unixknight Posted November 2, 2009 Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 (edited) BusinessWeekHm.Sadly, this will probably make Ford a target for more taxation and the Unions will undoubtedly use this as an excuse to try and get more, even as the Government will, no doubt, take credit for all this.Edit:Woops, some of that has happened already:More BusinessWeek Edited November 2, 2009 by unixknight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Godless Posted November 2, 2009 Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 Actually, the government is partially to thank for this. They gave bailouts to GM and Chrysler, which made Ford look sparkling by comparison. On the flipside though, imagine what kind of numbers Ford would be posting if the other two had been left to die. I think we'd be seeing some anti-trust litigation right about now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixpacktr Posted November 2, 2009 Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 Ford is doing well because they are able to have commercials as they wish as well. You hardly see any GM commercials (not nearly what you used to) and I can count on one hand the Chrysler commercials I see in a week. See about 1 or 2 Ford commercials/hour, though. A lot of people swore off of GM/Chrysler when they took the bailout because it was NOT a popular action by either administration. And I used to work with both GM and Ford in selling them parts, and believe me, Ford was much easier to work with as a supplier than GM was, by FAR. They actually treated you like a partner. GM treated you as an adversary for the most part, and truly adhered to the old purchasing motto: you (the supplier) are wrong. Even if you prove that you are right, you are wrong and you will be the one to pay for it. I was sad to see the US cede automotive supremacy to Toyota (BTW, I am a Toyota man, I have always had them and always will), but since it was GM, I wasn't too broke up by it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unixknight Posted November 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 Actually, the government is partially to thank for this. They gave bailouts to GM and Chrysler, which made Ford look sparkling by comparison. On the flipside though, imagine what kind of numbers Ford would be posting if the other two had been left to die. I think we'd be seeing some anti-trust litigation right about now.I think what made Ford look so good wasn't so much that they didn't receive a bailout, but rather, that they refused it. Ford execs were afraid of losing control of the company to the Government.And they were right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bytor2112 Posted November 2, 2009 Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 I drive a Ford....a big, gas guzzling, environment killing, tree hugging nightmare......Expedition! Love it and love contributing to the global warming paranoia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unixknight Posted November 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 I drive a Ford....a big, gas guzzling, environment killing, tree hugging nightmare......Expedition! Love it and love contributing to the global warming paranoia.Right there with ya. Our Freestar has a 4.2L which, while smaller than whatever is under the hood of your Expedition, is still ginormous for a V6... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just_A_Guy Posted November 2, 2009 Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 I'm still lamenting the demise of the Excursion. I'm not much of a car guy, but I hear they were wonderful tow vehicles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Godless Posted November 2, 2009 Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 How's this for towing ability? It can haul a tank (literally). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pam Posted November 2, 2009 Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 I seriously need some new glasses. I thought the title said that Ford announces an $18 profit...not $1B. I thought wow...at least they made a profit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islander Posted November 2, 2009 Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 If you read the financial statement, most the "profit" came from cost cutting, plant closures, union concessions and, yes; higher sticker prices for new models. I am not impressed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palerider Posted November 3, 2009 Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 Ford never took any bailout money (must be Bushies fault) unlike the others ...of course Chrysler took the money and ran to Mexico... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bytebear Posted November 3, 2009 Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 I own a 1997 Ford Mustang convertable. It still runs like a dream with nearly 200,000 miles. I have had to replace the starter and the battery. I am sold and will stick with Ford forever. My next car will be an Explorer, and then another Mustang when this one finally dies which I don't expect for a very long time. I also bought Ford stock when they refused the bailout money. It's up 36%. My Bank of America is up 120% and my Disney is up 51% since April. I am sticking with them too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 3, 2009 Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 If you read the financial statement, most the "profit" came from cost cutting, plant closures, union concessions and, yes; higher sticker prices for new models. I am not impressedIslander, you need to understand the history of Ford before making this statement.I can go back to the early 70's with their marriage to Mazda (I'm a Mazda girl) but for the sake of brevity, we can just start at the start of this century and I'll gloss over the bits and just state the highlights relevant to this discussion.Ford was making good profits in the mid to late 90's when in 2001 their tires started blowing up... remember that? That event caused Ford over FIVE BILLION dollars LOSS just in 2001 alone! Because of that event, Ford ranked LAST in vehicle quality and safety, Ford's name was mud in the car industry. That was a tough challenge.To rise up to the challenge, Ford fired Nasser -their CEO, and got a new one - William Ford, Jr (yes, Henry Ford's great grandson), and this new CEO made a commitment to rebuild Ford's image. This new CEO did what Toyota has always done - strive to be best in class, not just competitive - which means, building cars anticipating what people want in quantities anticipating market share, and build them good.Therefore, to meet that goal Ford had to close several plants in 2002 through 2006 as Ford continues to incur losses from tire recalls and lawsuits and a much lower market share from the low ranking.They finally started to see profit again in 2008. Note, I'm only talking about the automotive part of Ford - their vehicle credit company has been keeping the company afloat through those years.So then, because of their new vision, they have much fewer cars in the market when the "financial crash" happened in late 2008 than their GM and Chrysler counterparts. They had much fewer cars to offload in the Cash for Clunkers program.Also, because of their new vision, they have invested heavily on what people want nowadays - green cars and cars that you can "talk to" to change your music and the like. They are finally getting traction on their hybrids and are building cars in the low price-points that could compete with a Hyundai and keeping their high-end cars with high sticker-prices for those who want them.Whatever William Ford, Jr is doing, it is working. He has successfully negotiated terms with UAW to keep their retirement costs manageable, he has been spot-on on predicting market patterns, and he has been wise in refusing to cede partial control to the US government.Coming from almost a decade of losses to finally making $1B profit is no small achievement. But then, Ford has gone through worse before and still came out fighting.If you think that cutting costs, plant closures, and union concessions is not the ticket to keeping your company afloat in this economy, then you must be a GM... and look where they are now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixpacktr Posted November 3, 2009 Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 Anatess, Spot on! Maybe Obama should get YOU to be the car czar....you obviously know more than the person he put in there about the car companies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unixknight Posted November 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 Anatess,Spot on! Maybe Obama should get YOU to be the car czar....you obviously know more than the person he put in there about the car companies!Do you really think his goal is the best interests of those companies? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 3, 2009 Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 (edited) Anatess,Spot on! Maybe Obama should get YOU to be the car czar....you obviously know more than the person he put in there about the car companies!Sixpacktr, funny and sad at the same time, isn't it?It is really easy to spot why Ford is smelling roses right now. Things like the Ford Work Solutions technologies and Ford Smartgauge are just a sample of what Ford is up to these days! This is a perfect example of how American innovation can put the USA on top again. Think of the 90's and think of Bill Gates. Think of the airplane even! We haven't led anything innovative the past decade except for medical innovations. Edited November 3, 2009 by anatess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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