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 weeks shutdown of Fords 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 wont match last years 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 ...
Trumps fault.
Ford had a lot of unused EDSEL emblems, they should have used on the new PU!
.
They’ve made those things so ugly, who would want them?
The Pickups are gaudy to the max, and the bubble cars are all tiny death traps, all of them, not just Ford.
They had the Mustang right in ‘05, but they just had to mess with success.
.
The wife’s 2000 Durango(91,000)and my 97 Chevy Crew Cab LB(39,000) are up to date and running GREAT.
Not a week goes by that someone doesn’t asks to buy the truck!
The secret is either do maintenance yourself or have a Great Mechanic Team, which I do. Stay clear of Dealerships!
There is nothing on the market today, that interests me in the least.
I don't think I have spent $7300.00 in repairs in total for the last FIVE cars I have owned (maybe $3700.00). But then again, none are Fords. 01, 10 & 14 VW Passat, 03 GTI 04 Jetta wagon.
Until the last car I purchased.
Couldn't find one locally that was used. So, I went to the dealer. Figured that I'd test drive a new one, see if I liked it, then get CarMax (or someone) to ship in a used one.
Imagine my surprise when the dealer's initial offer came in several thousand dollars less for a brand new car, than a comparable used one with 10-20K miles on it.
Blew me away. With all the dealer incentives and a little haggling, I wound up saving 5 grand or so. Go figure.
Moral of the story? I learned to be flexible.
Not to mention all of the people being laid off. There are 3 in my extended family who got the bad news just this month!
...Ford Motor Co. is shutting down production for a week at the Louisville Assembly Plant starting Monday, canceling shifts to slow production slightly. A second week off is scheduled to start Oct. 31.
Sales of the two compact SUVs are up slightly through September, but Ford officials said they want to keep production and inventory levels in line...
Should help Trump in Michigan (maybe even Ohio and Indiana too)
Pickup truck production isn’t going to Mexico.
Fact.
Leasing. You don't buy a $60,000 truck, you buy three years' use of a $60,000 truck.
We’ve been quasi-shopping for a car, and Obama Motors (GM) is out, I don’t see a thing I like in the entire Ford line. The pickups in both brands are just too damn huge, and gaudy. You can’t put items over in the bed, you have to climb up to the bed...and sometimes, to the cab. SUV’s, the same.
The only car I’ve like, so far, is the 2015 Honda Crosstour, which is discontinued, and has had some issues. So, I guess that’s out as a used car...but I’m not buying new.
As other posters have said, almost $1K a month for health insurance for me and my wife takes away any possibility of new wheels.
The car mfg’s need to be raising hell at Obama, and back the candidate who’ll get rid of Obamacare, and that ain’t Hillary.
People mock Subarus but have you looked at a 2015 Outback? All wheel drive, very reliable, highway mileage in the low 30’s with CVT automatic. Roomy, smooth ride, very practical.
Yeah, I will never do so again. I only went to the Ford dealership because they had been able to do a minor adjustment on the transmission a few years before, and I thought it might be the same problem. It cost me close to $100 for their diagnostics.
I usually go to a repair place in Stafford, TX called Freedom Automotive. I knew they didn't do transmission repair (other than complete replacements), so that's another reason I started with the dealership. The guy who rebuilt my transmission was just around the corner from Freedom. The Ford dealer can suck it.
My son, who has a small cabin as a 2nd home up near pigeon forge, tn, just bought another car, a 2002 Subaru Forrester to traverse those mountain roads, and his long, craggy driveway in winter.
I’m 71 and don’t like those big trucks/SUVs that you have to climb up into, or, those little cars that you have to climb up out of, which is what I liked about the Crosstour, but it’s other issues take it off my list.
I may take a look at Subaru.
Thanks for the heads up.
The suspension is raised, but not quite to SUV levels. The seating is about right for ease of getting in and out.
I recently looked at a new F150 Demo...It was on sale for 55,000...No thanks...
The Super-Duty trucks (well, at least the F-250 and F-350) switched to aluminum bodies this year, too.
My favorite in that category right now is the Dodge Ram Laramie Longhorn edition. The chrome-plated model badges on the doors look like Mexican wrestlers' belt buckles and the stitching on the bucket seats looks like something found in Roy Rogers' wardrobe trailer.
All of your compact crossover SUVs are just the right height to not have to climb up or down into.
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.