“Analysts and others have doubts about Ford’s ability to staunch recent losses in market share and have questioned the quality of management at the family-controlled carmaker.”

Translation…………………….

We think Bill Ford is an idiot.

I still don’t think Ford is as bad off as GM. I mean Caddy is in much better shape then Lincoln but GM has Saab that is a complete disaster and buck cannot be far behind.

Family controlled share is ok in a company that big, but leave the management to pros.

General Motors has a far more experienced and capable senior executive team than Ford Motor Company. Bob Lutz has been in the industry for decades and knows a thing or two about the industry. Rick Wagoner is clearly an experienced auto exec who didn’t have to rely on his last name to get to where he is. On the other hand, Mark Fields and Bill Ford Jr. lack the focus to get Ford Motor Co. back in shape. Ford offers 1 truely competive vehicle; the Fusion. And the Fusion is based on the Mazda 6 platform. By most accounts, the Ford Five-Hundred and Freestyle have been flops. In a market where most of the competition has 250hp + these cars had no chance. Thankfully Ford is introducing the new 265hp 3.5L…..but why so late??

Lincoln is in serious trouble. After only a year on the market the Zeypher gets a face-lift and a name change. This causes confusion and clearly demonstrates Ford’s lack of focus. Any marketing student can tell you that changing a product name after only months on the market dampens any momentum generated by the initial marketing campaign. Furthermore, the fundemental design of the Zeypher – sorry MKZ, is at odds with the near-luxury market. Most of the competition is RWD. How can the MKZ compete against the CTS, MB C-class, BMW 3 series, and others? The Navigator is weak-kneed compared to the Escalade and the TownCar is out-dated.

GM has some promising vehicles. The Solstice, Pontiac G6 Convertible (which is sold out), the GMT-900’s, the soon to be introduced Saturn Aura…these vehicles are built to sell without incentives.

Ford has lost some serious human capital in the executive ranks within the last few months. It’s starting to show.

I don’t disagree with most of your comments, Peter but I’d have to say that the sales of the Mustang have to be a bright spot for the company. Or at least they were.

Good, people need to support GM anyways. Ford needs to go out of business since they have nothing on GM.

GM > everyone

anonymous! shouldnt you be at school????

I am an analyst guys and if you buy a GM product you have a 10 out of 10 chance of being a real American. if you buy anything else, you have a 10 in 10 chance of getting the finger from me in my Chevy Truck. Get you pile of **** off my roads!

I think the analysts are probably shorting the stock and trying to create their own wish fulfillment.

PD doesn’t own a Toyota numbnuts..

i piss in the general direction of your Chevy.

Hey #5 and #7, what’s this 10 out of 10 chance of being a real american talk? Come on now, if anyone has bought a Camaro or Firebird (before they were discontinued for not selling enough) they bought a Canadian built car. How does that fit the 10 out of 10 chance being an american? Seeing how the Mustang easily outsold those two cars combined, it sounds like Ford has definitely got something on Chevy. Why anyone wants so desperately for the first mass production auto maker in the world to go out of business is far beyond me. I’m definitely not a Chevy guy, but I don’t hope for them to go out of business. What’s wrong with some people? Oh, and #7, give me the finger all you want, I’ll just look in my rear view mirror and laugh as I pass by you in my all american v8 powered Mustang. Your comments support my theory that Chevy guys seem to love talking crap about Fords just for fun.

very good comment #11

#3, “Focus” is what Mark Fields is all about. When he revitalized Mazda not too long ago, he stopped the development process for eighteen months to “focus” the brand. Recently, Ford announced that they were going to delay some product launches because the products were not focused. Do you see the similarities. Also, Ford recently launched an internal campaign for its Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury brands to establish their brand identity. This was all developed as a part of Mark Fields and Ann Steven’s co-developed “Way Foward Plan.”

Ford made a big mistake by relying too much on its pickup sales and suvs. They didn’t focus anymore on the car side of the business. The Five Hundred and Fusion are too underpowered and pretty much looks unappealing. Ford should have installed the new 3.5liter V6 and patched up the styling before launching these models because the consumers are not fools to buy their cars just for the reason that their cars are American made. The same can be said about GM, no amount of black propaganda especially by GM diehards in the boards will save the company if it doesn’t do something about the bland products they are selling. Although I can say that GM is in better shape than Ford because of the promise of the upcoming vehicles. Maybe Ford can hire Mr. Shelby as a sort of Ford’s version of Lutz and make a performance model out of a every model in the Ford lineup LOL…

Aside from all this talk about about Ford vs. Chevy, neither will ever be able to compete and be profitable until they can rid themselves of union labor. Unions served their purpose for a time, but now they are just dragging our economy down. America became great and was founded on a lifestyle of personal responsibility and hard work. If you didn’t like your current status, you took it upon yourself to make a better way. Then collective bargaining discovered that you can achieve the same result by throwing a childish group tantrum until you get your way (which is all a strike really is). The best America can hope for is that they will collectively bargain themselves into extinction.