what will save ford?

Reduce their labor cost to those of the Japanese companies producing autos in the USA.

Their dependence on a market segment where there was little competition was a risky move although they may have had little choice.

W/ the income tax incentives gone the hybreds are not an economical option for those that can do simple math. Soon all those who are math challenged will have purchased the hybreds and that market will have reached a saturation.
 
I think they should move to company owned dealerships. Make small assembly lines, all robotic at each company dealership, phased in over time, and have a "Minority Report" like car manufacturing facility at each site.

Customer comes in and picks the size of modular chassis they want, then goes through the modular options that they want, the car is assembled while they watch, a design programme lets them customize portions, paint and interior options. The car is assembled for them, and custom paint applied, with a next day delivery. Credit in house on site arranged, The process is then tuned to the customer expectations and said customer leaves that day or the next with the car of their dreams.

Modular parts will all be made to design limits that have been tested to ensure safety and legal requirements, Each person gets the car they want, prices are all clearly marked and car manufacturing costs are minimal with little overhead.

Modular parts manufacturing in one plant per country, heavy robotics and distributed to the local "dealership" facilities.

Phased in over time slowly replacing the current this is our design love it or hate it system.

Even though many of the cars will look different on an engineering side they will all be very similar.

Modular is the way to go.
 
The Ranger EV is still state of the art. the lease it and scrap it idea really sucked. I run a small fleet of Rangers, and 60-70 miles a day range , recharging for $2 a night would work great for me, and I suspect for thousands of other small businesses and commuters.

the platform still works much better than any other option for me and my competitors, and a cheap re-body would make everybody but the magazine editors happy.
I think the same of the Panther platform, the platform is great especially since 03, toss a new body skin on it, and even the idiot magazines would be fooled into thinking its a new platform. everything else ford sells as a car/crossover could be built on two platforms. the trucks need to merge back to one platform like pre-96.
 
whd507 said:
The Ranger EV is still state of the art. the lease it and scrap it idea really sucked. I run a small fleet of Rangers, and 60-70 miles a day range , recharging for $2 a night would work great for me, and I suspect for thousands of other small businesses and commuters.

the platform still works much better than any other option for me and my competitors, and a cheap re-body would make everybody but the magazine editors happy.
I think the same of the Panther platform, the platform is great especially since 03, toss a new body skin on it, and even the idiot magazines would be fooled into thinking its a new platform. everything else ford sells as a car/crossover could be built on two platforms. the trucks need to merge back to one platform like pre-96.
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I agree with the EV, if you're only running a few miles a day, that's not bad.

The platform for the ranger is great, but it is seriously lacking in MPG's. I'm glad they finally axed the 3.0
 
20K for a used EV that may require 10k in batteries soon? yeah , crazy, but people are buying priuses thinking they made a good deal too.. go figure.

with the cost of either, I could drive a 1976 Marquis with a 460 for 111, 000 @$3.70/gal before I lose money.
 
In the news today. They took another hit, reporting losses in the .....BILLIONS. :eek:

It's interesting that Ford is reporting profits in Europe and Asia, why?

We like to point to the labor unions, but need to be reminded that European labor is far less productive than it's US counterpart and that the union contracts in Europe border on lunacy, by our standards.

Surely the problem can't be placed at the feet of the draconian anti-industrial regulation(s) of our government, could it? The EPA and OSHA alone have single handedly driven the industrial base of this nation off shore. I mean, if we want our children and grandchildren to suck lead paint off the toys we give 'em, it's necessary to buy from the Chinese, these days. Don't even get me started on pet food.:mad2:
 
Mike Poore said:
It's interesting that Ford is reporting profits in Europe and Asia, why?
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Because they make and sell vehicles that people actually want. Who wouldn't want a small car with 300 - 1000 HP? ;)

Apparently, no one knows of nor wants the Flex, or Taurus X (Lincon XKR. . . ).

I've been saying for years that things like the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Focus_(International)#Focus_ST">Focus ST</a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Escort_RS_Cosworth">Escort RS</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_RS200"> RS 200</a> would sell well. It's what the Japanese 'tuners' have been for years.
 
The Flex costs too much.

Funny thing is I left Subaru and came back to Ford because of the 500 / Freestyle. And that tragic Tribeca (medusa). They shift my gaze, the Marauder locked in the heart and mind.
 
TooManyFords said:
I think we need more cars that only have a 1-star crash approval rating. Less weight means more MPG. Tell people they are for in-town commuting and they get 80 mpg! Why carry around 3500 lbs of weight just to go to the grocery store. Make them sell for $8500 tops.

You couldn't make them fast enough!
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Just look what the 'K car' did for Chrysler.

Ford needs one easy to manufacture platform that can do duty as Mini-van, sport hatch, and sedan across the whole FLM line-up.

I thinks it's time they dusted off Lee Iaccoa and put him in charge.
 
There is definitely a lot to do and that will cost a lot.

But the first millions should go for a clever marketing that will make north americans buying the excellent FUSION rather than Camry, Accord, Azera and whatever similar.

JP
 
Speaking about the Fusion, the idea of a hybrid model is certainly not a bad one.

But it could be cheaper and faster to fit in it one of the excellent diesel engines from the european range. A TDI Fusion would show about 40 mpg, without sacrifying too much the performance !

JP
 
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