Ford needs a plan and they need it two days ago. If there is a plan in mind it needed implementation on the scale of Carlos Ghosn’s Nissan 180 plan three years ago. America’s former number two has reported a net loss of USD8.7 billion for the second quarter of 2008. Funny enough it says it remains on track to reach USD5 billion worth of cost savings by the next time we all yell “happy new year”.
Ford’s European operation made a profit before tax of USD582 million, while Volvo lost money to the tune of USD120 million in Q2. In contrast, Ford profited by USD103 million from its stake in Mazda. South America and the Asia/ Pacific/ Africa regions made USD388 million and USD50 million for their parent, underpinning the notion that developing economies are well on their way to becoming major contributors to world growth figures.
Evidently the company does not seem to have gotten the new global message – now louder than ever Stateside – of lower fuel-consuming vehicles as found in this statement by President and CEO Alan Mulally: “The second half will continue to be challenging, but we have absolutely the right plan to respond to the changing business environment and begin to grow again for the long term... We have great products entering the marketplace in the second half, including the Ford Flex, Lincoln MKS and Ford F-150 in North America, the Ford Kuga in Europe, and the Ford Fiesta in Europe and China. ”
Ford Still Bleeding Massively
New hope pinned on new models
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Comments
ford need to step it up a gear , the american market they are showing cars way before release , i can see the objection to taking euro models oer as the yanks want everything for nothing , pay for chips you get chips ... the curent focus in the uk is good , but the top spec titanium doesnt even come wwith climate control ! the spec is rubish , ford have to realise they need to spencd money to get returns and stop the nasty cost cutting on cars , the carpet fit in the new mondeo is appaling .
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by ericthedog | July 28, 2008 1:26 AM
is that pic of the ford flex?? the cube like vehicle?? very nice looking car in person... BUT... for today's standards its just not "in" anymore considering gas prices. seriously... bring north america some european models. don't change the looks please, they are fine as it is. even the smaller ford fiesta would be a nice car over here, and it has like 80 mpg mileage or sumthing?? beautiful.. that's all they need... ADJUST to today's problems.
by carcrazy1234 | July 28, 2008 1:53 AM
They are making money everywhere else except in the US because of the CRAP that they still sell here. If they tried selling the same crap in Europe they would have a loss too.
by pzigly | July 28, 2008 2:14 AM
As far as the Flex, for its people and cargo-carrying capacity, it's far more efficient than Ford's other option: the Expedition. And it's in the same class as the hugely successful GM "Lambda" cars (Acadia, Outlook, Enclave). Those cars are VERY "in" right now.
by mustang5507 | July 28, 2008 2:33 AM
Well, it's Ford... What can you say.
by joshg_5 | July 28, 2008 2:55 AM
...they have to place kuga and fiesta in global market as soon as possible...
by phobos | July 28, 2008 4:13 AM
That Ford Flex is a piece of garbage. I was looking at an Acura, a very respectable auto manufacturer here in N.Am, known for quality and dependability. I left Acura and saw the new Flex on the Ford lot, so I pulled in just to see what this thing was made of. A tin can, apparently. The inside looked cool, but felt a little too Fisher-Price to me. And, then I got out of the car, and the door made an awful clunk. Compared to the Acura whose door I just slammed ten minutes earlier, I won't be buying a Ford ANYTHING in the near future.
by fillerup | July 28, 2008 7:28 AM
With Lee Iacoca came change for FORD. And it was for the better. But the Ford family wanted nothing of him until he brought the Mustang (designed in Italy by the way). And yet, their struggles still continue today when Lee Iacoca wanted Ford to do something as simple as listening to what the people want. It is funny how in Europe, Ford listens to what the people want (mostly anyway) and they get great results (some of the time). But over here, I have no idea what they are doing. In a way, I am glad the foreigners car markets are ruling the show. Ford needs a kick in the batty to start listening.
I really hope Ford in America gets their bum handed to them (yet again). But in a more severe way. Not to the point where they close shoppe, but enough to shutup and listen to what the people want. That Focus in Europe is by far the best looking design I have seen. And I would not doubt that hatchback would sell here. It looks very nice.
/end rant
by nurchus | July 28, 2008 8:53 AM
ford is sooo boring, they need to make their cars more interesting...
by BabyMilo | July 28, 2008 10:02 AM
And so Jimbo and Billy-Bob lost their family fortune and lived happily ever after broke as a church-mouse raising cattle on their farm in Texas.
by LMS | July 28, 2008 10:25 AM
Ford as a company is either a total moron for not selling euro cars in the US or they have something up their sleeve like info on when the oil crisis in going to end. I'll go for total moron for now...
by ShinyG | July 28, 2008 12:52 PM
I whole-hearted agree...
But you don't understand Americans... believe it or not American guys DO NOT ASK for directions when lost... it's some sort of macho guy thing that exist over there... (Any American readers going to explain / challenge me on this?)
Such macho mentality may also exist in the Boardroom. They do not want to import Euro Fords because it was not designed and engineered in the good old USA or something! Those that are, are then plagiarized (fobbed-off) as being 100% American. Take the ill fated Contour: the first series Mondeo given a face-drop!
by Car_Nut | July 28, 2008 3:02 PM
But the Flex, MKS and F-150 are not economical vehicles. That's your problem Ford. People are not rushing out to purchase something that averages less than 20 mpg unless they absolutely need to. All I can say is "Good Luck"
by rickyb | July 28, 2008 3:06 PM
Bravo Car_Nut, I almost thought you actually live in the United States. :)
Humility does a person good. Imagine what it could do to a car company like FORD (Fixed Or Repaired Daily, or my favorite, Found On Road Dead).
by nurchus | July 28, 2008 4:09 PM
How can the chair of a company like ford and the board be allowed to run the company into the ground. i would not consider a car on the USA's line up. they are either so old and should have retired long ago (ford crown vic and mercury stable mate, i know crown vic is semi retired) or really really cheap updates (ford focus. how can the same company produce decent looking cars in europe (s-max, etc) and have no clue here. maybe because i live in california and not the midwest i see things different. But here in california u do not see many american cars anymore, and what starts in california so goes the rest of the USA.
by coopergt | July 28, 2008 7:25 PM
The car in the pic look like its been very heavily based on the land rover range( range rover like headlights and clam shell bonnet or hood in American, defender like white roof . I guess ford can rip them off now that they no longer own them.
by aston | July 28, 2008 9:00 PM
having only been to america once i am not the most informed person on the topic but when you look at at a european focus and american focus....i feel sorry for you's. the kuga is another example....its based on the focus so doesnt kill baby seals with its fuel econemy yet still has the advantages of being up high. the sooner ford does the sensible thing and realise that the cars they are producing are rubbish in the u.s...even the mustang which is a pig to drive and as nasty as a rash inside...and sell models that are actually decent.
by hoggie | July 29, 2008 3:00 AM
For the most part, I think they've done well bringing Eurpoean models to the US (Cortina, XR4ti, Capri). I also don't think their current plight is because they don't listen to customers. I'm sure they have clinics up the ying-yang; but, I doubt they have effectively targeted any segment effectively. Consequentially, they come up with mundane machines that meet various mediocre metrics.
Although GM seems to be getting the message (and I do hope the Opels do well as Saturns), Ford and GM haven't ever really embraced small cars in the US. So when the SUV craze began, they were ready to continue to ignore smaller, fuel efficient cars despite Honda and Toyota upsetting the long successful run of the Taurus. I often wondered how they possibly could be so myopic in their product planning not to consider the impact of higher fuel prices. It's as if they didn't learn anything from the 1970s.
They've go a heck of a long way to go. Not only do they need to match fuel efficiency, performance, reliability, and styling ... but they need something innovative and not derived from competitors, especially with consumer's awareness of global warming.
I don't hear much about Ford plug-ins or a hybrid-only car line. From the sneak peeks of what they have in the pipeline, it looks like truly fresh product is at least another model cycle away. They'll watch which emerging technologies become adopted in the market place and then be two years late to any party.
by tbrodie | July 29, 2008 9:50 AM
At this point, Ford should just take losses on American designs and dump their remaining operating capital into converting European models for "world" use. Including North America. Oh, and they should hastily pull the plug on Mercury!
by benz_man | July 29, 2008 8:15 PM
No wonder Ford is going broke the ford badged cars,trucks, and suvs have no style to them,cheap interiors,and are underpowered .The Mercury brand is even worse and Lincoln brand is the biggest joke in the luxury car market.Nobody want's a cheap tiny underpowered little FWD american luxury car.
by gazer23 | August 1, 2008 4:10 AM
i keep on saying 'ford' should sell off their american operation ASAP (does it really matter if the company originated from there)
by sintilate | August 14, 2008 5:48 AM
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