Posted on 06/28/2006 11:23:14 AM PDT by george76
Ford Motor Co. shares took a hit Wednesday, pressured as Standard & Poor's pushed the automaker's credit rating deeper into junk status...
At last check, shares of the second-biggest U.S. car manufacturer were down 13 cents, or 2%, at $6.41 -- just 3 cents above their lowest level in nearly 13 years.
The ratings agency downgraded $151 billion in Ford debt by one notch, to a B+ rating, and thus put the rating four levels into speculative-grade territory, with a negative outlook.
"Notwithstanding its multiyear plan to turn around the performance of its North American automotive operations, " S&P said, "we expect the company's financial profile to weaken further during 2006 -- a period when the U.S. economy and U.S. light-vehicle sales are robust."
In January, Ford detailed its "Way Forward" restructuring plan, a centerpiece of which is the planned closure of 14 plants by 2012 and the cutting of as many as 30,000 jobs, as the automaker aims at improving its product lineup and slashing costs.
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
As long as FORD embraces the gay agenda I'll buy elsewhere thanks and FORD can go to hell.
Ford is headed that way.
Ford's marketing is hurting their sales. They would be better off with no marketing at all and drop the prices.
For management,it will mean pay cuts and no more huge bonuses.For the unions,it will mean the end of the gravy train.and for the government,it will mean $$$.
Would you care to hazard a guess as to what position other car makers take on the subject? I'll wager that it's very similar to,if not even more disgusting,than that of Ford.
"Neither Ford nor GM can be allowed to go under."
Would you advocate a taxpayer bailout of the moronic management that has "led" Ford and GM to this sorry state?
Why? If they go under perhaps a competent company can buy their assets and run the company correctly. There is no reason to decrease competition in the marketplace by handing out government subsidies to keep these incompetent businesses alive.
GM and Ford have dug their own graves. Let it serve as an example for other companies.
Yup.
Agreed. Let GM sink or swim! The talented, useful employees will get other jobs. The union apparatchniki can get lost.
Yup.
Do you have any reasoning behind this crazy statement? I really don't comprehend how bailing out failing companies by the government is going to help our economy.
Is it a national pride issue? If it is, the I would rather Ford and GM go out of business faster. They are slow monolithic companies that make crappy vehicles and give our country a bad name.
"As long as FORD embraces the gay agenda I'll buy elsewhere thanks and FORD can go to hell."
bears repeating.
So, what's below "junk". Trailer Park?
"Neither Ford nor GM can be allowed to go under"
If they are not allowed to go under, then we will never ever have a viable US-based automobile manufacturing company.
Gov't bailouts only perpetuate mediocrity. Overall, US manufacturing cability is still the best in the world. An American company that focused on designing and building quality automobiles would be successful, however a new company cannot emerge if they must compete against gov't funded competition.
Ford and GM have proven they cannot, or will not do what is necessary to survive, much less thrive. They must be allowed to die.
"For management,it will mean pay cuts and no more huge bonuses.For the unions,it will mean the end of the gravy train.and for the government,it will mean $$$."
It'll also mean much better design. Make a better and more competive product and you'll start to see some sales coming back.
You're VERY good...
The others are just as bad - but the AFA chose one of the financially weak targets so they could claim victory (as if gas prices had nothing to do with plummeting SUV sales - note that Ford's car sales are up significantly)....
If people want to protest and choose Ford as a target to try to send a message to them all, and make that clear, there's nothing wrong with it... but pretending like Ford does this and Toyota doesn't is complete bull... Do you want to take bets on whether these people are walking? After all, if you buy a Toyota you're supporting the same causes. Even if you buy a Schwinn, you're supporting the Chinese government.
"Yup" [to advocating a taxpayer bailout of the moronic management that has "led" Ford and GM to the brink of bankruptcy].
And your reasons ...? If I won't voluntarily buy Ford or GM products in support of their operations, because they make inferior vehicles, why should the government be allowed to take money from me forcibly to do so?
"Until then it'd be stupid to buy a car that is less reliable (according to any major survey), has poorer quality interior materials, gets updated less often, and has a far inferior resale value"
Poor resale value? Yes.... Poor interior materials? Yeah, sure (but don't get me started on the utter crap Honda and Toyota have put in some of theirs, too)... Updated less often? Sure, if you're going purely on sheet metal (Honda and Toyota don't really update the mechanicals any more frequently)....
Less reliable? Well.... did you know Mercury beat Honda, Acura, Mazda, Hyundai, Subaru, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Suzuki, Daewoo, Isuzu, and Kia in the latest JD Power dependability survey? The only Asian makes to beat them were Lexus, Infiniti, and Toyota (by only 194 problems per 100 vehicles to 195 problems per 100)....
Lincoln beat them all but Lexus (139 per 100 vs 151 per 100).
Buick and Cadillac finished right behind Lincoln.
Did you also realize that Consumer Reports only gets a 6% response rate on their survey? Or that considering the number of models on the road and the length of their survey, they only average a sample size of 400-500? Or that a sample size this big is only about 1/5 to 1/6th the size needed to accurately measure the difference between a Mercury and a Toyota reliability (based on JD Power's numbers and CR's own admission of the low problem rates), assuming the surveys and respondents were unbiased? (Think of it like calling 1500 registered dems and 500 pubbies and considering that a valid sample)
Or how about that the difference between a V8 Dodge Magnum and a V8 Chrysler 300 is greater than the difference between "better than average" and "worse than average" (completely skipping over the "average" rating), despite the fact that they're mechanically identical?
I'll keep an open mind buying my next car, but I'll also remember the HUGE repair and maintenance cost differential that has been in favor of my Taurus over my Camry.
No great coincidence that Honda just announced a major new plant in Indiana, to go with its existing facility in Ohio. BMW makes cars in South Carolina; Mercedes has plant in Alabama; Toyota is in Kentucky; Nissan is in Tennessee; Mitsubishi is in Illinois; and Subaru and Isuzu are in Indiana. All of these facilities, I believe, are non-union.
The greed of the UAW has all but killed the "old" American auto industry. I see no reason for taxpayer-funded intervention to revive these dinosaurs. Japanese and German companies are picking up the ball fumbled by Ford and GM.
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