anthony05gt said:The union has screwed the whole situation. Ford has obligations to retired workers that it just can't maintain. GM is in the same boat. This is a fact, not my opinion. They are putting out billion$ that the private sector would never even consider because it doesn't have the unions to deal with.
Ford is making some damn good vehicles as far as I'm concerned. All of the SUV's have redesigned IRS set-ups which costed hundreds of millions to develop. The new stangs are a major achievement. They are still a bunch of idiots in a lot of areas though. Like, why does the new V-6 engine have forged internals and the 3-valve GT engine has crap. Doesn't make sense to me. A nissan V-6 makes the Ford V-6 look like and old farm tractor engine.
351CJ said:Don't blame only the unions. Management shares the blame for agreeing to those union contracts and for making many bad product & marketing decisions over the years.
06BLR85 said:Maybe they can try making better cars. The only ford i like is the mustang. The suv's and cars suck. Lincoln is terrible, i dont even know why mercury exists. I want to see ford succeed as much as the next guy. But with those horrible plastic interiors there not gonna get anyware. I am no fan of BMW or Benz because they are the most unreliable cars out there now, but there such nice cars to sit in and drive. Even the new cadillacs are nice, my freind has a new CTS and it is such a nice car, it handles very well, it is ages ahead of the mustang in handling. Its nice that ford builds cars to a buget because we can afford them but they cant compete in the world market, exept with the focus.
Just my .02
06BLR85 said:But with those horrible plastic interiors there not gonna get anyware. I am no fan of BMW or Benz because they are the most unreliable cars out there now, but there such nice cars to sit in and drive.
chefster said:ok ,unions aside[they did protect workers rights when it was needed] and plastic...they have the talent,the tech..what do they need to do with it?
SVTdriver said:Make cars that are more exciting to the younger buyers (Think Scion). Which thne starts to get people buying Fords as they are younger. Change the focus. It has been the same basic body shape since it's introduction. The Fusion is already being cahnged with more options. The 500 needs something to make it look less rental fleet car. Come out with a hybird car that looks better than the imports.
06BLR85 said:Well said.
In europe they love the focus and the ford mondeo which is basicly a 500, but they love it over there, its one of the best selling cars, it sells as much as a 3 series. Its supposed to be really fun to drive and fast. and it looks pretty good.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=GKQqVYt-lXM&search=ford mondeo
Rock36 said:You aren't kidding man. I am stationed in Europe currently and I was blown away when Iby the number of Fords on the road when I got here. I hadn't even heard of the Mondeo until I arrived in Germany. Ford also has a vehicle called the Ka and Fiesta over here, which are really affordable economy cars priced from around $9000-$16000. The Mondeo, Focus, and Fiesta all have ST models which are somewhat similar to SVT in that they have a little bit of a performance tweak to them. Note: I said similar to SVT, not exactly the same.
The Focus ST here in Europe is a turbo 5 cylinder with 225hp, which is better than the SVT Focus of a few years ago. The Mondeo ST has a 3.0L V6 with 226hp. Both have the option of 6 speed manual transmissions to boot! Personally, a 5 speed manual suits me just fine, but I know a lot of people like the idea of having a 6 speed.
The name of the game here in Europe (well Germany at least) seems to be geared towards a balance of economy and performance. Their gas prices completely eclipse ours in the United States, and they generally can't or don't choose to spend as much on cars either. So vehicles like the Ka, Fiesta, Focus, and Mondeo do well in that environment.
06BLR85 said:Even the new cadillacs are nice, my freind has a new CTS and it is such a nice car, it handles very well, it is ages ahead of the mustang in handling.
06BLR85 said:Well said.
In europe they love the focus and the ford mondeo which is basicly a 500, but they love it over there, its one of the best selling cars, it sells as much as a 3 series. Its supposed to be really fun to drive and fast. and it looks pretty good.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=GKQqVYt-lXM&search=ford mondeo