What really explains Ford's declining sales?

[jmowreader]

This morning's e-mail brings another missive from the "Reverend" Donald Wildmon, who claims that the American Family Association's boycott of the Ford Motor Company, for "supporting the homosexual agenda," whatever that is, has caused a fourth straight month of sales decline. According to Wildmon, Ford is considering all sorts of measures--except stopping their "support for the homosexual agenda," to reverse its dire straits, including shedding Volvo and Jaguar.

I'm going to work in about ten minutes. About halfway there, I'll travel a stretch of road that has a Ford dealer on the right and a gas station on the left. The gas station will have a 2.79 price tag for its unleaded regular. The Ford dealer will have a front row full of Mustangs, a long line of full-size pickups and SUVs, and a fenced lot full of commercial vehicles. I have been told that Ford's product line has the worst corporate average fuel economy numbers of any brand; from looking at this lot, I can believe it. What do they make, two cars that get better than 20mpg? The Focus and the Fusion?

I think the reason for Ford's sales are declining is that the number of people who want a car that gets 15mpg on the highway when gas is $3 per gallon is declining. But that's me. How about you?

Why is Ford experiencing declining sales?

[NMMNG]

1. They make gas-guzzling, poor quality vehicles

FORD = Found On Road Dead.

[jmowreader]

2. Now, now. They're no worse than anyone else's

Whether it's because Fords are better or Chevies are worse I can't say.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

4. Thank You jmowreader!!!

I'm tired of the Ford bashing with first few replies.

Yes, I own a Ford, but when I looked around for a new truck, I looked at the others and they didn't have what I liked.

[jmowreader]

22. If I was going to buy an American car, it would probably be a Ford

I have looked at every American-branded car made today, and the Ford Fusion is the car I like best.

I like the Mustang too, but if I had a Mustang I'd need a first car--something with back doors, which are very important if you haul stuff like computers or power tools and you don't want a minivan.

I can't stand anything Chrysler makes except for the Ram 3500, the Pontiac G6 is nice but it just doesn't thrill me (and the first thing you gotta do when you get one is take the headliner out to remove all the OnStar shit), and the current Chevrolet line screams "we really wish we were just making trucks!" The Fusion at least LOOKS like someone at Ford gives a shit about building cars.

Oh, I also looked at the Hummer, but my penis is long enough already, thanks.

[madokie]

7. I've heard 'em all fix or repair daily, found on road dead

but the fact of the matter is a ford is the better of the three, ford gm or chyrsler. next time you are traveling down the road take notice of the number of older fords as compared to the other two for that matter of all the others, you will be susprised to learn there are many more ford products of older vintage on the hiways than all the rest combined. to me that spells quality. How many 70's models of the others do you see, how many 70's models of ford do you count, many. IMHO
I would rather have a picture of a ford as the keys to any of the others.

[TahitiNut]

21. "the fact of the matter"???

Describing an OPINION as a "fact" is an indication of lost perspective. We have a 1977 Chevrolet Monte Carlo in the garage right now, in excellent driving condition. The recent Woodward Dream Cruise here in the northwest Detroit 'burbs saw far, far more GM products, mostly Chevrolets,than Ford products, mostly Mustangs and Ford trucks.

[saltpoint]

3. Wildmon is exactly right. All it takes to bring down one of the most

influential automobile companies in history is a bunch of lesbians and gays not supporting them and promoting the gay agenda instead.

That's all it takes.

That's it.

And if Wildmon hadn't brought this to our attention, how indeed would we know as a nation that lesbians and gay men should be condemned?

That Donald Wildmon sure is a great American.

[petronius]

25. Pretty scary stuff - if the homersecktuals can destroy a major corporation

without hardly trying, or apparently even being aware they're doing it, who knows what they'll get up to next? Mr. Wildmon should be quaking in his penny-loafers; he may be the first into the salt mines when our new gay and lesbian overlords arrive...

[saltpoint]

27. LOL! Yep. Ol' Donald better keep that escape vehicle's tank on FULL.

[B Calm]

5. I've owned two ford pickups in my life and both sucked gas. My

first Ford was a standard shift, 6 cy, 2 wheel drive, no thrills work truck. It got around 15 to 16 mpg. My second was a V8, 2 wheel drive, loaded and it got 15 mpg.

I bought a Chevy, extended cab, V8, 4 wheel drive, and it gets 18 mpg.

[Greyhound]

6. Shitty, unreliable, gas guzzlers, plagued by the traditional

"intermittent electrical problems". You'd think after 35 or 40 years they'd figure out what is causing them. OTOH it could be worse, they could be GM's.

[Clark2008]

8. Neither

Ford's sales are declining because most people refuse to come out of the 80s. So many people don't understand that Ford is a better car than those pieces of shit Toyotas because people still believe it's 1981.

I'd put any of my Mustangs over a Camry any day. And don't give me the crap about resale values. Fords are cheaper NEW than Toyotas, so it only stands to reason that Toyotas would have a higher resale value. Duh.

[purji]

9. Jack Nasser and share holders

are the reason ford sucks right now.He never cared about building good cars, only share holder value.
Jacks gone but share holders continue on pushing for more profit which means cheaper everything going into ford cars.
If the Share holders had listened to Ford Jr. in 2000 when he was trying to push small cars and look into alternative fuels,they would be rolling in it this year.
Of course thats just my opinion.

[screembloodymurder]

10. Third option

last year's sales were better because of discounts and incentives.

[melm00se]

11. ding ding ding

we have a winner.

As an extension: a lot of folks who were in the market for new cars, more than likely, bought one last year and therefor are not in the market.

The one thing I think needs to be pointed out is what, in sales, is called "addressable market".

BTW, I own a Ford Ranger....10 years old, 175K miles...and I had my 1st major repair 2 months ago (burned out alternator)...other than that my truck has been an oil/gas/basic maintenance vehicle.

Compared to my Jetta (electrical problems up the wazzoo) and Accord (the damn thing ate tires not matter how carefully I monitored the alignment and air pressure), my Ranger is a dream....

[TheFriedPiper]

12. American vehicles are designed by the marketing department

instead of the engineers.

THAT is what is wrong with American vehicles.

Ford is just one of many piece of shit makers.

[Eurobabe]

26. 100% agree.

eom

[ThomWV]

13. They Don't Make Very Good Vehicles

I have a Ford truck, it is the second Ford truck I have owned back to back, I have owned trucks by other manufactures as well, some foreign, some domestic.

I have two cars at the moment. The last car I disposed of was a Ford Both of my current cars are foreign, both are more reliable, more economical, more comfortable, and suffer less from depreciation than either my last Ford car or my current or last Ford truck.

What was the question again? Oh, why have Ford's sales dropped? That was it, wasn't it? Well, if I had to pick just one reason from the litany above it would be this, Fords are less reliable than vehicles from other manufactures.

Oh, as a final insult, in my experience parts for Ford vehicles are absurdly expensive in comparison to other vehicle manufacturer's prices. I say that as a person who does most of his own mechanical work.

[ReverendDeuce]

14. Honestly? Poor quality vehicles... n/t

n/t

[zbdent]

15. I'd say that the financial problems of car companies, after promoting

the gas guzzlers far too much, is that they cut all their profits when they had barely any interest rates ...

See, you could sell a car at a loss as long as you were doing the bill collecting when it came to people financing the car ... almost pure profit, there ... the interest rates went down, there was little profit in the "financing end" of the deal.

Car companies financed their customers, eliminating the bank loans ... and when they started promoting "zero percent financing", they cut their own throats ...

[WA98296]

16. Indication that economy is worse than stated, followed by Gas Guzzlers.

[jmowreader]

17. I have a very slight correction to the original post

The gas station is selling regular for 2.69, and the front row of the Ford dealer consists of three Mustang Cobras (all equipped with the biggest V-8 engine Ford puts in the Mustang), twelve F-150s, six F-250s and four F-350s.

I went there and walked the line on the way home. Half the F-250s and all the F-350s had PowerStroke diesels; the rest of the F-250s had the V-10 Triton engine.

Number of Rangers on the entire lot? Two.

The second row of the lot is all Mustangs. They've got a few Fusions, a couple of Focuses, quite a few Five Hundreds, and just a handful of SUVs and minivans.

We have two Ford dealers in town, and they work together: one guy is real heavy on SUVs, Focuses and Fusions, the other on pickups, large cars and Mustangs.

[ProfessorGAC]

18. Poor Markeing Strategy

Everything they've made for the last 20 years is "Me Too!" Zero innovation and ordinary cars adds to eroding market share.
The Professor

[Critters2]

19. I have a Ford

My fourth Ford. It's a Focus, and it runs fine and gets good mileage. I've also owned two Escorts--both great cars--and a Taurus, which was a lemon. I hated that Taurus. But the car I had the most trouble with was a Chevette. What a piece of crap. When I had that car, if people could find me at home or at the office, they'd call the Chevy garage. And they were right more often than not.

I'll stick with my happy little Focus until I have a reason not to.

And Ford's gay agenda ain't it. :)

[izzybeans]

20. Poor leadership resulting in irrational strategic planning.

[meganmonkey]

23. LOLOL!! I'm sure that tens of thousands of homophobes

will be rushing out to buy new cars the day Ford ends their "support for the homosexual agenda", reversing Ford's fortune...

:rofl:

[GrpCaptMandrake]

24. It *HAS* to be the homersectionals!

'Memmer how grate Fordz wuz back when oney gawd-fearin', wife-beatin' heterosekshell REEL menz wuz th' oniest wunz drivin' 'em? Thass bak whin Ford rilly did hav uh better idee!