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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 4,016
Hard-core CEG\'er
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Hard-core CEG\'er
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 4,016 |
Originally posted by Stazi:
Originally posted by Antonio Wright:
Originally posted by hetfield:
Link
Ford loses over a quarter of a billion in one quarter. Ouch. The layoffs and closings are forthcoming.
What did you expect? I mean you got cars like the Ford Fusion and the Five-Hundred. Welcome to 1999, America. My next car is going to be a Honda or Toyota. At least, they know what they are doing.
I have to say I agree with Antonio - as a matter of fact the last car I bought was a Subaru and my wife bought a Scion. The Big 3 have lost their edge adn are not in the same league as the Japs.
Me 3. Personally, this FSVT is my last Ford if I can help it. I'm just fed up. I don't like Toyota's offerings at all styling wise. And Honda's styling lately leaves A LOT to be desired. However, I have owned an Acura CL, Corolla, and Civic, and I NEVER had issues with those cars. Couple that with the fact that Ford service is horrible and you can see why people aren't apt to buy domestic.
It's a bitter parting for me as well. I've been a Ford guy since I've starting driving. Heck, I've even owned 4 Escorts, all different generations. Not to mention my mustangs and the CSVT, etc.
I'm not surprised that our auto companies are losing so much money. In a capitalist society, it's survival of the fittest, and they currently are not the fittest.... 
2006 Mazdaspeed6
1997 Yamaha YZF1000R Thunderace
1996 Volvo 850-R
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Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 3,395
Hard-core CEG\'er
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Hard-core CEG\'er
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 3,395 |
Originally posted by Antonio Wright:
Originally posted by hetfield:
Link
Ford loses over a quarter of a billion in one quarter. Ouch. The layoffs and closings are forthcoming.
What did you expect? I mean you got cars like the Ford Fusion and the Five-Hundred. Welcome to 1999, America. My next car is going to be a Honda or Toyota. At least, they know what they are doing.
I disagree, I think Ford has nice cars, THe fusion is nice looking, but the Ford Five-Hundred is very sweet looking, I'd drive it 
Played with one when I was checking out the Taurus SE I am getting which is a 2005. I like how Ford's feel when sitting in the driver seat, and how the Fords always have such a nice feel when gripping the steering wheel. Ford will ALWAYS have my respect 
Former owner of a 1995 Ford Contour GL w/ 2.0L ATX
Proud owner of a 2005 Ford Taurus SE 3.0L V6 Vulcan
--Looking for Commodore stuff (Drives, Units, Amiga, games, etc)If anyone has any of this laying around and wants it gone, lemme know --
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 10,015
Hard-core CEG'er
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Hard-core CEG'er
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 10,015 |
Originally posted by ContourKev:
Originally posted by Antonio Wright:
Originally posted by hetfield:
Link
Ford loses over a quarter of a billion in one quarter. Ouch. The layoffs and closings are forthcoming.
What did you expect? I mean you got cars like the Ford Fusion and the Five-Hundred. Welcome to 1999, America. My next car is going to be a Honda or Toyota. At least, they know what they are doing.
I disagree, I think Ford has nice cars, THe fusion is nice looking, but the Ford Five-Hundred is very sweet looking, I'd drive it
Played with one when I was checking out the Taurus SE I am getting which is a 2005. I like how Ford's feel when sitting in the driver seat, and how the Fords always have such a nice feel when gripping the steering wheel. Ford will ALWAYS have my respect
Your a salemans dream! 
2000 SVT Turbo 295hp/269ftlb@12psi
#1 for Bendix Brakes Kits!
Knuckles rebuilt w/new bearings $55
AUSSIE ENDLINKS $70
Gutted pre-cats $80/set
A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine!
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 443
CEG\'er
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CEG\'er
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 443 |
Originally posted by Tony2005:
And this will only hurt more.
http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw122854_20051020.htm
Interesting quote from the article: "Ford estimates that 500,000 customers leave Ford each year because the company has been without an entry midsize sedan since dropping the Contour."
I think the fusion is a solid vehicle, a bit on the boring and utilitarian side from a design perspective, as is the 500 sedan, but well built from what I've read. I think GM and Ford continue to be short sighted and focus too much on short term quarterly profit and loss versus gaining market share long term which turns into healthy profits long term. Like with hybrids, Toyota is losing money on every one they sell, but long term, they are building a huge market for themselves that will turn big profits as the manufacturing costs come down over time.
Ironically, looking at the Big 3, I see Ford as best poised to survive and take advantage of market trends toward smaller and more fuel efficient vehicles, however I believe the Big 3 as a whole are behind the eight ball compared to the Japanese and Korean manufacturers. Generally the 1990's were great years for the big three with the SUV craze, profits were good. Largely the Big 3 sat on their laurels and let the foreign manufacturers eat away at the small and midsize vehicle segments. Anyone who has a brain could have figured out that higher fuel prices would drive us away from SUV's sooner or later, short term thinking once again. The rest of the world pays 2-3 times what we're used to paying for fuel, and only part of that is due to higher taxes on fuel. Higher fuel prices are here to stay IMHO, get used to them. While DC seems to be really hot right now, they are dropping the only small car nameplate (Neon) they had, so I don't see DC well poised to gain marketshare in the small and midsized vehicle segment. GM's got a few decent offerings (Cobalt, Saturns, G6, etc.) but not what Ford has to offer IMHO. We've seen Ford and GM do the management shuffle recently, hopefully we're going to see some long term thinking come out of these changes.
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 678
Veteran CEG\'er
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Veteran CEG\'er
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 678 |
Originally posted by cjbaldw:
Originally posted by Tony2005:
And this will only hurt more.
http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw122854_20051020.htm
Largely the Big 3 sat on their laurels and let the foreign manufacturers eat away at the small and midsize vehicle segments. Anyone who has a brain could have figured out that higher fuel prices would drive us away from SUV's sooner or later, short term thinking once again.
Everyone except GM's Rick Wagoner. He still thinks that gas will eventually go below $2.00 a gallon again. And very recently he stated that the only reason that large SUV sales were down was becuase the American public was waiting for the new line of SUV's from GM.
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 1,467
Hard-core CEG\'er
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Hard-core CEG\'er
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 1,467 |
Originally posted by Stazi:
Originally posted by ContourKev:
Originally posted by Antonio Wright:
Originally posted by hetfield:
Link
Ford loses over a quarter of a billion in one quarter. Ouch. The layoffs and closings are forthcoming.
What did you expect? I mean you got cars like the Ford Fusion and the Five-Hundred. Welcome to 1999, America. My next car is going to be a Honda or Toyota. At least, they know what they are doing.
I disagree, I think Ford has nice cars, THe fusion is nice looking, but the Ford Five-Hundred is very sweet looking, I'd drive it
Played with one when I was checking out the Taurus SE I am getting which is a 2005. I like how Ford's feel when sitting in the driver seat, and how the Fords always have such a nice feel when gripping the steering wheel. Ford will ALWAYS have my respect
Your a salemans dream!
Agreed. I had the honor or pain(if you ask my pockets) of driving a brand new V6 Accord. That car was worlds above my Passat and old SVT in every category.
Now I hate America? That is a new one to me.
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 120
CEG\'er
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CEG\'er
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 120 |
Originally posted by Pete D:
I think one of the "big 3" will have to
1. Be sold to a company from a foreign country (like china) or
2. Go out of business completely
before the UAW and the other "big 3" (more accurately GM and Ford) pull their heads out of their respective asses.
And just watch the economy crumble.
You do realise GM has a big part of the US economy on its back...
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 3,143
Hard-core CEG'er
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Hard-core CEG'er
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 3,143 |
Originally posted by aAandHt:
And just watch the economy crumble.
You do realise GM has a big part of the US economy on its back...
If they went out of business overnight, the economy would take a huge hit, but I doubt it would be that much larger than we have seen in the past 25 years due to natural cycles.
IMO, the problems of the american car companies isn't just one source there are several including:
High labor costs - Due to unionized labor and all the retirees the ford and GM (GM moreso) are paying out tons of money. This leads to less competative products. Do you really think the engineers of foreign car companies are that much better? I don't. But when you have to compensate for higher costs elsewhere (labor and overhead) they get cut eleswhere (r&d and materials). I am sure we could make a car that could easily beat the japanese competition but it would end up costing more
No nationalistic buying habbits - In our capitalist society people often buy what is the best, or the cheapest.... If you look at europe what do they largely drive? European cars. Sure they have GM and Ford over there, but those divisions act as if they are autonomus (sp). The japanese largely drive japanese. Should we blindly buy a product even though it might be inferior, to support our own economy? I don't know, the costs/benefits to the society are very debateable.
More streamlined supply chain - Do some research on Toyota's supply chain (they are the best example) and then GM. There is another abyss of money and resources. I should note that even among the japanese companies, toyota holds a clear advantage.
"Bros before Hoes" <-- More men need this mentality.
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 4,149
Hard-core CEG'er
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Hard-core CEG'er
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 4,149 |
Ford v. GM
Who files bankruptcy first?
-- 1999 SVT #220 --
In retrospect, it was all downhill from here. RIP, CEG.
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Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 1,066
Hard-core CEG\'er
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Hard-core CEG\'er
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 1,066 |
Originally posted by Stazi:
Originally posted by Antonio Wright:
Originally posted by hetfield:
Link
Ford loses over a quarter of a billion in one quarter. Ouch. The layoffs and closings are forthcoming.
What did you expect? I mean you got cars like the Ford Fusion and the Five-Hundred. Welcome to 1999, America. My next car is going to be a Honda or Toyota. At least, they know what they are doing.
I have to say I agree with Antonio - as a matter of fact the last car I bought was a Subaru and my wife bought a Scion. The Big 3 have lost their edge adn are not in the same league as the Japs.
Eh I gotta agree too.
The type of cars I prefer are few and far between on the domestic side and the CSVT is one of them.
The only positive domestics have for me is the lower ins. rate.
I'd love to own the TSX but the insurance rate is really, stupid high and the V6 sounds better than the I4 
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