, in years gone by, did they ever think of shuttering truck production?

Bob Shanks at Ford, claims they will save 11.5 Billion by not having to develop new platforms for their discontinued cars. That is nice, but what will the saved money be used for?
And they are only deferring it, as when the next crisis hits, they will have to do the development without the assistance the deleted car production would have provided. Because no one is suggesting that cars are money losers, just they are not as profitable as SUVs and trucks.

Short term thinking at its best.

 

[Matt M PA]

While I understand the reasoning, I don't like the outcome. I also think that in many cases, the dealer is the problem...not the product. Folks that get a rotten trade-in offer, have a problem that cannot be solved...can often be corrected at another dealership.

I saw info recently that showed how sales of sedans has dropped in the past few years. I remember seeing brands like Hyundai, Kia, Ford, Honda, Toyota...all way off in sales. (I don't recall BMW or luxury marques in the list, but can't put my hands on it now...) The brand Chrysler is down to 2 vehicles and one of those is a minivan.

Right now in the Philly zone, there's a $4000 rebate on new Focus. $4000 on a $20,000 car. This has been on for at least a couple months. My wife loves her Focus...but the $4000 rebate tells me they're not selling. We just had a bonus $500 Memorial Day rebate in addition to the other offers on most new Fords.....Fusion was $1000. Again, tells me they're not selling.

 

[SHOCALL]

Very well said. This is a poor move, and a obvious defeat by FMC. I understand they cannot compete with the likes of Toy, Hon... oh wait. They cannot compete with the likes of the UAW. End of story. This is going to end badly for FMC and all the employees that rely on competent leadership to feed their families. I know a few FMC employees personally. They work here in KC at the Claycomo plant. Most are diehard union guys. They make a significant amount of income for what they do. They churn out an F150 like every 71 seconds. It's insane. My main point is this... you can only squeeze so much from the combustion engine and you can only convince so many people to spend $60-70K on a truck. Gas goes up, prices go up, target audience grows smaller. Younger generation isn't that interested in cars and trucks, at all. With trade wars brewing up, cost of material imports going up and these other factors, it's going to get interesting for FMC, specifically.

I love my Taurus, it's not perfect but it's a great car. I will not buy an F150. Again, I know someone personally who went through the ringer with a brand new 2016 F150 Eco. Dealer he did business with for over 20 years, a small business owner who buys personal and business vehicles every year got SCREWED by FMC and his dealer was NO help. In the end, he's bound by a sealed court agreement to not disclose the terms. I do know he kept the truck, FMC gave him a few thousand and he still had to sell it. FMC would not admit the truck was a total POS. Not even 5K miles. Lemon from ****. I just hope I don't end up in a situation like this with any American car company. I owned a 2010 Tundra, bought new in 2010. It had the cam sensor issue. 5 months after purchasing it, Toyota bought it back for what I paid. I drove their loaner off and on during that time. It wasn't an easy process, but in the end Toy did the right thing.

Care to elaborate on how FMC competes with the UAW?

 

[sperold]

I believe that a company who plans on staying in business a long time should have a placeholder in each category of product they sell.
I would have thought that abandoning the field, is a signal of defeat that you cannot spin as a good thing.

If you are in this survival mode, build one car in each category, and make it a good one, and price it like your entry level offering. And consequently, don't have a ton of engine options and have them all fully loaded.

Every new Taurus should be a SHO, every Fusion a Sport model, you get the idea.
Do everything you can to sell them at the lowest price. Look at how Chrysler sold minivans based on price alone, same idea. And ease up on the autonomous driving and electrification in these segments while you keep the name alive.

 

[Johnbigdog]

I believe that a company who plans on staying in business a long time should have a placeholder in each category of product they sell.
I would have thought that abandoning the field, is a signal of defeat that you cannot spin as a good thing.

If you are in this survival mode, build one car in each category, and make it a good one, and price it like your entry level offering. And consequently, don't have a ton of engine options and have them all fully loaded.

Every new Taurus should be a SHO, every Fusion a Sport model, you get the idea.
Do everything you can to sell them at the lowest price. Look at how Chrysler sold minivans based on price alone, same idea. And ease up on the autonomous driving and electrification in these segments while you keep the name alive.

And look at FCA. They are not doing so hot.

The propblem is one shoe does not fit all. If every Taurus was darn near 40K plus they arnt going to sell. Even if they could build them for 20K, Not everyone wants what we want.

Good example is F150. A truck is ment to work to me. Not everyne is going to pay 70K for a platium truck to use as a fleet vehicle. But then there are those people who buy that platnum f150 becuase they have a small ***** and too much money. If i had more money you bet ide have one. Lol. 150s are now really a new car. Ride has been made better. If you want a tow rig, 250 plus. But for the love of Ford, dont buy a platnum f450 with max tow and complain about the ride quality.

Plus you have to rememer CAFE and the fuel economy average O.E.Ms have to meet.

There is a game that has to be plaid. You have to play your cards to stay profitable, please uncle Sam, and still make your customer happy.