Ford's big day: Billionaire (Soros) buys stake, Fusion named car of the year

[Bozita]

Source: Detroit Free Press

NOV. 17, 2009
Ford's big day: Billionaire buys stake, Fusion named car of the year
BY BRENT SNAVELY
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER


Ford Motor Co. scored a hat trick on Tuesday.

The Ford Fusion midsize sedan was selected by Motor Trend magazine as car of the year. Billionaire financier George Soros revealed his investment arm has purchased $52.9 million in Ford stock. And, the company's stock price hit a two-year high of $9 per share before closing at $8.98 for the day.

"It's really gratifying to see that everybody is appreciating the Ford plan and the progress we are making," Ford Motor Co. President and CEO Alan Mulally said during a crowded celebration Tuesday, while sporting an arm sling because of recent shoulder surgery.

Mulally, who underwent surgery earlier this month to fix a lingering tennis and golf injury, attended Motor Trend's award ceremony at Ford's world headquarters.

Read more: http://www.freep.com/article/20091117/BUSINESS01/91117041/1318/Fords-big-day-Billionaire-buys-stake-Fusion-named-car-of-the-year

[dysfunctional press]

1. so- you'd think that they could afford the one stinkin' car that the guy was cheated out of...

at that golf outing the other day.

if i can find the thread, i'll edit and add it.

[BR_Parkway]

3. That would be the dealership that owes it to him, they were the sponsor

and took out the supposedly incorrect insurance policy.

[dysfunctional press]

12. i realize that...

but ford could give itself a nice little p.r. bump by stepping in and giving the guy the car.
the local news coverage alone would would probably pay for it- if comparing the price of comparable paid advertising. and it would probably get a mention in a lot of news programs nationwide.

[Historic NY]

2. The freepers heads must be popping over the Soros buy....

remember how they were pushing Ford over GM & Chrysler.

[nxylas]

4. Oh noes! A librul car!!11eleven

It's all part of his evil plot to...um, oh noes, details. Just shout "socialist!" at him, that'll work.

[zbdent]

6. Why would their heads explode? I mean, it's not like they're going to buy an

American made care ... sure, they'll spin that buying a Honda or Subaru or whatever it is that got all those tax breaks and government roads in the southern states as "American made", but were they likely to buy a car from Ford or "Government Motors"?

[pipoman]

7. And then there are those among us

that think because a car has a mediocre 3 name plate on it, that it is "American made"...the only US Americans making money off of the Ford Fusion are Ford stock holders (unlikely making money), Ford executives, and maybe a few engineers...apparently all of the rest of the cost of production is being paid in low wages to our friends to the south.


Q: Is the 2010 Ford Fusion made in America?

A:The 2010 Ford Fusion is built in Mexico at Ford’s Hermosillo assembly plant. The Fusion has been assembled at the Hermosillo facility since the midsize sedan’s introduction as a 2006 model.

Many of the Fusion’s competitors are built in the U.S., including the 2009 Toyota Camry. The Camry also tops our 2009 American-Made Index, which ranks cars that are built in the U.S., have the highest amount of domestic parts and are bought in the largest numbers by Americans. The 2010 Chevrolet Malibu, 2009 Honda Accord and 2009 Mazda6 are also assembled stateside.

http://ask.cars.com/2009/07/is-the-2010-ford-fusion-made-in-america.html

[zbdent]

11. yes, but when it came to the "American worker", a.k.a. the unions,

there was so much anger about bailing them out ... (loans with lots and lots of conditions, something unseen with Bush's bank bailout demand ...)

[pipoman]

14. I wouldn't have bothered me at all, the bailout,

if, in fact GM, Chrysler and Ford actually were building their product with primarily US labor, which they are not. Therefore I resent every dime they received and will buy a Toyota instead.

[blue_onyx]

15. Care to prove...

that the US automakers are not primary using US labor?

[pipoman]

16. No

care to prove they are? Detroit was the among first to start exporting US jobs...union busting at it's best...this is why Detroit has been in the toilet since long before the credit market crashed.

[blue_onyx]

17. Just what I expected

Another person on DU criticizing the US automakers without any facts to back them up. Here, I made a list of GM vehicles. There are 33 models and 9 are made outside the US (5 in Mexico, 4 in Canada). That means only 27% of GM's models are made outside the US.

Buick
Lacrosse: Kansas
Enclave: Michigan
Lucerne: Michigan


Chevy
Colorado: Louisiana
Silverado: Michigan
Avalanche: Mexico
Aveo: Mexico
Cobalt: Ohio
Malibu: Kansas
Impala: Canada
Corvette: Kentucky
Camaro: Canada
HHR: Mexico
Traverse: Michigan
Equinox: Canada
Tahoe: Texas
Suburban: Texas
Express: Missouri


GMC
Arcadia: Michigan
Sierra: Michigan
Yukon: Texas
Terrain: Canada
Canyon: Louisiana
Savana: Missouri


Cadillac
CTS: Michigan
CTS Sport Wagon: Michigan
CTS-V: Michigan
DTS: Michigan
Escalade: Texas
Escalade EXT: Mexico
Escalade ESV: Texas
SRX: Mexico
STS: Michigan


Toyota imports many of its vehicles and doesn't use union labor on the vehicles they do build here. Seems you have a double standard for the US automakers.

[divideandconquer]

19. Hope your Toyota doesn't drive off into a wall or off a cliff

Toyota Denied Sudden Acceleration Problem For More Than 5 Years

Posted by Brett EmisonNovember 06, 2009 9:00 AM

It appears that Toyota has denied its sudden acceleration problem for more than 5 years. Toyota's recall for floor mat problems is not the end of the story and the company needs to do more to protect its customers and the motoring public.

In March 2004, the Center For Auto Safety reported about sudden acceleration problems in 2002-03 Toyota Camrys and Solaras and the 2002-03 Lexus ES 300.
--------------------------
<http://kansascity.injuryboard.com/automobile-accidents/toyota-denied-customer-complaints-on-sudden-acceleration-problem-for-more-than-5-years.aspx?googleid=274028>

[amandabeech]

13. I won't buy a fusion.

I'd go for the Malibu if I were in the market, which I won't be for some time.

[goclark]

20. I have a 09 Fusion and I like it a lot

It handles well, best priced gas and has lots of features.

It is so roomy that I can get my Mom's wheelchair in the back seat and off we go!

I don't miss my Mercedes with the huge maintenance bills at ALL!

[divideandconquer]

18. The great Toyota subsidizes it's "American cars" with slave labor in Japan

The Dark Side of the Toyota Prius
By PAUL ABOWD

The National Labor Committee (NLC), a New York-based human rights group, has been investigating working conditions at Toyota Motor Corp., and the labor used to produce its best-selling Prius hybrid cars.

In its 65-page report released in June, NLC includes first-hand testimony of factory conditions in “Toyota City,” outside of Nagoya, Japan — less than 200 miles southwest of Tokyo — where the largest auto company in the world employs some 70,000 people.

The report alleges that Toyota exploits guest workers, mostly shipped in from China and Vietnam. According to the NLC, these workers are “stripped of their passports and often forced to work — including at subcontract plants supplying Toyota — 16 hours a day, seven days a week, while being paid less than half the legal minimum wage.” Workers are forced to live in company dormitories and deported for complaining about poor treatment, the report finds.
---------------------------------------
<http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3796/the_dark_side_of_the_toyota_prius/>

[tabasco]

21. How sad that you choose to spread lies when you have been informed

of the truth.

In fact, as I always say, a little research goes a long ways. First, this is coming from complaints from an organization called the NLC, some pro labor union interest group. The NLC apparently has a huge beef with Toyota because, through various means, they skip dealing with any labor unions at all, even when it comes to parts distribution which is supposedly (according to the NLC) hard to do.

Now, sort of off topic, I am trying to figure out where bit is a shock to anybody. Notice how every single major auto manufacturer who follows union rules is in a financial sh*t storm right now. In fact most of them don't even have a sustainable business model. Look at the companies like Toyota on the other hand, who ignore labor unions, and are *gasp* doing well right now, and as a result their employees have better job security. I mean really? Aren't labor unions supposed to be good for their members? Or are they just there to skim a bit off of the top of their wages while pretending to help? Sounds like the NLC is appealing to bleeding hearts to sustain their business model - food for thought.

But I digress. Moving along: The NLC doesn't seem to offer much proof for some of these claims. In fact, they are trying to reach out to celebrities to back their cause. True sign of an unbiased report, right? Toyota has, on the other hand, responded to these claims, which you can find elsewhere on NLC's website:

http://www.nlcnet.org/article.php?id=576

Yet the NLC offers no response to this. But that's not all, here's another tidbit reported by the BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7433145.stm

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=139959...

[divideandconquer]

22. The Japanese workers even have a name for it—“Karoshi,” meaning overworked to death.

“Karoshi”

The Japanese workers even have a name for it—“Karoshi,” meaning overworked to death.

The same year Kenichi Uchino died from overwork, so did another Toyota employee, this time a white collar technician. Management had put him in charge of designing an assembly line to mass produce a new model Toyota car. It was an enormous responsibility, and he was under constant pressure from his immediate superior to meet the production deadline so that his boss could get a promotion. He was leaving home each day at 7:30 or 8:00 a.m. and not returning until 11:00 p.m., 12-midnight, or 1:00 a.m. Including his commute, he was working 15 to 17 ½ hours a day. The workload and pressure was too much, and in November 2006, the 46-year-old man died of a hemorrhage.
----------------------------------------------------
<http://www.nlcnet.org/article.php?id=562>

[madrchsod]

5. oh no! ford builds a car of the year!

how can the union american worker and an american car company make a car of the year? motor trend must have been paid off..

if i only had the money to buy when the stock when it was 1.50!

[tclambert]

8. From $1.50 to $9 in a year!

You, me, and George Soros all wish we'd bought at $1.50. I missed it because Ford was sitting there next to GM and Chrysler in those Congressional meetings pleading for a bailout. It took a while to sink in that Ford didn't need a bailout. When it hit $4.50 a share, I thought, "Well, there's an opportunity missed. Can it still go up much from here?" Now, the answer is obviously, "Yes, it can." So I missed the opportunity on Ford twice.

[pipoman]

9. Apparently they didn't....see post #7 n/t

[madrchsod]

10. opps....i forgot they are made in mexico..never mind!