Posted on 10/18/2016 8:56:53 AM PDT by Brilliant
[The] US car industry history...suddenly appears to be bombarded with a barrage of bad news: starting with Ford's disastrous August sales when the company admitted "sales have reached a plateau"...one would almost think that a respite from the bad news was in order. One would be wrong.
As a result of slowing demand and declining US auto sales coupled with growing inventory, Ford Motor is halting one of two plants that builds its top-selling F-150 pickup as it idles four factories this month amid slowing U.S. auto sales.
Ford is shutting its Louisville, Kentucky, factory building the Escape and Lincoln MKC sport utility vehicles... Next week, the second-largest U.S. automaker will close the F-150 factory near Kansas City...
The plant closings follow last week’s shutdown of Ford’s Mustang factory in Michigan after sales of the sports car plunged 32% in September.
Contrary to the popular refrain of a strong economy, US auto sales are slowing as many analysts predict the industry won’t match last year’s record of 17.5 million cars and light trucks... Ford CEO Mark Fields has said “We said we expected the overall retail industry to decline in the second half of the year...” “We also said to expect to see some production adjustments in the second half -- this is one of them...”
Meanwhile, Felker said Ford is trying to match production with demand. Inventories have been swelling...
Worst of all, while the rest of the US manufacturing sector has been in secular decline, the auto industry was perhaps the last shining light for battered US manufacturing during the past several years. However, if demand for cars continues to collapse, forcing supply to follow suit, it is only a matter of time before the US manufacturing recession returns with a vengeance...
(Excerpt) Read more at zerohedge.com ...
Funny how Ford never closes their brand new state of the art plants in Mexico.
Big deal. Everything’s fine. The UAW will continue its rubber-stamp support for the Democratic Party.
Chevy’s ad with the tool box drop in the bed of the F150 hole it punches has been a success.
When do the back up cameras go into mandate? I’d like side view cameras when you turn on turn signals so you can see blind spots that even those spot mirrors don’t pick up.
We are 2-3 yrs from a new SUV van like the Equinox.
I have noticed quite a few big, shiny, new crewcab trucks drivwn by Mexicans...I don’t know...Maybe 10-15 of them get together to pay for them...
I reached a point in April this year when I took my 2002 Ford Explorer Sport Trac to be repaired at the dealership (should never have gone there) in which I thought it was time to get something new. It needed a lot of work, including ball joints, and the dealership said my transmission could not be repaired/rebuilt. Total would be about $7300. Vehicle has about 120,000 miles. I had to go out of town, so I put off looking for a new vehicle. In the interim, I decided to get a second opinion. I found a guy to rebuild the transmission, and had the ball joints done at a shop I trust. Total was about $3,700 for everything, half what the dealer wanted to charge. Truck is still running great. I really like the vehicle, and Ford no longer makes them.
I bought a 2year old lease Truck with 10k miles on it and 17k less than sticker price of a new one.
No way am I paying more for a vehicle that it cost me to purchase and build my own home. Aint happenin...
From what I gather most people now days are strapped with duel car payments, mortgage payments credit card debt to the point that one break down on anything and it is financial armagedon. I also read that less than 10% of American Citizens have more than a 1,000 saved for such things.
Evidently Parents aren’t teaching kids to live within their means anymore...
Ford also closed it’s plant in Australia, in the last month or so.
These are not closures of the plants, but a temporary idle of the plants. You can thank the socialist/communists that have been making the environmental rules that have run the plants out of this country. Plus the restrictions on the car companies that make the vehicles we buy cost prohibitive to most of the population.
Will never buy a GM product due to the Obama takeover and closing of dealerships mostly owned by Republican families. There are still Obama syncophants on the GM board.
Quit your "Rush" to conclusions.
I like Ford. I have currently four of them (if you count a 1967 Mercury Cougar), and have had good service out of them. However, when we bought a new compact SUV this summer, my wife and I went for a Honda CR-V.
We test drove it back-to-back against a Ford Escape and Jeep Cherokee, and the Honda came out on top for the following reasons:
1. The interior is nicely styled in a conventional way, and you don’t feel like you’re trapped in some geometric M.C. Escher nightmare.
2. The belt-line is low and there is a lot of glass. The Honda feels light and airy, and visibility is excellent. The Escape and Cherokee feel like you are in a bunker.
3. The handling felt the most car-like and nimble, not pseudo truck-like.
4. The Honda normally aspirated engine was the most responsive and felt the strongest in normal driving. The tiny Ford turbo engine might beat it in horsepower at the screaming top end, but floor it on the street and you know they haven’t conquered turbo-lag yet. The Jeep 9-speed auto transmission kept hunting for gears just driving down the street at constant speed, and that killed the deal right there.
My wife drives the Honda every day, and loves it.
#25 I had a dealership tell me that when I had a truck that wouldn’t start. Tried telling me the engine was shot.
I had done some investigating on the net while they were figuring out why it wouldn’t start. Turns out It was super cold and older plugs that didn’t fire, I had washed the cylinders down and lost compression.
When they told me the Engine was shot, I told them I wasn’t paying 3200 to have a engine installed. I told them to replace the plugs and when they have them out squirt the cylinder with a bit of oil. They really didn’t want to..but I insisted.
They called back a couple of hours later and said, we got your truck started. It’s running rough.... I said I’ll be right in to pick it up.
I drove it another 100,000 miles before it fell apart. I don’t trust anything a Dealership repair shop tells me EVER.
who in the heck can afford all of these beasties?
Dealer service is just another profit center, and they’re going to maximize their profit. They make more off of service than they do with the sale of a new vehicle. It always pays to do your homework and not go in for service without understanding what’s actually behind a given problem. The more clueless you appear, the bigger the bill is going to be.
Can’t laugh about Cash for Clunkers II.
Cause you KNOW it’s coming.
I ended up on some email list for a network of used car dealers. I get an email every other week begging for credit applicants rated between 500-620.
I did last year. Traded in my 2008 Mercury Mariner Hybrid and purchased a 2016 F150 Crew Cab ($42,000). Have a 1% loan. Great vehicle. Likely my last purchase at age 60. My 1999 F150 SuperCab has 63,000 miles on it. I purchased it used in 2003 with 22,000 miles.
Increase prices. It works just like raising taxes.
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.