If they keep pulling crap like the ‘new Taurus X’ then this situation isn’t going to get any better.

Hey Jim, I noticed you just got a new car, what is it?
It’s a Taurus X.
A what-the-f***?

I think they even seem to be going for worse nomenclature than Cadillac!

The proper response to ‘Taurus X’ is ‘Taurus Y?’

One of the bids was from a Mr. Yosemite Sam who pledged “Two pistols full of buckshot for them thare varmints”

lackluster products=lackluster sales

It really is kind of sad to see these guys tank like this. Nobody to blame but themselves, but there appears to nothing out there to save them from going under. And who would want to buy them? The only unique value they have is in the Mustang, since everything else they make is just lesser versions of the same thing other companies already have. Even Mustang sales will slow to a crawl once the Camaro and Challenger come out. Thanks Billy, Jr….

“Ford blames part of the expected loss on significantly decreased sales to rental fleets.”
Well, Ford stopped selling the old Taurus to the fleets, and that’s what caused it. So, all Ford’s gotta do now to rid themselves of THAT problem (1 of many problems) is to sell the new Taurus to fleets. You have to sell it to them to make money! That’s how it works!

If they wanted a hit they should release an all electric car, similar to the EV1 back in the 90’s. If it was done back then it can be done now and can be improved upon. They have options, they choose not to act.

Whatever happened to their design “savior” J Mays? Ever since the Thunderbird debacle, I haven’t heard anything about him….

haha well it was only a matter of time before something went wrong…………..AGAIN

Ford, are you tired of having to report devastating quarterly loses? Do you shake with anger when you lose sales to superior foreign competitors? Well then, have I got the solution for YOU!

BRING OVER THE EUROPEAN PRODUCTS!!! GOD ****ING DAMN!!!

Agreed about an electric car. GM is doing it, why not Ford as well? Bold moves my ass :S

Step 1 – Fire/murder/disappear/kill/torture/rip-to-shreds your selfish bull**** anti-american union workers.
Step 2 – Privatize the company again so that you don’t have to deal with shareholders who know nothing about vehicles and hypocritically drive Mercs/Lexus anyway.
Step 3 – Use European design (Mondeo > all). American tastes have changed, get used to it.
Step 4 – Market ALL of your models as well as you marketed the Fusion
Step 5 – Start planning and engineering for the future (hydrogen, electric, china etc)

Regarding AgmLauncher’s plan: ESPECIALLY Step 1!

Ford doesn’t have the balls to make truly Bold Moves, its CEO didn’t know **** about cars when he was hired and has shown no indication of learning much yet. The future is bleak.

ford is bringing the euro focus… in 4 yrs!!!! at least it is a bold move, but by tht time, europe will have a much updated one where in tht case, we would be lite yrs behind Ford Europes lineup. they should also bring the aussie FPV team to actually redraw this whole bland lineup. they should bring the falcon…

oh and BTW, keep your trucks, and DO something about the ranger. its a POS and fix it before your truck sales flunk. plus leaving the whole SUV/passenger car lineup “american” will not do any good but just go garbage.

Ford should stick to muscle cars and pick-up trucks. Leave the bland sedan market for the others to squabble over. I seriously think they won’t ever get it right, though the fusion was a good attempt at correcting some of their mistakes. One model alone can’t take years of bad memories away however…

I’m stuck between “who cares” and “of course, that’s no surprise”. And I don’t really care to think about it anymore.

Ford is doing pretty good (yes I said it just to churn you guys)
You have to take losses to get gains, i predict some good sales next year?
Maybe

TOZO… What good will come from Ford selling the new Taurus to rental agencies? It will only go to hurt it’s image.

1c3d0g… The Taurus and many of Ford’s aerodynamically shapped cars is what got us to this stage in car design today. Most likely we’d still have bland, boxy cars. The Fusion is a very nice car, and so is the new Taurus, but they haven’t achieved a milestone like the aero-Fords of the 80’s.

AGMLauncher… Currently Ford is launching many fuel cell programs. Just one of those was mentioned on LLN a while ago. Don’t comment without due research.
http://www.leftlanenews.com/ford-to-attempt-fuel-cell-vehicle-speed-record.html
And just a simple side comment… I sincerely hope that Chinese made cars, regardless of price, ever get to American shores.

I don’t think Ford should just stick to making SUVS, muscle cars and Trucks. The Edge is a great looking SUV, and has been doing phenomenal in most reviews. The Fusion is a great sedan, although nothing in it is really phenomenal. The Taurus simply put, is a very nice car, but needs to go a step further to attain something the original Taurus had. The E-series and F-series are potent models for Ford, I hope to see the upcoming F-150 and E-series. I don’t know about the Expedition, Explorer or Escape, because I haven’t been in one. It seems to me though that Ford has some conflicts with so numerous SUVS.

If I was Ford management here’s what I would do:

1.) Re-manage Ford’s assets, money, dealerships, unions and workers. Cut down production for slow selling models, maybe get rid of the Escape or Explorer to make room for the Edge.
2.) Create and manufacture a unique platform and vehicle for both Lincoln and Mercury, individually speaking (one for Lincoln and one for Mercury). Maybe make Mercury a hybrid brand, or re-adjust it’s product line to better suit a different market.
3.) Either sell Jaguar and Land Rover, or go through with refreshening Jaguar. Bring Land Rover quality above par.
4.) Advertise Ford’s efforts on technologies and passenger safety. Not bogus “bold move” movies.
5.) Redesign and update the F-series, Focus, E-series, and importantly the Ranger.

Now that’s just my concept, but re-managing Ford’s assets, stock, unions, dealerships, workers and production would be a top priority. Advertising Ford’s efforts and updating vehicles would be a close second. The unique platform and not selling Land Rover and Jaguar would only go through if Ford of America was only losing modest money. Don’t forget, Ford of Europe is making record profits.

Fords comeback is planned. Losses were stated to ease in 2008…this is old news. There are about 5 products that Ford sells here that are in strong demand and low day supply. The rest are getting a facelift and redesign/axed/reengineered before or on 2010. Plant closings and taking the overcapacity out of they’re company will really take traction in 2008.The news media just can’t wait to jump on Ford…they’re the automotive bitch for the media!

“The proper response to ‘Taurus X’ is ‘Taurus Y?’

One of the bids was from a Mr. Yosemite Sam who pledged “Two pistols full of buckshot for them thare varmints”"

sorry but that just cracked my ass up so bad HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well look at whats chaning. The fusion is selling great, the new Tarus just arrived on the lots so we have yet to see its performance, and i have stopped to check it out and its a far cry from the horrible Tarus of old. The Edge is number one in its class (in slaes terms) and is flyin off of lots whether you like it or not, the diesel F150 is coming and the new Focus looks great. They’ve already said that they wont make money untill 2008 because fleet sales are going bye bye, and they are restructuring. I doubt any of you that say Mulally is a moron have actually read what he is doing but he is saving this company. When it comes to the corporate side of things he knows his ****, the car stuff can be learned, he was brought to Ford because he knows how to run a corporation, and that is how ford got into this mess to begin with. No leadership.

Its great to see american patriotism. All I can read on this blog is “bring euro model model over now”. What does that say about american car engineering?

Beside its easier said then done. The american requires different standards to everyone else in safety/testing meaning the euro models have to retest all models to be able to sell euro cars in america.

Once they are compatible they will more then likely cost more to sell then the japanese equvilent and we all know that amrican would rather buy (the japanese, god knows why?).

The next euro-model are being designed to be worldwide model so you can expect them to pass all standards from america, europe asia hell even india standards. They should also be around the same price as the japanese but trust me they will be class leaders like here in the UK.

Is ironic how the japanese copied the euro focus to beat the america focus.

Yep, unfortunately it takes time to create world products, since products for sale both sides of the pond are designed differently from day 1 due to different legislation. Otherwise you end up with daft workarounds like stupid bumpers on Lambo’s or chunks of wood used in the suspension of MGB’s…
It is a real shame though, as this side of the pond the products are good quality, good value and well designed, even if people still really aspire for / give in to badge snobbery and really want a BMW / Audi / MB.
I can only assume that the sell offs of the various marques are an urgent stop-gap to be able to keep the company going until the “last stand” of the world engineered cars come on line…

Update, Ford MADE 750 million!

I read the other article first where they made money, so now I know the power of false information

No see the deal is, the American market has the Mustang and…? The rest of the world gets the “good” Fords while we get the shaft. That’s something Ford brought amongst itself.

drag this injured horse out to the barn and shoot its ass. just be done with it. i’m of reading about these losers.

Syke!

All right jJAYC08: Here’s my theory! –>
Selling the Taurus to rental agencies will not hurt Ford’s image & will add $bucks$ to the company. Ignoring the fact that the Taurus is already a damaged name to begin with, Ford can get extra sales of about 15,000 units in the US per month by doing this, as Ford’s monthly sales figures have shown in the past. Yes, the Tauri will be sold at discounts, but the Taurus is likely to be sold at a discount to private buyers anyway. And the used Taurus market will be a little flooded, bringing the resale value down, but SO! The Taurus name will bring the resale value down anyway just because of the older Taurus models and their market flood. And… Image!?? Rental fleets are filled with Toyotas these days. No image problem there!

Good theory TOZO, and I understand that rental agencies are flooded with Toyotas, Nissans, GM’s, Hondas, Chryslers, and yes as you presumed, Fords.

But regardless, at the current moment the average customer views Toyota as a better brand, compared to Chevrolet or Ford- regardless of the fact Toyota has had the most recalls of any auto manufacturer in the past few years and it sells about 15% of the U.S Camry’s production to rental agencies (I’m unsure about that figure though… if you can confirm it, then please do).

It won’t add money to the company either.
-Ford sells these rental vehicles at low, discount prices which narrows the net profit of the car. Sometimes the vehicles are sold as a base model, with no options, and at other times their fully loaded.
-Not only that, but the resale image will immediately drop, and people will view a car from a rental agency differently than a used car. I’ve seen a number of programs on rental agencies, and how the renters don’t care about the vehicle because of the fact well… it’s not theirs to begin with! Actually, the resale value of a rental car is higher than that of a used car, but the cars history tells a “different” story to the person considering to buy the car.

More good points. And yeah, it wont add money to the company. Not profit anyway. It’ll pay off the plant workers though (& if turns out not to sell, Ford better just sell it to fleets then). Since fleet most likely wont add profit & could do a little harm to image (which Ford doesn’t need now), this following line in the article above is total BS: “Ford blames part of the expected loss on significantly decreased sales to rental fleets.” This was written before the numbers came out. Fleet cuts likely contributed to the surprise profits today.

^^ True… better to sell it to the public, but fleets still generate some sort of profit and keep them moving.

IT IS SAD TO KNOW THAT THEY ARE LOOSING PROFITS ON SUCH A CONSISTENT LEVEL.