I have to admit I own a Ford Mondeo polo shirt I got at a BTCC event. But that's the only time I liked Ford. It had nothing to do with looks (all the BTCC cars looked quite similar anyway), but the Ford didn't sound identical to every other car (like all the others did), had some nice rasp to it. That was my sole reason for getting the top.

Can't say I've ever liked one of their road cars (GT40 / GT90 excluded). That said I've only ever really seen their European range.

I read in the motoring part of a newspaper about (I think) the Detroit Motorshow, that European and Japanese manufacturers were rolling in the cash whilst the American market had failed at the show... seems the Japanese and European tinboxes are more liked now

I simply don't understand Ford's strategy in the US, and I'm not sure they even have one.

The Japanese manufacturers are making somewhat boring but very reliable cars, the German brands are touting refinement/luxury and the Koreans are all about value. What's Ford's position? It seems like they're making random bread and butter cars and then selling them with big discounts.

They probably don't have deep enough pockets right now to build a reputation for reliability or establish a luxury image, and realistically they're not going to compete with Korean (and soon Chinese) cars on price, but why wouldn't they make something more exciting? If you look at the 300C or even Ford's own Mustang, there seems to be a market for affordable cars with some pizazz, but instead of running with that idea, they're trying to out-camry Toyota.

Ford influence over Volvo, older model parts are no more available, they are cutting all out, well go on try to sell those new tupperware design unisex cars that are ugly, let's see if you can, but I will never get anything branded that cursed f*rd never ever, how you like about that evil Ford corporation?

GM is much better then Ford. The new ford trucks suck. The new chevy silverado is a much better truck then anything ford has. GM actually develops new engines, and technology. Like hydro-forming... GMs Idea!

Quote from wheel4hummer :

GM is much better then Ford. The new ford trucks suck. The new chevy silverado is a much better truck then anything ford has. GM actually develops new engines, and technology. Like hydro-forming... GMs Idea!

So you are saying that those trucks actually have something else different than badge and grille?

I don't know much from those, but always thought that those are just one car with Cummins engine re-badged, maybe some minor decals different.

Quote from glyphon :

was profitable. and its also the root of their 12billion dollar loses right now. since the gas prices spiked last year, the interest in SUVs and large pickups is way down. and since ford had pretty much put all its efforts in that basket, when it died, it was a huge blow to them.

No, thats just a not the way it is.

They have derived most of their (little) profitability from pickup sales. Slower pickup sales have shown up on the bottom line in a big way. This does not mean that pickups aren't still the most profitable machines they sell in volume.

Without strong pickup sales, I don't think there has been one year in the last five that Ford would have posted a profit. They've gone from Taurus slingers to being thoroughly owned by the superior competition.

Quote from Tweaker :

Ford and GM are slowly but surely watching their own death.

I disagree on that one. GM has been at the top in its domestic market, Ford 2nd with Toyota 3rd. Now Ford are on track to become 3rd while Toyota becomes 2nd but still GM will be number 1. Also i have the belief Ford will keep going (unfortunatly) as they are shutting plants, laying off workers trying to cut costs. Saying this though if Ford go under then i think GM will be safe as 1/3 of the domestic market competition will disapear. I like GM, purely as i like vauxhalls which i got off my dad as he swears by them as he used to repair cars he said the only easy one used to be vauxhall's and now there 4 of them on the drive (one of which is approaching 800,000 miles iirc and still running fine)

As for Aston Martin i think the bidding closed today, or might be tomorrow and afaik is likely to go for about £600 million. One good thing though is if Ford go bust (assuming it doesnt get asset stripped for its debts) then the other PSA manufacturers will be free.

Something ironic though - afaik Jaguar has nearly always made a loss since Ford ownership but has been propped up by the profits of Ford. Then last year Ford loose so much money, while Jaguar enjoys a profit.

Also AFAIK Ford made money in europe but its lost it in the U.S market and in having to pay for all the things it agreed to many years ago when they were making alot of money - like pension funds, healthcare etc

Ford and GM share the problem of awful dependency ratios in the North American theater.

This is because no one listened to the socialist union organizers who pointed out that the pension benefits were risks that would best be spread beyond one company by a government program.

Toyota supposedly has less than a dozen retirees in North America.