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brianp55 says:
I%u2019d have to say, than when viewed panoramically against time, none of the current woes plaguing Ford and the other US automakers is surprising. It really boils down to which companies best fit the needs of our current society and which are anachronisms. Ford, unfortunately, is deep in the latter category and is hoping to infuse some rapid self-evolution in order to quickly morph into something useful, I guess. During the 50s and 60s, when the auto industry was clearly dominated by American companies, high wages for unskilled labor and little attention to quality and efficiency were permissible. Unfortunately for Ford, auto industries in other countries (most notably, Japan) developed and produced a superior product at a lower cost. The really unforgivably negligent act on the part of Ford (and others, including the UAW) was that they continued to treat this situation as business as usual and failed to respond in any meaningful way. I find it very difficult to feel the slightest bit of sympathy for these US companies. They have never hesitated to sell the American consumer an over-priced pile of defective junk and if they collapse, then I say let the chips fall where they may.
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txgrouch2006 says:
ramos937 wrote
Contrast that with a Japanese car executive.
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If he REALLY wanted to experience the Japanese car-owning experience, he would pay his own money for the car, drive it for two years, then be FORCED TO JUNK THE CAR by the Japanese car inspection laws. These laws require a two year old car to be COMPLETELY DISASSEMBLED, INCLUDING DISASSEMBLING THE ENGINE AND MEASURING EVERY SINGLE DIMENSION OF EVERY PART AND CHECKING IT AGAINST THE FACTORY BLUEPRINTS to check for any abnormal wear. Then you also would have to pay to have the car re-assembled before you can drive it again.

IT COSTS MORE TO PAY FOR THE INSPECTION THAN TO BUY A NEW CAR. That''s why if you travel through the Japanese countryside, you see pole-shaped stacks of white Toyotas, still in like-new condition. In other places, you can find mountains of car engines that were junked and replaced instead of paying for the inspection.

THAT''S HOW THE JAPANESE CAR COMPANIES KEEP THEIR BUSINESSES HUMMING, BY FORCING JAPANESE CITIZENS TO BUY A BRAND NEW CAR EVERY TWO YEARS.
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ramos937 says:
The life of a Ford executive is roughly this way. About 8 AM, he/she is picked up by a chauffer driving the company''s latest luxury car. The car will be especially selected for its quiet comfortable ride. No dents, AC perfect, acustics excellent, etc. The exec spends the day in Detroit trying to understand why Ford is losing money. Around 6 PM, the executive is picked up by the same chauffer driving an identical car as the mornings.

Contrast that with a Japanese car executive. A car is picked at random from the factory by that executive. He drives it off the lot and keeps it for a number of days. During that time, he gets to experience every jolt, every defect the car has. He gets hands on experience with the cars his company builds.

Which one has a better grasp as to where improvements should be made - the Ford excutive or the Japanese excutive?
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haoli25 says:
Who would have ''thunk'' it, that poorly made, inefficent, over-priced cars wouldn''t sell? Obviously not Ford or GM.
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txgrouch2006 says:
Marshall_Nee wrote
We all know that in Europe they have a ready made Camry and Accord killer in that Continent -- the Mondeo. Why they aren''''t already marketing it too in this country instead of the ''''Homer Simpson'''' like Taurus I''''ll never know!
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The same reason Volkswagen doesn''t sell the Vento here - it doesn''t meet U.S. standards.

And it doesn''t meet U.S. standards because NOBODY THERE WOULD BUY IT if it was loaded down with emission controls and safety equipment that rob it of performance to make it meet U.S. standards.

The cars made for foreign markets drive like rockets. But they can''t be driven here legally.
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marshall_nee says:
We all know that in Europe they have a ready made Camry and Accord killer in that Continent -- the Mondeo. Why they aren''t already marketing it too in this country instead of the ''Homer Simpson'' like Taurus I''ll never know!
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Syndicate says:
This is about it for Ford losses. 2010 will be Fords year. I expect the stock to hit $20 by then. Most of this money has been used to develop new cars. The 2010 Taurus is amazing. The new Lincolns and Volvos are very nice. Ford and Chevy actually have better Quality than Toyota. Ford is the medias favorite whipping boy. I remember all the doom and gloom from the 90s never panned out. They don''t even pick on GM the way they pick on Ford. You never hear anything bad about Toyota. Yet they are one of the dirtiest companies out there. They hide there technical problems and rarely issue recalls unless they are forced to. The Rumor that Toyota is building more plants is just Toyota propaganda. They are actually converting their monster truck plant to build the Prius.
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ceres5 says:
The greedy people at Wall Street and the U.S. oil companies must be happy about the misery they are inflicting to tens of millions of Americans. As long as they make money quickly, it does not matter if the American people bleed to death.
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txgrouch2006 says:
aeasus wrote
I just pointed out it was a shared blame.
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So was I. What are we fighting about?

I''m so tired of the Bush bashing. Blame Bush for this, blame Bush for that. It''s ALL of them. I was just reminding the other guy about that.
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eddom949 says:
Ford still hasn''t had a screw up in my eyes. This is just testing. Boeing, send Ford 8 Billion. You relied on them, sent your million dollar baby Mullaly, and you''re so ridiculously top heavy with executives, you''re going to need all the karma you can get for that 787 you''re trying to float...
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