Cars Ford should sell in America

[dbk]

Mondeo ST 220 (guess what the 220 stands for)

Focus ST (221hp)

Uh, look at that interior. Anything like that over here? :bs

Fiesta ST

S-Max (car of the year 2007 in Europe, 58 journalists in 22 countries)

These are great forward looking cars. Let's mortgage N.A on this:

:bored :bored :bored :bored :bored :bored :bored :bored Thanks, but I'll pass.

Now just get rid of Jaguar. Whether it's for a penny or $300 million, who cares? You've taken LR, Volvo, Mazda, and made money out of all of them at some point in the last decade. Jaguar has been a playpen mess for 15 years almost. Clever brand with nice niche vehicles. Bad business. Sell it ceremoniously for a 50p coin if that's what it takes to stop losing you a billion dollars a year. Keep Mazda because they build dynamic, reliable and popular cars. If the right offer comes along, ditch LR and AM immediately. Stock doubles in a week if the company divests itself of Jag.

Kill Mercury. Badge engineering is supposedly over. Find a way to amicably come to a solution with dealer partners to get rid of it. Give them more & better product from Ford and Lincoln.

Cut the platforms by at least half. Find a way to take the massive capital depreciation hit without killing yourself, just get it done. Stop spending a ton of money to build a car like the Falcon in Australia. Great car, but it's one market. If you can't sell it globally, ditch it. If you sell it in more than one market, stop overly re-engineering it in every country just so a manufacturing guru can get his handprints on it. If you have to, redesign the 500, stick a Falcon badge on it and send it over there. You look at Toyota's lineup, and you can count their platforms on one hand. You can't count Ford's on all your digits.

And for christ's sake, get over the market share bit (at least as an "at any cost" proposition). Small and profitable beats large and disastrous any day in my book. This isn't 1975, and three companies can't equitably split the U.S market and get fat and happy. Retool the company to profitability and a business model that isn't broken, then grow into an adequate size.

I've bought a lot of cheap Ford stock, and I'd like it to do something for me! I'd also like to see another Ford Supercar before I'm dead :lol

 

[Empty Pockets]

[QU

I've bought a lot of cheap Ford stock, and I'd like it to do something for me! I'd also like to see another Ford Supercar before I'm dead :lol[/QUOTE]



GOOD LUCK ON BOTH anytime in the NEAR future!

E.P.

 

[BlackICE]

I don't think Ford stock is cheap even at it's 52 week low. The lastest buyout programs demostrate that even the new management cannot do what should be done. Why is Ford paying 130k+ for UAW workers to retire early? That will cost them more than laying them off, paying them in the job bank (another dumb idea mgt. agreed to) until the 2007 UAW contract expires in mid 2007. Then eliminate the job banks and reduce UAW headcount to where is should be. At the meantime shrink the white collar work force to the correct levels, and improve mgt up and down the line to eliminate red tape and build cars that are 2nd to none in their market niches.

The entire US auto industry is in BIG trouble and GM and Ford are more likely to end up in bankruptcy court before their stock price doubles.

BlackICE

 

[SLF360]

The entire US auto industry is in BIG trouble and GM and Ford are more likely to end up in bankruptcy court before their stock price doubles.

BlackICE

Truth well told !:rofl

 

[flyingsniffer]

For every nice Ford we have in Europe, we also have a Lemon.

Try the Fusion - originally marketed as being for the "Urban Cool" generation. Now generally accepted as a Grandad-mobile.

 

[SYCO GT]

I hope that Ford focuses some design effort into interiors that people actually find attractive. I love our Ford GT interior. Unique and functional, without trying to be something it's not.

Some of the interiors above are not bad either.

I never cared much about an interior, but some of the recent Ford interiors are pretty bland at best, and ugly or cheap at worst.