Ford Expects More Losses

Ford expects its basic automotive business to lose money again in 2006 as it struggles to trim costs. Ford disclosed the anticipated loss in a 10K report it filed with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission. Ford also said the losses in the automotive business would not extend beyond 2008. In another passage of the report, Ford cautioned that the bankruptcy of a major competitor could create problems for Ford. Bankruptcy would give the unnamed competitor an unfair cost advantage if its labor contracts were wiped out by the bankruptcy judge. The cryptic comments were dropped into the middle of the report and indicated Ford executives are concerned about the possible consequences of a bankruptcy filing by General Motors Corp. However, Rick Wagoner, GM's chief executive, has said several times that bankruptcy is not an option for GM.
Ford also disclosed that it is considering a $1 billion charge in connection with "The Way Forward" restructuring plan, which calls for eliminating 30,000 jobs and closing 14 facilities by 2012 under the plan outlined in January. As part of the restructuring, Ford plans to close assembly three assembly plants in Atlanta, St. Louis, and Wixom, Mich., by the end of 2007. -Joe Szczesny

source: www.thecaroconnection.com "The Daily edition 3/3/06
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This all seems in line with the january declarations.
and other declarations, that indicate Ford is aiming for a MUCH smaller company in the NA market, thus letting it slide for now to stabilize in 2008 at a lower-than-today level.

BTW Notice the $1bn planned for the compensation for the fired workers.

More on this from DetNews:
-------------------------------
1bn planned for restructuring
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060302/UPDATE/603020420/1148/AUTO01

Ford, UAW healtcare deal get tentative OK
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060301/AUTO01/603010379/1148/AUTO01

Igor

Good find igor. If I were Ford though I would be worried about the following:

1. The prediction that losses would not extend beyond 2008. Why, what makes them think they won't?

2. Ford should not be worrying about GM declaring bankruptcy, when they are in the same boat. Actually, I would think Ford would be a candidate for bankruptcy reorg sooner than GM.

And I read your other post about the death of SVT. And they think that is the "Way Forward?" Clueless company. Absolutely my last Ford product ever will be the car I'm currently driving in my sig, and probably the last great car that will ever come from that useless company. I read if it was not for strong product sales in Europe (where they actually make good cars) Ford would have gone under by now. Ford dying in the NA market would not be a big deal, too many other good vehicles to choose from. I don't know anyone who would miss them going here in America, except for the die-hard Mustang lovers.

I'm actually looking at BMW's 325i now. Why?

They will still be around in 5 years.

4 years/50,000 mile free service, and they even repair or replace normal wear and tear items!

Starts at a little over $30k, but will still fetch $20k in good shape 5 years later.

Plus, it's just the finest sports sedan on the market.

They certainly are in better financial shape than GM, what makes you think that they are a better candidate for Chapter 11?

Originally posted by 007
Good find igor. If I were Ford though I would be worried about the following:

1. The prediction that losses would not extend beyond 2008. Why, what makes them think they won't?

2. Ford should not be worrying about GM declaring bankruptcy, when they are in the same boat. Actually, I would think Ford would be a candidate for bankruptcy reorg sooner than GM.

And I read your other post about the death of SVT. And they think that is the "Way Forward?" Clueless company. Absolutely my last Ford product ever will be the car I'm currently driving in my sig, and probably the last great car that will ever come from that useless company. I read if it was not for strong product sales in Europe (where they actually make good cars) Ford would have gone under by now. Ford dying in the NA market would not be a big deal, too many other good vehicles to choose from. I don't know anyone who would miss them going here in America, except for the die-hard Mustang lovers.

uhh dont forget the F-150 lovers......and um the obvious one because this is a FOCUS FANATICS FORUM.

Not to mention, this kinda thing has happened before to the demostic market, its really not that they sell horrible products its that the Imports are pretty much taking over. I dont remeber the dates but maybe like 15 or 20 years ago GM tanked pretty badly and the import companys were way up in sales, but then GM and the other domestic companys came back. It really is a cycle and im not really worried about either of them ceasing to exist.

Originally posted by 007
Good find igor. If I were Ford though I would be worried about the following:

1. The prediction that losses would not extend beyond 2008. Why, what makes them think they won't?

2. Ford should not be worrying about GM declaring bankruptcy, when they are in the same boat. Actually, I would think Ford would be a candidate for bankruptcy reorg sooner than GM.

And I read your other post about the death of SVT. And they think that is the "Way Forward?" Clueless company. Absolutely my last Ford product ever will be the car I'm currently driving in my sig, and probably the last great car that will ever come from that useless company. I read if it was not for strong product sales in Europe (where they actually make good cars) Ford would have gone under by now. Ford dying in the NA market would not be a big deal, too many other good vehicles to choose from. I don't know anyone who would miss them going here in America, except for the die-hard Mustang lovers.

By 2008 they should have a sleet of new and refreshed sars out.. everything from Fivehundred, Freestyle, Escape and their counterparts in Mercury and Lincoln will be redesigned. Fusion trio and Edge couple will have a chance to rack up marketshare and bring in profits. New Focus should be out, and also should the B segments - Fiesta and Bronco. Taurus, LS, and other models selling under costs will be stopped by then and about 4-5 factories closed.. about 20k out of the 35k workers slotted for firing will be out as well.. so in short, by 2008, major new products, no slow selling old products and less costs... seems like a good recipe to overturn a moderate 1.6bn loss.

Fields promised 2008 to be finally profitable for Ford NA ... it should be enough time for them to do all this.

As was said before.. Ford is nowhere near bankrupcy. FoMoCo could feel that Ford NA is not fixing its troubles, and could decide that letting it go bankrupt would help... but that is unlikely due to the fact that the sheer sight of bankrupcy scares customers. Other than that FoMoCo is healthy as can be, with steady profits... The worry about GM bankrupcy is, as was mentioned in the article, about cost disadvantage. If GM can shut down and kill union contracts, thet get out of commitments that Ford cannot get out of.. it would bring Ford to disadnatage, because they would still have to deal with the huge benefits everyone is trying to shed.

Finally.. the SVT rumor is such a ridiculous rumor it is not funny I trust FJ folk much more than some bobble head at a regional paper... SVT engineers are working on Roush projects as well as sports projects for Non-USA models - Focus RS anyone? I know it sucks for us people in the US and Canada, but the truth of the matter is, Ford NA does not have the money to give bussiness to SVT, so SVT is working for Ford of Europe and others in FoMoCo who do have this money.. they are busy alright.

Transition period is always hard.. .but for major improvements, major changes are needed... Ever wonder how much better the US legal and social system could have been if someone had the guts to bite the bullet and rewrite the constitution and the major laws so they actually work in the 21st century?

Right now Ford, unlike GM is not leaving any stone unturned... we need to wait to see the results, but all this pain is a result of efforts to make it a much better company.... without a change they would be $9bn a year in the hole..

Thanks to painful changes that the team under Bill Ford has already done in the rest of FoMoCo.. they are 2bn in the black... now we finally feel the pains because now finally Ford NA is on the schedule for change.

Igor

heres what ford needs to do.......

drop the five-hundred- noone buys them.
drop the fusion- i know ill catch heat for this, but who wants a new taurus? so its got a chrome grille and a v6 in some.... big deal its nothing special.
make every focus svt spec engine wise- i know alot of people that opted for a mazda 3 or somethign else becuase they liked the focus style but lack of power. and if they cant do that than give the option for a 2.3l in a zx3.
keep the mustang - but make the gt look like its a totaly different mustang all together.
fix the explorer- that grille is fugly they had a good thing going with the redesidn in 02 i think it was.
redesign the expedition- its too bland and has no style to it.
keep the f-150
kill the sport-trac- its worthless.
that new suv crossover is worthless also, just buy a focus wagon or an escape.
mercury needs to drop the whole "for old people" look its dead theyre on the same path as oldsmobile.
bring back the marauder- it was a beast and a very goodlooking car.
focus on mazda and volvo becuase most average consumers dont know its ford owned.

and lincoln needs work too but i dont know where to start.


once agian this is my opinion ive been thinking about this for a while and i finally got around to typing it up. you can disagree its fine with me.

Every single one of the points is very far off mark...
500 - sells OK ... highly liked, needs bigger engine (D35) and better styling (2008) ... otherwise people love it. Ford needs a full size sedan ... fusion will not attract 40-50 year olds and they are a market too.

Fusion is selling like hotcakes. It has not a single bolt in commong with Taurus. If for you any ford midsize is a new Taurus, then it is sad. Fusion is a hit and so are its siblings. Moreover with AWD option from this summer they will be unique in the midsize market..

Edge is a 27k midsize SUV.. you could say Escape is useless.. because it has about as much space as Focus Wagon... the Edge is built on Fusion platform..
It is also going to be a hit.. it has the right look, the right features.

I agree most probably with Expedition, Exploter etc.. they need work, but IMO not worth the money

Mercury scores ver ywell with young women and non-alpha urban males. It has a sort of european feel in the customers perception ( this is not ford;'s intent, but Customer perception). annd there is a lot work to be done .. Mercury is the make in Ford NA that needs the most attnetion.

Lincoln has Zephyr that is sellign strong. the Mark LT is selling ver ywell too. The MKX is going to do well.. Once they get the MKS they will be dandy.. again NAvigator would need redesign but that is not worth the money..

You need to view Ford in the context of what is offered by the competition.. Ford needs to match all the mainstream offerings and then offer a couple unique models. Ford understands it and they are doing it, and it is working.. Unlike GM that has this perception that all their cars should be RWD and fighting BMW... [rofl]

BTW Mercuty is working on a RWD 4door sedan based on the Mustang.

Igor

As a Ford dealership employee, the prospect of GM filing bankruptcy does scare the crap out of me. If GM were to file and then not be able to recover, it would make Ford and Chrysler both lazy because they would have one less competitor. If that happens, people will not buy Ford products because of the lesser quality due to the complacency and lack of concern. Innovation would also go out the window. If there is less competition, why would Ford need to come out with anything new?

Originally posted by igor
Fusion is selling like hotcakes. It has not a single bolt in commong with Taurus. If for you any ford midsize is a new Taurus, then it is sad. Fusion is a hit and so are its siblings. Moreover with AWD option from this summer they will be unique in the midsize market..


actually it was stated in motor trend or car and driver or one of those that the fusion is infact the taurus replacement. yes i was wrong in saying it was a new taurus becuase theya re totally different cars but by the same token the new fusion also has a very bland look to it.... they look nice in certain aspects but if it is fords answer to the youth than ford has alot of balls.

once agian man it was just my opinion i never stated that this was the gods honest truth.

Fuzion is newer in styling, offerings, and aftermarket fun. I'm sleepy, I trust Ford to do what's nessessary and look forward to the company's on going effort to remain wicked sick.

Originally posted by BlacKnight
As a Ford dealership employee, the prospect of GM filing bankruptcy does scare the crap out of me. If GM were to file and then not be able to recover, it would make Ford and Chrysler both lazy because they would have one less competitor. If that happens, people will not buy Ford products because of the lesser quality due to the complacency and lack of concern. Innovation would also go out the window. If there is less competition, why would Ford need to come out with anything new?

Because the Japanese are kicking everyone's butt. Ford has already been lazy - why would less competition change that?

Actually the new catchphrase at Ford is.. GM is not our competition...

It is supposed to symbolize that "being on par or better than GM" is not neough anymore...

It is a nice talk... g'd know how to measure the walk.. I don't


Igor

GM Deathwatch 60.. directly related to the GM Bankrupcy asperceived by Ford...

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/content/1141419410727162957/
-----------------
It’s official: bankruptcy is good for GM. In their recent ass-covering exercise for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), The Ford Motor Company listed "adverse effects from the bankruptcy or insolvency of a major competitor" as a significant risk to its financial future. Translation: if GM goes bankrupt, The General will slough off its excessive labor costs and become… wait for it… competitive. So competitive, in fact, that Ford reckons GM’s products would gain an important price advantage. Well how about that?

Obviously, there’s a bit more to it. Ford’s SEC filing also alerts investors that GM’s Chapter 11 filing could destroy The Blue Oval’s supply chain. Both automakers share a large number of mission critical parts suppliers; if GM’s submersion sucks vital parts manufacturers into bankruptcy-- which it most assuredly would-- Ford will lose access to the bits and pieces it needs to build Fords. In fact, it’s hard to see how Ford could survive a GM bankruptcy. Or why it would want to. The automaking industry community is slowly beginning to understand that bankruptcy is both the only thing and the BEST thing that can happen to GM, and, by extension, Ford.

To review: GM can’t build competitive vehicles at a profit. It’s got too many models, brands and dealers. Too much bureaucracy, waste and inefficiency. Its labor costs are too high and its capital investment is too low and its supply chain is about to snap. And GM can’t change a thing. The United Auto Workers (UAW)’s contract prevents any wage or benefits cuts, and precludes any alteration to their Byzantine working practices. Legal obligations also stop GM from trimming its distended dealer network or euthanizing fatally wounded brands. To survive, GM needs to break the union’s back and conduct a root and branch revamp of its entire business. And it can’t do that without Chapter 11.

Oh, OK, it could, if everyone pulled together: investors, management, unions, dealers, suppliers and customers. But they won’t. It’s not in their nature. And even if it was, GM CEO Rabid Rick Wagoner is singularly incapable of addressing this monumental leadership task. Even if Rabid Rick could unify all the negatively charged particles in the GM universe, it’s too late. The General doesn’t have enough cash to weather the turbulence between business-as-usual and the end result of a lengthy, radical, difficult and dangerous overhaul. And nobody’s going to give it to them. Not yet. Not until The General files for bankruptcy. As things stand, GM doesn’t have the wiggle room it needs to create fundamental change to the way it designs, builds, markets and sells its products.

So be it. As I said at the beginning of this odious odyssey, GM will emerge from this multi-decade debacle a smaller, leaner and better automaker or, preferably, automakers. And that’s why Ford’s worried. Of course, they’re not the only ones. The prospect of revolutionary change is making everyone involved apprehensive, frightened, angry, defensive, aggressive, desperate and, well, crazy. We’re already seeing some strange behavior emerge from GM World: a public pledge to end to discounts followed by a “March madness” incentive campaign, exciting new cars announced and cancelled and re-announced; a Board Member and Car Czar squabbling over a dead Swedish car brand, etc. It’s the End of Days, Detroit style.

As GM’s fate reaches its terrifying conclusion, workers will get all the attention. The moment the axe falls, whether by a slow strike or a lightning default, the spotlight will shift to “the little guy.” Needless to say, the media will depict them as victims. They’ll highlight the most desperate cases and blame their fate on management incompetence, outsourcing, the Japanese, the Chinese, foreign trade policy, currency manipulation, oil prices, George W. Bush, the anti-GM press, anyone and anything other than the workers themselves. Never mind that a huge number of these workers performed two hours work for eight hours pay. Never mind that thousands were willing to receive full pay and benefits for doing nothing whatsoever. It will always be someone else’s fault.

Understand this: GM’s workers are no better or worse than any of the other players in this sad saga. All of them work for a company where personal responsibility doesn’t exist. Where everyone thinks they deserve to be well-paid, no matter what they or the company does, or doesn’t do. Yes, there are plenty of good people within GM. And here’s the kicker: most of them can’t wait for the company to file. They want to see an end to the waste, laziness, greed, corruption, inequality and stupidity they see around them. When GM becomes the world’s largest bankrupt, these good men and women will be satisfied, knowing that there is justice in the world. And they’ll be hopeful; that something good will replace something bad.

-------------------
As always there is nothing to disagree with..

Igor

if GM does in fact go bankrupt, what actually happens, as far as the dealerships and many cars that are on them, do like all the prices of the cars get a huge decrease or what?

well it depends.. usually not much.. Bankrupcy is a way to be protected from creditors... Court basically declares that creditros cannot try to "reposess" etc parts of the company to replace their loss.. in exchange for that, they usually get an input with what will happen with the company. Usually by the time acompany files it is in such bad shape if it is at all possible the creditors try to re-start it to create profit, that will bing back the money.. if that is impossible the company gets shut down and liquidatred. Most huge companies like GM will be of course restarted.

One thing that can hapen is the company can ask the judge to kill the labor contracts, which usually results in a strike. This usually happens when despite the bankupcy situation the management and the unions cannot agree on common concessions..

the big thing about bnakrupcy is that most things become liquid.. union contracts, dealership contracts, etc.. it is a god time for a competition, or an investor come by and say "we would like to buy this piece of the company, give it to us" since the company is largely run by the banks at this point, this scenario is more likely to happen, than if hte regular management were in place.

the biggest thing that always happens is that 1) company trimms down 2) company sheds loans 3) company restars with new management 4)workers wages and benefits get significantly trimmed. This is all done under the prospect that if nothing gets done, workers and managers will be on estreet and creditors will lose ALL of their money.

There have been many "smooth" bankrupcies in the recent years. For one, both United airlines and American Airlines filed after 911, and did not interrupt serive for one day.

Another scenatrio can be seen in DCX case. I do not remember whether they actually filed, but they were close to it when Daimler Benz came by and said - we'll buy them and put the money into them.

Last example of bankrupcy (a kind of odd though) is Daewoo.. they used ot be owned by GM, then went independent and wen belly up.. GM bought them again (answering their pleas), but shut them down as a bran and dealerhip network... this had hugely negative effect on the value of Daewoos, as there is no official place to serive them, the warranty was mostly useless overnihgt etc.. they turned from a piece of crap to a piece of crap that wil lcause you headache to keep.

GM of course hopes for the first scenario.. letting bank leadership and the threat of shutting down bring everyone to pull together...shutting down is highly unlikely... after al they do employ close to half a million people ... that would be HUGE trouble for the US.

The editorial talk about the fact that EVERYTHING can change... GM can split, and completely re-structure overnight, a kind of a good thing.

I hope this explanation makes sense..

Igor

1. The prediction that losses would not extend beyond 2008. Why, what makes them think they won't?

2. Ford should not be worrying about GM declaring bankruptcy, when they are in the same boat. Actually, I would think Ford would be a candidate for bankruptcy reorg sooner than GM.

And I read your other post about the death of SVT. And they think that is the "Way Forward?" Clueless company. Absolutely my last Ford product ever will be the car I'm currently driving in my sig, and probably the last great car that will ever come from that useless company. I read if it was not for strong product sales in Europe (where they actually make good cars) Ford would have gone under by now

___________


that is really a stupid statment. Fords NA losses will end before 2008. They have a good basic product line. They are more reliable long term compared to other us manufactures acording to CR. Ford as a company made 2 billion dollars last year. gm lost as a world wide company... 8.5 billion dollars. How can you say Ford is in worse shape? Just because they don't make a turbo focus???? Twan.. the 500 is selling quite well. They are not loosing money on that car. gm going bankrupt will not make any one be lazy. that is just plain stupid. The mark is the perception of japanese car quality. Ford needs to put that to rest and not worry about gm. It would be a very bad thing for gm to go bankrupt like the article said.. because the union contracts would be void and Ford coulnt compeat with the price of manufacturing a car would plumit for gm.

wixom already shut down..... i know cause i leave round therr and thats right my my school.....

Wow already.... it is like 35 days after the announcement.. Was that the Taurus factory?

Igor

Originally posted by igor
By 2008 they should have a sleet of new and refreshed sars out.. everything from Fivehundred, Freestyle, Escape and their counterparts in Mercury and Lincoln will be redesigned. Fusion trio and Edge couple will have a chance to rack up marketshare and bring in profits. New Focus should be out, and also should the B segments - Fiesta and Bronco. Taurus, LS, and other models selling under costs will be stopped by then and about 4-5 factories closed.. about 20k out of the 35k workers slotted for firing will be out as well.. so in short, by 2008, major new products, no slow selling old products and less costs... seems like a good recipe to overturn a moderate 1.6bn loss.

Fields promised 2008 to be finally profitable for Ford NA ... it should be enough time for them to do all this.

As was said before.. Ford is nowhere near bankrupcy. FoMoCo could feel that Ford NA is not fixing its troubles, and could decide that letting it go bankrupt would help... but that is unlikely due to the fact that the sheer sight of bankrupcy scares customers. Other than that FoMoCo is healthy as can be, with steady profits... The worry about GM bankrupcy is, as was mentioned in the article, about cost disadvantage. If GM can shut down and kill union contracts, thet get out of commitments that Ford cannot get out of.. it would bring Ford to disadnatage, because they would still have to deal with the huge benefits everyone is trying to shed.

Finally.. the SVT rumor is such a ridiculous rumor it is not funny I trust FJ folk much more than some bobble head at a regional paper... SVT engineers are working on Roush projects as well as sports projects for Non-USA models - Focus RS anyone? I know it sucks for us people in the US and Canada, but the truth of the matter is, Ford NA does not have the money to give bussiness to SVT, so SVT is working for Ford of Europe and others in FoMoCo who do have this money.. they are busy alright.

Transition period is always hard.. .but for major improvements, major changes are needed... Ever wonder how much better the US legal and social system could have been if someone had the guts to bite the bullet and rewrite the constitution and the major laws so they actually work in the 21st century?

Right now Ford, unlike GM is not leaving any stone unturned... we need to wait to see the results, but all this pain is a result of efforts to make it a much better company.... without a change they would be $9bn a year in the hole..

Thanks to painful changes that the team under Bill Ford has already done in the rest of FoMoCo.. they are 2bn in the black... now we finally feel the pains because now finally Ford NA is on the schedule for change.

Igor Excellent response igor! I agree with all of your points.

I think the difference between you and I is you are truely rooting for Ford to succeed (at least that's the impression I get) and I could care less if they go under. That is how I feel now anyway. Who knows, maybe if in a few years they start making cars that are exciting, and make people want to drive them I may change my mind. Other than the Ford GT which is beyond 99% of the population's income to purchase, and the new Mustang GT what else do they have that could be considered exciting? Nothing. Unlike say Mazda, who's entire lineup is brilliantly excuted and exciting. I'm very skeptical Ford will be able to do much to stop the bleeding. Yes, slashing 30,000 jobs and closing a bunch of plants is a short term fix that will keep them out of bankruptcy, but then what? At the end of the day it's not only about slashing expenses, then you have to start selling product. With their cash cow SUV division dying because of gas prices, they're going to have to start making good cars again, and they are WAY behind the curve on that compared to their Japanese competition. I have very little faith in Ford ever being an exciting company in North America again. Time will tell, but I sure know I will not be looking at them when it comes time for a new vehicle in a year or two.

I'm so impressed with the Mazda 3 that I may go back on my word and test drive the new Mazdaspeed 3 when it hits dealership lots by the end of the year. Everything about the car is wonderful except for the drivetrain choice. I would have gladly paid an extra couple of grand for an AWD system, and I would have even dealt with the hit on fuel economy. But who knows, maybe Mazda will surprise me and make a fun, driveable, extremely powerful FWD vehicle. I will have to at least give them the benefit of the doubt, because it's so much better looking than the other car I'm thinking about purchasing, the Subaru WRX wagon.

Hey igor, thanks for the all of the informative posts, I enjoy reading your stuff.

yeah, i think i'm gonna subscribe to this thread...

Originally posted by 007
Excellent response igor! I agree with all of your points.

I think the difference between you and I is you are truely rooting for Ford to succeed (at least that's the impression I get) and I could care less if they go under. That is how I feel now anyway. Who knows, maybe if in a few years they start making cars that are exciting, and make people want to drive them I may change my mind. Other than the Ford GT which is beyond 99% of the population's income to purchase, and the new Mustang GT what else do they have that could be considered exciting? Nothing. Unlike say Mazda, who's entire lineup is brilliantly excuted and exciting. I'm very skeptical Ford will be able to do much to stop the bleeding. Yes, slashing 30,000 jobs and closing a bunch of plants is a short term fix that will keep them out of bankruptcy, but then what? At the end of the day it's not only about slashing expenses, then you have to start selling product. With their cash cow SUV division dying because of gas prices, they're going to have to start making good cars again, and they are WAY behind the curve on that compared to their Japanese competition. I have very little faith in Ford ever being an exciting company in North America again. Time will tell, but I sure know I will not be looking at them when it comes time for a new vehicle in a year or two.

I'm so impressed with the Mazda 3 that I may go back on my word and test drive the new Mazdaspeed 3 when it hits dealership lots by the end of the year. Everything about the car is wonderful except for the drivetrain choice. I would have gladly paid an extra couple of grand for an AWD system, and I would have even dealt with the hit on fuel economy. But who knows, maybe Mazda will surprise me and make a fun, driveable, extremely powerful FWD vehicle. I will have to at least give them the benefit of the doubt, because it's so much better looking than the other car I'm thinking about purchasing, the Subaru WRX wagon.

Hey igor, thanks for the all of the informative posts, I enjoy reading your stuff.

Thanks for the post. Yeah I root for them alright, because the truth of the matter is, Mazda is too japanese for me. I love my 3, but I would have loved the MkII Focus looks a little bit more.. For Me Fods bring a little bit of Europe packaged in US sheetmetal (at least that is the plan).

I agree that costcutting is not the way to clear waters, and luckily Fields and Ford were adamant about pointing out that they know it too. However it seems their products that they have released recently are all very well positioned in the market (for example Fusion, people do not like it, but it already has 5% marke tshare and that is only months after introduction), only with minor flaws that Ford seems bery quit to fix (D35 in the bigger cars, the facelft coming next year for fivehundred) etc... their SUV's are stuggling, but at least they did not invest billions in redesigning them (ALA GM) to find out that they will tank eventually anyways.

Yeah I root for Ford.. it is good to have somting to be excited about.. and seeing the potential Ford has with their excellent products in Europe and in Mazda, I know Ford can do it... I am just hoping thy actually will.

Oh one more reason for me to root for them.. I admire Bill.. and am personally excited for the new management of Ford NA... it is weird, but I am truly axcited by who is in charge on Ford right now.

Igor

If they could put the quality, luxury, and performance that went into my F-150 in a sedan that didn't bust the $30K bubble then that would be enough to get me onto a Ford lot to at least check it out on my next purchase. The difference between their cars & trucks is worlds apart and IMO gas guzzling trucks are not what people are going to continue to want to purchase. The future is in cars, get that F series design team involved in making something truly productive in the car department.




Oh and slap an SVT badge on it too [:p]