Posted on 09/09/2006 1:55:01 PM PDT by Zakeet
If only turning around a car company were as easy as turning around a car - or an airline manufacturer.
The new chief executive of the Ford Motor Co., in his most recent role, successfully guided aerospace giant Boeing through a wrenching downturn as the 9/11 terrorist attacks reduced demand for air travel.
At Boeing, Alan Mulally gained experience dealing with union labor, a global supply chain, and building products that contain everything from sheet metal to complex electronics.
Those are skills that Ford desperately needs. The No. 2 US automaker confronts declining market share, mounting losses, and a major shift in consumer preferences toward fuel-efficient cars.
But some of Ford's biggest challenges are ones that Mr. Mulally never faced at Boeing.
Where commercial aviation is dominated by two companies, the auto industry has become a tangle of global rivals - with Chinese automakers now scrambling to become exporters alongside those from Japan, Germany, and South Korea.
Where Boeing and Airbus sell their planes to dozens of airlines, success in the auto industry depends on catering to millions of consumers.
"Boeing is not that much like General Motors" or Ford, says Peter Morici, a University of Maryland economist. Carmakers "produce a complex consumer good that has to be mass-marketed and has substantial branding issues."
The fierce competition puts pressure on Mulally, even though he's an outsider, to move quickly.
The challenge is twofold, analysts say: to cut costs and to rev up the pace of new products that can provide future revenues.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Ford needs to seriously rehab it's image for quality among former buyers and also expand into new markets immediately. I can say safely I'm pretty comfortable with Lexus in buying a vehicle I plan to keep many, many years. I probably won't buy a Ford again in my lifetime.
Again, new markets and rehab old image. I think they'll have to expand into those new markets fairly fast or die trying.
Try selling to Toyota, Nissan, or Honda instead of Ford or GM.
The first time my wife and I saw that ad we couldn't believe what we just saw.
Seemed to me like some kind of feminist empowerment play. Notice how the dad gets the honor of thanking his ex for the time with his own children.
I don't have a clue as to whom would buy a car from the company that chooses to advertise in such an offensive way.
"Honda and Toyota are light-years ahead of the US manufacturers in terms of reliability."
*****
I have a '96 Buick Regal with 120,000 miles on it, and nothing ever goes wrong-just routine maintenance. It's now been discontinued. I guess it was too reliable...
I'm looking at the '07 Buicks. 100,000 mile/5 yr warranty
http://www.buick.com/
GM/Ford made a fortune over the last decade selling 'tard cars; poorly made, fashionable cars that appeal to many people's innate sense of self. Whether it's a jacked-up truck, oversized SUV, spinning hubs, etc, many people's sense of identity/self-worth is tied up in what they drive.
GM/Ford just need to find that groove for the next decade. There's an awful lot of people who wouldn't get caught dead driving something as practical as a Toyota or Honda.
Ford should have been part of the consortium that built the next-generation hybrid drive system (this is the one formed by GM, BMW and DaimlerChrysler). As such, we'll be seeing highly-advanced hybrid drive vehicles from GM, BMW, Chrysler/Dodge and Mercedes-Benz by 2009 first.
I have a 4-year old F-250 SD that is not exactly a gay car. It roars like a lion and doesn't need much. I put big BF Goodrich's on it. It just works for me. Most women are short and need to be helped by picking them up by the ass and transferring them to the seat. Even though there is a bail-out handle just above them. 100 MPH in overdrive across the desert without a sound.
I read it too on the FOX News website under the Junk Science tab. Turns out Bill Ford and the BP chairman weres a big supporters of left-wing envirowackoism. What's funny is that the envirowackos still denounced Ford and BP.
The Buick Lucerne is a decent-looking car - one of the better-looking maodels GM has come out with lately. But the engines are rather weak for a car of that size, especially the V6. I'm sticking with Lexus for now, but all the US makers seem to be improving at long last.
The worst part of owning a Toyota is having to deal with Toyota dealers.
Y'know, I actively oppose the Homosexual agenda, but if Ford goes down it will be a MAJOR disaster for the US economy. The Auto industry is a critical part of our industrial base and essential for national security. God help us if we lose both GM and Ford. Thousands of real Americans, who work for both Ford and its suppliers, will be affected. Almost all of them have absolutely nothing to do with those decisions. Those consequence bother me much more than a few hundred $k given to homosexual groups. Your boycott will end up hurting the wrong people!
If he is going to give Bubba Klintoon a free "Presidential" car, he is most likely liberal in his politics. There goes any possibility of dropping his company's support of homosexuals. Ford will continue to circle the bowl, perhaps eventually getting flushed.
The first, only, (and last) Ford I bought was a disaster.
By 65,000 miles I had replaced 1 short block and two transmissions.
Ford turns out junk and I will never buy one of their products again.
I will NOT pay my hard earned money for something that is worthless before it is paid for.
Both of my Toyotas are superbly engineered vehicles.
People can make up any excuses they want for why American auto makers are losing market share, but the bottom line is just plain lousy products.
" The Auto industry is a critical part of our industrial base and essential for national security."
So is electronics, but I don't hear anyone whining about the loss of that.
Basically, globalism is taking from us the very things that made it possible to win WW2.
But it doesn't matter, profits are UP!
"It's now been discontinued. I guess it was too reliable..."
LOL! I have no doubt you are correct!
They dont say that is a divorced dad.
Nobody is going to by a car out of guilt.
If it wasn't for cheap gas and the SUV craze, Ford would have been a memory now...
If it wasn't for cheap gas and the SUV craze, Ford would have been a memory by now...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.