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 ...
You don't know if the future will be patterned by the past.
One of Bill Clinton’s big supporters was Tyson’s Foods of NW Arkansas. Their big competitor in NW Arkansas was Hudson Foods. Tyson tried to buy Hudson Foods, but Old Man Hudson wouldn’t sell. Then a strange thing happened. Federal food inspectors found contaminated meat from a Hudson Foods packing plant in Nebraska. Meat was recalled, the plant shut down,and the government and press swung into action, sending the country into a panic.
Of course, meat inspectors find contaminated products all the time, and corrective action is usually taken under the radar screen (similar to what goes on with automobile recalls, that also take place routinely). But not the Hudson Foods incident. The government and the press went into full cry, and Old Man Hudson was ruined. He sold his company to Tyson’s for a song.
That’s how the Democrats play ball. Ever wonder why businesses support Democrats? If you don’t, you’ll end up like Hudson’s Foods, and if you want to screw your competitor, then you can get the government to do it for you.
In this case, the Obama Administration is working to protect the UAW and will do whatever it takes. Don’t believe me? Google automobile recall and see how many hits you get. Ford, GM, Toyota, Honda. They are all there.
Forbes and the WSJ and others have had stories how tycoons start foundations. Years later the foundations become lib sewers doing the exact opposite what the founder intended. They have to explicitly in painstaking detial outline exactly what the group is supposed to do. Ford, Carnegie and others failed to do that. I think the family cannot make any changes.
I think Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard tried to be more careful with their wishes. The Ford Foundation sucks and is filled with UN, commie and possibly leftist CIA/KGB cutouts like Obama’s mom and the Geithner clan.
“Ford Models” pictures, please.
The Ford Foundation has less to do with Ford Motor Company than the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has to do with Microsoft.
You don’t run Microsoft Windows, do you?
What does this have to do with Ford? Sounds like a lousy dealer.
Infiniti is a good value, though. I'd much rather go that route than Lexus. Although, if I were buying a luxury sedan, I'd probably save a few bucks and get a Hyundai Genesis.
The one major fault Ford has is a lack of rear-wheel-drive sedans.
Based on the past - I would take a 10 year old Honda over a Toyota or Ford. The new Ford since 2007 - especially the Fusion,Milan are much much better.
Toyotas are not death traps like the Obama/UAW goons are pushing with the lib media. Between a Toyo and Honda? I will take a Honda hands down. I would probably take a Fusion/Milan over a Accord or Camry any day. The Accord would be my second choice.
Ford has to be aware of the transmission problems but they have never issued a recall over it.
Do that, and you'll get one of the best reasons in the world not to leave your money to a liberal foundation. The Ford Foundation was started with Henry's money, but he would roll over in his grave if he could see what they're doing with it.
The Foundation has no ties to the Ford Motor Company.
Yes they are...
Anidotal, but my gnome tells me folks are walking with shoulders back, chest out, spring in their step, and smiling again. And their is a lesson here, with Leadership with a Focus and Hard Work, anything can be turned around.
Kind of like we did when we got Reagan, hint, hint paging Allan Mulally, the phone is for you, it is Sarah :-).... Boy do I wish...
Not Investment advice but I am curious....
Ford made money last Qtr. Sales are up dramatically in China, Fleet Sales and now The Toyota mess. Last Qtr had a lot of one time charges that they won't this Qtr. It ought to be interesting....
Not to mention 3 revised or new products annouced this week for potential income going forward, The revised GT500 (no gas guzzler tax), The Electric and Gaseous Transit Connect(s) and the much upgraded Edge.
It certainly doesn’t pass the smell test but it appears the Obama admin (this is hard to say) Did the right thing.
Good WSJ story on it.
“Wow, you DO hold a grudge.”
Some things you just can’t forget, nor forgive.
The government letting Studebaker (maker of the Hawk & Avanti) die and then bailing out Chrysler, to make K Cars, is another one of them.
“The tires was a Firestone issue,”
Firestone was “king of the hill” and never did recover. Takes a long time to earn a reputation and only an instant to lose it.
“like saying identical twins didn’t come from the same egg.”
Actually, it is more like saying one twin is not responsible for the actions of the other.
You know that was decades ago, right? And that they found that the heavily government-subsidized Japanese auto industry was dumping cars on the market for far below what it could possibly have cost to build them. And that the control the Japanese manufacturers had over suppliers looked more like organized crime? And don't forget that the working conditions for the Japanese are and always have been abysmal.
Look, those who know the industry have been saying for years that when Toyota and Honda have to build the numbers and types of cars that the domestics do, their quality would come in line with GM and Ford. That is what happened to the Germans - no one talks about VW and Mercedes having bullet-proof reliability anymore. The fact is, the quality numbers have not been significantly different between domestics and Japanese for years.
It's never been a level playing field.
Arguing with the GM/Ford fanboys is as effective as conversations with the anti-Mormons.
I ALWAYS bought American trucks early on but there were always major expensive problems within the first year or right after the warranties were up. Plus, they had alot of road noise and the fit and finish were never as good as what I paid for.
I bought my first Toyota truck after seeing all my friends drive theirs 100-200K miles with very little maint or problems. My Tundra was assembled in San Antonio. That’s good enough for me.
Yes, they have a different relationship with suppliers than we're used to in the US, but calling it Organized Crime is absurd. Are Honda representatives breaking their suppliers' kneecaps for quality problems? LOL!
Of course it's not a level playing field! The playing field was made by the companies themselves! The number of models built probably has an affect, but it's their own choice too.
On one side you had UAW controlled companies mired in outdated methods, against free-working manufacturers who hold to the latest quality control science on the other. It doesn't take a genius to figure out who would win.
The degree to which US auto manufacturers have brought their quality levels up to Japanese standards is the degree to which they have emulated the Japanese in their philosophy and methods.
The Japanese became the quality leaders because of Deming, and the US was forced to follow to stay in business.
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