No quality Fords since the 1930-1954 era IMO. A surprising number of Fords still survive from this period. From 1955 on Fords were (are) low quality. They have suffered from the same problems as Chrysler, weak engineering and design.
Chrysler almost went under in 1954, but was saved when a group of engineers and designers "quit" GM and were hired by Chrysler. Once the crises was past, those who wanted to returned to GM, were "rehired."
Car stories are interesting. However, glad I'm not in that business today. Way too much production capacity. I suspect there will be some sort of shakeout, but doubt Ford will go under. Chrysler is a better candidate to just sort of trail off. Mercedes isn't going to carry that mess forever. Just my opinion.
Me either. In addition to the fact that their trucks have been butt ugly for the past several years, I've now had so many bad experiences with Ford products that I'll probably never buy another one. They have a multitude of problems. Unions are a nasty boil on the butts of virtually everything they touch, but in addition to that, Ford management at the executive level is also atrocious. I had serious problems that they were utterly uninterested in. Write letters to top officials and never get so much as a kiss-my-butt form letter in return. A company can only ignore its customers for so long. Then they won't have those customers.
MM
Yes, buyers determine the success of a car company and style plays as big a part as anything in that decision (along with past experience). Chrysler makes some beautiful cars and trucks, though the ties to Germany are too strong for me in light of recent UN events. GM still makes some fine-looking cars, but someone got loose in the design department with a great big ugly-stick. I'm sorry if this is offensive to anybody, but the Aztek has got to be about the ugliest car on the road today.
As for Ford, well, I have one - an Explorer. I like their trucks and the Mustang is fine. I'm not fond of their attempt to make their SUV's more car-like of late. C'mon, what is independent rear suspension doing on an SUV? I'd prefer they put solid axles and stiffer springs on them and sell them for their intended purpose. I also don't understand the styling of small wagons like the Focus (and a few others) - maybe I'm getting old, but I think they look silly.
Sorry if I swayed off topic, but I think my rantings illustrate the silly things that go through our minds when we look for a car.