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[newlifeinstpaul]

Why I Hate Ford

Today those bastards are going to announce plant closings that are gonna put tens of thousands of people who've worked hard their whole lives on the street. If you listen to the company line, you'll hear them say they're losing kazillions blah blah blah health care blah blah blah those damned expensive employees blah the union.


But did you know...

- That while they did lose money on North American operations, Ford's still profitable? Yup. Made $2 billion this year.

- Or of that $1.6 billion lost in North America, roughly a third of that--you heard correctly, $500 million of it--was their recalls? WHOSE FAULT WAS THAT? Elmer GreaseMonkey workin' on the line and his kids with braces? What's he supposed to do? Make a gotta-go-with-the-low-bid design magically not suck?

(Correction: That's not $500 million on recalls, but half a billion MORE than last year. Im-pressive, no?)

- While they were all too happy to crank out tire-chewing SUVs, they neglected their car lines completely. Wanna buy a Lincoln Town Car? How about a Lincoln LS? Or a Taurus? Did you even know Ford still makes 'em? Or they'd build cars that would totally miss every imaginable market *cough* Thunderbird *cough*.

In short, these are a few compelling reasons they just plain reek. Besides their products. The end.

Comments

[ehmondieu.livejournal.com]

You forgot the mustang! Tom says it's the fastest selling car in the country. It's ironic you mention the cars when they make trucks in St Paul. I wonder if Ford Parkway will be renamed. Knowing how those crazy Minnesotans can be, we're expecting some kind of symbol, like the Chevy symbol to be the new name for Ford Parkway.

[newlifeinstpaul.livejournal.com]

But one car does not a auto label make.
Where Ford really sucker-punched the industry in their heyday (and completely destroyed Oldsmobile) was their willingness to rethink the family car. In fact, Ford lost their title of best-selling US nameplate for the first time in 19 years in '05.

The Five Hundred is doing 'eh.' It's no Thunderbird, but it certainly isn't doing what the Taurus did in '86. And they lost at least the competitive edge--if not the desire--to take back the family car segment years and years ago to Toyota and Honda.