Fords profit!

For a start they can cut their monster pickup fleet. Hybrid plug-in at home car.

Ford, GM and Dodge trucks last a long, long time.

Why would they cut the fleet. Their job is to sell as many of each type of vehicle. It is up to the consumer to decided what type of vehicle to buy and which one best meets their needs.

A better statement would be consumers can cut their monster pickup fleet. However, many of these big trucks are used by construction companies and farmers. If someone wants to buy a monster pickup truck to haul groceries, that is not Ford's fault. Ford is not going to say, "Buy a Focus instead of an F250" any more than Honda is going to say, "Buy a Civic instead of that nice Ridgeline."

Jeff

People don't buy Fords for several reasons...

#1 The Focus, Fusion and Taurus are ugly..

#2 Their SUV's, the nicer looking of the bunch, get crap to the gallon

#3 The slogan fix or repair daily has rung true over the years. My folks Ford Explorer had to go the shop twice under 30 thousand miles.

#4 Their second best fuel efficient car gets 23 MPG.. Their best gets 33 and is the Focus. Again, an ugly car.

With that said, they need a new line of cars. Yeah, keep your SUV's but put out some cars that actually work well and look good. No one wants to be caught in a Focus or a Taurus anymore.

I don't think it is as much that Jeff as the fact that Ford does not realize that its problem is that its car fleet is ugly and that SUV's are necessarily selling like hot cakes anymore. The problem is Ford never changed. The fault is in their hands.

I don't mean worktrucks, I mean the trucks people buy to go back and forth to work in. I thought we were to save the planet from the grips of "global warming".

Oh well.

Yet the Focus and Fusion are in the top 10 best selling cars.

Except the Escape Hybrid, which gets over 30 mpg.

Twice in 30,000 mi. That doesn't sound like daily repairs to me.

The Fusion gets 20/28 city highway, or 23/31 with the smaller engine.

The mustang gets 19/28 to 15/21 depending on the engine.

The Taurus gets 18/28 (FWD) or 18/24 (AWD).

The Edge gets 18/25 (FWD) or 17/24 (AWD).

Not super, but pretty good. And bettr than 23 mpg.

Apparently, a lot of people think the Focus and Fusion look and work well. Or they wouldn't be top 10 cars. I guess they don't mind being caught in a Focus.

I do agree that Ford needs a more extensive lineup.

Jeff

And it is not Ford's fault that people drive a F250 to get a carton of milk any more than it is Toyota's that they use a Tundra to get a can of baby formula.

Jeff

Which is why the Focus and Fusion are top-10 selling cars.

Ford is making changes. I hope it is enough. They are still losing money in North America.

Jeff

"Go Mavz" ...

I know of at least one good car - the Fusion.

Haven't heard anything bad about it. Very sleek-looking car, too.

Natalie

Natalie

Only ugly people worry about the looks of their car.

"Go Mavz" ...

The Focus and Taurus are not so much "ugly" IMO, but are boring. I like the Fusion, though.

Troo dat.

I still say it's Fix Or Recall Daily :)

Heh - see above.

I dunno about that - I see quite a few Focuses on the road.

Natalie

Which company is leading the recall list? Two hints: begins with 't' and based in Japan.

Fleet buyers, who buy vehicles as a tool in their business and generally keep them is service for five years or 300K because of federal tax deprecation laws and who buy far more Ford vehicles than any others, obviously disagree with his opinion that Ford is not building good, solid. long lasting vehicles.

My experience in servicing thousands fleet vehicle a month in my fleet business, was one reason I stopped buying imports back in 1999. Since I switched to Ford brands I have been saving thousands every time I buy a new vehicle as well as hundreds of dollars every year in the cost of preventive maintain when performed at domestic dealerships than I was paying for service at import dealerships ;)

mike

Actually some of Fords SUVs are still selling like hot cakes. The Escape and the Explorer are the number one sellers in their class. Truck sales indeed are off but the F 150 is still the number one selling truck model at around 35% of the market compared to Toyotas meager 5%. The F150 sells at a rate nearly twice that of Toyotas best selling vehicle the Camry

mike

It always amazes me how some people think they know whether another person NEEDS an SUV or truck. Some folks, who can afford to buy more than one vehicle, own a car as well as a truck. If the car is in use by one driver when the may need to go for milk, they may go in their truck, but that does not negate ones need for a truck.

Not everyone can get by with one vehicle and their needs my not be met by a car. If one needs a truck, that is the one they will take to get milk. I have personally have no need for an SUV or a truck, but I know many people that own a big SUV to haul around their family and all of their stuff, but they also own a car of two.

mike

That's because they track their own quality, before the customer has to find out - the hard way.

Mine has been recalled twice (2000 Echo); neither was serious, and both were unknown to me before Toyota told me.

I don't think anyone believes that there is such a thing as a perfect car; the difference is that Toyota works very hard to *make* perfect cars. Unfortunately for Ford, GM and their workers, this simple quality control eluded domestic carmakers for too long.

Natalie

I've got not one, but two trucks... Both old fords... One is pretty much a work truck, and the other is a play truck with a camper.. Actually, both have camper shells.. Both drink gas, but thats why I also have a corolla, and a honda accord.. But I'm thinking of ditching the accord, and one of the trucks.. I can only drive one at a time... :/ I rented a 07 Taurus to go to Oklahoma a few months ago. The roads were *very* muddy and rutted out where I went. I ended up having to use the taurus as a pseudo 4wd... Beat the crap out of that car going through all the ruts, mud, etc.. I had so much mud on that car that I had to spend

6 bucks in quarters washing it in OK, and then had to wash it again when I got back to Houston. But I had no complaints. The car held up, and got about 25 mpg average I guess. "V6 engine" Not too bad for a "medium" size car.. Not in the same leaque as the appx 40 mpg the corolla gets, but the corolla is a good bit smaller. Myself, I have no qualms with U.S. cars.. I tend to think keeping the maintainance up, etc is a large portion of how a car will hold up. I've had more than one U.S. car that refused to die. IE: I drove a 81 chevy monte carlo for about 12 years, and this was after buying it from my mother who drove it a few years before that. The car never died or left me stranded the whole time I had it, and still ran ok when I finally pawned it off.. I remember when that car was fairly new.. People would say , "oh, that chevy V6 is crap.. Won't last... The buick V6 is better, yada, yada... I guess I had the last laugh.. That engine never died.. The main reason I bought a corolla was not cuz it's a yota.. It's mainly cuz it gets 40 mpg on the road.. I expect it to last a while too, but the jury will be out for a while on it... You'll have to get back with me in a few years to see how it held up.. MK

three T's in our driveway their recall rate could double and we'd still buy them they'd still be the least problematic

my bro's got 2 Fords and is anal about maintenance - tranny in the f150 just puked some parts; had to replace 60k mile engine in the Focus

yeah buy Ford yeah buy GM yeah buy Dog Dodge