Posted on 02/10/2010 6:57:36 AM PST by STONEWALLS
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Ford(F Quote) has finally found a major vulnerability in Toyota's(TM Quote) products -- and it clearly isn't willing to let the opportunity slip away. Following Toyota's two massive recalls, Ford is now attempting to grow sales with new commercials taking on Toyota. The commercials are part of Ford's "Spread the Word" campaign, which was launched on Jan. 12. Each of them feature Mike Rowe, host of Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs, speaking to ordinary people in various settings about Ford vehicles. Rowe "spreads the word" at a gas station, in a coffee shop and at a school. In the school scene, Rowe finds a group of students at a library and quietly lets them know that "Ford has quality that can't be beat by Honda or Toyota."
(Excerpt) Read more at thestreet.com ...
Finally, a voice of reason amidst all these stupid American versus Japanese vehicle threads.
At 20, the difference is astronomical
They should focus on what they do well and be very careful with any potshots at a competitor (which their ad’s don’t seem to do in this example).
Any car company is not very far away from a recall of their own.
I heard(or read) somewhere that the “offending” parts were designed and/or built in China.
Ford does not make tires. Don’t blame them. I had mine replaced and never had a problem both before and after..
I think you better look at what the Ford family has done for Michigan and the U.S.before you post something like this
Yup. I have been saying it all along. This is about unionizing the non-union factories. Obama and the UAW in the background helped by the lib media is thugging Toyota.
Toyo will beg for mercy, let the UAW into their plants and Obama’s goons/UAW will go to Nissan, Honda, BMW, Hyundai, and the others and tell them - “you want some of what Toyota got?”
This is typical fascism. This is what Hitler and Mussolini did to companies. Play ball with us or be destroyed.
This is what they did to banks, brokerage firms, etc.
I was joking, FRiend. The wink ;-) was supposed to be a hint.
There is nothing wrong with American workers until the UAW or any union gets into an American factory. Once the UAW gets in it goes to sh*t. Japanese and German workers want their car company to succeed. The UAW wants to bleed the car company to death.
O and by the way my next “new” car will either be a Ford od a Subaru.
I thought Ford Foundation was largest owner of Ford Motor. I need to check this because Geitner’s father and obama’s mother both worked for Ford Foundation in Indonesia on “social” matters. This might be why Ford wasn’t on the hit list.
Our small town Ford sales rep knows all the features and all about the cars available statewide that he can get.
I’ll be looking for a new vehicle here soon...and Toyota is still on my list.
Ford, while quality has improved, is not. The price for an Escape is far too high for the car you’re getting, in comparison to other small SUV’s...and I will not support a UAW controlled auto company. Chevy has been off my list for a couple years now and Chrysler is now on my s-list. Ford, while basically telling Obama to shove it, is still controlled by people who support his agenda.
“The U.S. Government has taken sides and is waging war against the non-union workforce.
:::::::
That is exactly what this is about. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Agree 100%.
I refuse to buy any labor-union built auto.
Is there ONE company out there that is good ?
I’m looking for some sort of “Quantas” here. I’ve enjoyed japanese cars from way back when - but after my brief stints, I’ve simply given up on owning cars made post-91. For the most part, even post 1972 gives me reason to grouse.
With US manufacturing standards being so impossibly high, a new car company can NOT come to existence. Normally the market would allow me to be dis-satisfied, and simply start my own auto company. This happened a LOT in the 20s and 30s.
Here is the “but...”. If I start my own company, with a few good (or even one good) design(s), I’ll have to obey us standards for car sales. From bumper impacts (Just proving those standards involves destroying several cars every year), OBD3 electronic controls (With a satellite subscription costing millions), the ultra-confusing world of carbon offsets, and finally the economic standings necessary to register. It’s “almost impossible” !
Government regulations, from 1960’s power brakes standards to today’s ultra-exclusive computer control back-ends have shoved out the natural market progressions of out-of-business, and start-of-business cycles that made the US the automotive gold standard in innovation and design. It’s over, and it’s been over.
Solution ? Apparently it varies state-by-state, but kit cars are still viable. Build your next car. I’ve been working on my own for a while now, and I am very familiar with the reasonable STATE regulations for composite cars.
I was following a 2010 Fusion yesterday. Also a 2008 or 2009 300 Mercedes was in front. I was checking out the paint, built quality, fit and finish, etc. The 2010 Fusion is on par with BMWs or pretty damn close. You can see from the 2006-2007 Fusions to the 2010 that the quality has gotten even better.
Ford is really on top of their game.
Toyota does not make dangerous cars - this is Obama/UAW thugging non-union factories in the uSA to force them to unionize. Typical Chicago gangsters crap. Take over the banks, take over the auto companies, take over the factories, take over healthcare, etc etc.
Deming was a champion of the worker! One of the basic tenets of his philosophy is that Management is ultimately responsible for quality, not the worker. Workers (mostly) do as they are trained to do. It's up to management to make sure that the procedures they are trained to do are the right ones. If they are not following procedures, they should either be retrained or replaced. Again, it's all on management.
Of course, the unions have thrown a wrench into the process, making the replacement of non-performing workers extremely difficult. If unions really cared about their workers and their reputations, they would ADORE Deming!
Whose money feeds the Foundation?
As far as I can tell, there was some seed money provided by the Fords, and some non-voting stock in Ford Motor that was bequeathed . . . but the Foundation is self-sustaining. (It really wouldn’t be called a Foundation, otherwise).
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.