Mr. Ford's Wrong Turn

The Washington Post ^ | December 4, 2005 | James P. Womack

[raj bhatia]

The real problem for Ford, and the one that presents a dilemma for American society, is that an industrial-social system pioneered in Detroit in the 1930s has given way to another industrial-social system pioneered by Toyota in the post-World War II era.

[Dan from Michigan]

Mr. Ford's Wrong Turn

Hiring Matt Millen.....

[fish hawk]

You mean just like Social Security and such.

[Ben Hecks]

You're right. I get lost with all the Ford/Mazda/Volvo parts bin variants; maybe it's the Ford 500 that uses a modified chassis from one of the larger Volvo models.

[PLMerite]

Probably, just like Dodge made the new Charger a 4-door.

[SteveMcKing]

We could have saved them millions in market-research....

COOL: 1971

ASININE: Today

[38special]

Correction: The Mazda truck is actually a re-badged Ford Ranger.

[SteveMcKing]

The craziest rumor I heard: one salesman stated the Mustang will be all-wheel drive in a couple years! That's been discredited however... but they are making several specialty models, so maybe it's possible, just not in the GT. Definitely not.

[razorback-bert]

I have owned all the above and found BMW to be the best.

[Mr. Jeeves]

I purchased a 1080 Cadillac Fleetwood Brogham.

Well, that's your problem. Vehicles made in the Dark Ages are legendary for quality control issues. ;)

[TChris]

One approach would be to stand back and let the auto companies fail.

That's what bad decisions are supposed to result in: Failure!

If not, two things happen:

First, bad policies and practices are not eliminated, because they didn't hurt enough.

Second, the firm's failures must be paid for by somebody else. In the USA, that means you and me; John Q. Taxpayer.

[PLMerite]

Don't get me wrong, the new Charger is great for what it is - a four-door familymobile. Just don't try to confuse us by pretending it's anything like its musclecar namesake. They could take the old design, downsize it a little and modernize it a lot and it'd be great.

[billbears]

I just saw the computer image of the '07. I don't even like Chevys and I would consider it. Although I think I may would want to wait for a 6 liter V8. And there is where Chevy always gets Ford. Ford will not put the 351 (5.7) in the Mustangs for love or money, choosing instead to go with the crappy 4.6 liter.

[SteveMcKing]

Ford will not put the 351 (5.7) in the Mustangs for love or money, choosing instead to go with the crappy 4.6 liter.

Besides the Shelby (in-production) and an '08 Bullitt (highly probable), there's also good rumors of a BOSS being made. Maybe they'll give that the 351.