bob brown <.>

FORD is gone. They can NEVER compete with foreign car makers who are
making cars IN THIS COUNTRY paying workers $16-$22 per hour.

FORD workers, when all benefits are added, make something around $50
per hour. That can't be done today.

Combined with the fact that ford hasn't made any good cars since the
early 1990s and it's failure.

GM is no better.

Toyota and Honda will be #1 and #2 in less than 5 years. No unions.

I wonder though if people will blame the companies, the workers or
consumers?

Toyota and Honda wouldn't be a danger if people didn't BUY their cars.
And Ford and GM wouldn't be IN danger if the sold shit people wanted
and could get labor costs down.

GM/FORD Line workers on average make more money than some Doctors in
this country. Something wrong...
's

ok, you can call me names now.

news skimmer

GM is worse.


Union folks and liberals will blame the companies and the bosses. Non-union
folks and conservatives will credit the union with giving the companies and
consumers no choice. (The companies no choice to be competitive.....The
consumers no choice but to buy a better product for less....sometimes with
more US content.)

jonno

EASY Fixed.
Make Fords in Australia, mexico South America etc.
Export from there and keep the current exchange rate. And watch as the
unemployed workers from Ford buy cars from other sources.

rav

Unemployed workers don't BUY much !!!

news skimmer

They tried that already. It was called Escort, Probe, Mazda, etc.

GM has been in Mexico and Canada for years.

Ford and GM are doomed....and the rest of America may follow in the hands of
the next generation. skimmer

jonno

I hope Ford understands this. Other companies moved and didnt.

Building cars in mexico etc. ,may save labor costs but will not
improve quality as dodges, vw's etc that are hecho en mexico tend to
be among the least reliable. Ford NEEDS to stop trying to play catch
up and release well design quality vehicles. The Jeep Wrangler is
perenially a good seller. Why? One reason it is the only vehicle with
a removable top , 4wd etc. Ford used to make a comparable vehicle-
the 66-70 Bronco. How tough would it be to make a new "old" Bronco.
Base it on the ranger platform and it would be profitable. Toyota
dropped the ball with the FJ cruiser by not going to the past. The
Sport Trac interior is awfully designed aesthetically and
ergonomically. I hate to see an American icon go down but until Ford
wakes up they are doomed. Labor costs need to decrease of course, but
the main weakness is product selection. The 500 isnt selling well-
Instead of finding out why (poor interior design, high price) Ford
says Let's call it the taurus! Waht genius!!!

jeff

That's why they got some guy from Boeing to run the company.

He is already making changes, like using the Taurus and Sable names and
getting rid of some parts of Ford that are not essential to the core job of
Ford, building and sell cars and trucks.

Jeff

bob brown <.>

You could make FORDS on Mars but it wouldn't change the crappy designs
they've been making for 30 years.

They need something.

bob brown <.>

Newspapers are full of job offers. What should a guy with a GED earn per hour?