Man, talking about not even trying. We've accused Detroit in general of not trying but it's never been more obvious than the latest from Ford. According to Autoweek, "Six months after CEO Bill Ford said U.S. market share would rebound this spring, Ford Motor Co. is throwing in the towel on any share gain in 2005."
Ouch, lowest market share since 1928? Looks like Ford is banking everything on a new line of cars coming out in the Fall. We looked over them at the NY Auto Show and they seemed, well, Fordesque. We're not sure if they are enough to beat down the Japanese competition though. We can also say it this way, when the company is still selling the Taurus... come on. Ford just isn't trying. Right now Ford makes: Thunderbird, Taurus, Mustang, Focus, GT, Freestar, Freestyle, Five Hundred and Crown Victoria. Three off the bat are irrelevant: Thunderbird is discontinued, GT (only 3,500 will be made... ever) and the Taurus. Can you even buy a Taurus at a dealer?
Now the Focus and Mustang are actually good cars. Even the Five Hundred is mostly good but the rest are weak. The Crown Vic? Please. Freestar minivan and that semi-crossover thing, Freestyle, are far, far behind (in terms of quality and features) the competition and sales are showing it (okay, Freestar/Freestyle sales figures are higher than previous year/month respectively but we swear they were lower!).
The only home run they've hit lately is the Mustang and, face it, that's not gonna be a major seller like the family sedan could be.
So, as far as Ford is considered, 2005 is over and they are training their sights on 2006. Time will tell if the Fusion and Zephyr and Milan were the saviors of Ford.
Meanwhile, we read a great article about Ford's Model A recently: Vintage Car Profile: Ford Model A
Hi,
We really need to get on about the business of becoming energy independent. This past year and the record gas prices played a huge part in our economic meltdown and seriously damaged our economy and society.We keep planning to spend BILLIONS on bailouts and stimulus plans.
Posted by: dent removal | Wednesday, April 01, 2009 at 02:15 AM
Ford sucks. Their European lineup is a lot more fuel efficient than ours. They have nice looking cars that get 50-60 mpg while we are stuck with cars that get 20 mpg. Didn't this company originate in America?
Posted by: TRex | Thursday, July 31, 2008 at 12:59 PM
Ford's bread and butter has always been trucks. Everything else has been an afterthought. F150 is still king of sales, but comptitition is ratcheting up now. Mustang has also been good to Ford but I can't think of a single other car that is competitive sales wise with class leaders except perhaps for large SUVs.
Posted by: Rex | Sunday, June 10, 2007 at 12:30 AM
The 500 is our dream come true- but the engine sucks! everything else is well thought out- lotsa room, safe, american ( I always try..), yadda-yadda.
but when I took it out on the road from the dealership I actually thought something was wrong with it! the saleman explained it was the engine- I would have bought the thing on the spot except for that.
Posted by: lm | Saturday, April 15, 2006 at 02:11 PM
News says Ford is laying off on January due to BIG quarterly loss—Ford recently reported $284 million loss for this third quarter. For someone who's been a Ford fan I find this unfortunate. Ford will also be closing some of its plants early next year, too. Man, let's just hope it's hybrids and the soon to be released SUVs can really save Ford. A bit more info here: http://fordpartsonline.blogspot.com/2005/10/still-certified-ford-lover.html
Posted by: Jay Stevens | Monday, November 14, 2005 at 09:35 PM