S&P Downgrades Ford & GM
 

Here is a CBC article read me

No big surprise here. Status 'JUNK' product 'JUNK'

Direct relation. Look how much money they waste on warranty.

Too bad a lot of people may lose jobs, pensions and maybe more?

:cry2:

I do not understand the "look how much money they waste on warranty".
What do you mean?

What do you mean Ford junk?

Ford has actually cut their warranty costs A LOT since Mr. Ford became CEO.

Look how much money they wasted on a low volume car like the Ford GT, the money they spent developing that car could've went to paying down their debts and/or bolstering their current line up with more cost effective cars that could compete with cars such as the Civic, Corolla, and other mid sized imports. And one other thing Ford could do is bring the KA over from Europe... Couple that with cutting vehicles like their large SUV’s (i.e. Expedition, Navigator, and Excursion); Ford could bring the overall cost of production down substantially.

My 11 year old Mustang has taken a serious beating and is still running just fine. I haven't had to replace anything other than ball joints to stop the damn squeeking. The engine may not be in tip top shape but it hasn't had anything break on it at all.. ever. I would hardly call that a junk product.

It pains me to see neighbours buying import cars when they live in Windsor and could help out the economy in some way by buying Ford, GM or Chrysler. Hell, my engine was built here.

I knew GM was in trouble, but I thought Ford was doing OK.

Guess not.

do you understand the concept of a Halo car? How many OTHER cars do you think Ford sells more of because of the GT? probably quite a few. Not to mention it brings back the lustre of the brand. I don't think the GT is going to end up costing Ford money, to the contrary, I believe they're making money off it, and if they build a Shelby GR-1 or equivalent on the same platform, then all the R & D and tooling costs are paid for.

How many people would buy the KA? if Ford thought they could make money off it by bringing it here, they would, as much as you like to believe it, they aren't stupid.

and hey, while your at it, why not eliminate all cars that Ford makes money off. (Ford did already ditch the excursion though - because it was NO LONGER profitable, and gave the company a bad image)

Ford's problem has a lot more to do with how much they pay their workers, the UAW, an organization so smart they just might run their biggest employer (GM) into bankruptcy.

I would buy a Ka as a winter beater but the GT brings back some added lustre to Ford :tup

I'll do this in point form....

- The Mustang Cobra should be the Halo car, as it is more attainable to the general public

- You would be very surprised on how much for could make off importing the KA, just look at how much Mercedes Benz is making off those ugly little Smart Cars

- Ford still makes the Excursion, but yes it does draw bad press from many sources much like the other large SUVS...

- If you would've read the article in depth, you would notice that SUV sales are at an all time low, and will continue to fall as gas prices rise

And just for the record, I am not saying close the plants that produce the SUV's, I am saying make more fuel efficient vehicles, that could compete with comparable imports, so Ford can become profitable and up grade their status from "junk"....

- There are only a few segments that Ford's don't stack up against the imports.

- however good Ford vehicles are, they're still going to have the massive problem of the UAW. It's the product that sells cars, but only if you can sell it at a reasonable price, AND still make money off it that you'll upgrade from "junk"

the GT and the Mustang are both halo cars and ford as a company does need these vehicles to boost thier image those are very good points. of all the vehicles that we need to bring over from europe i wouldent agree with the KA. if we made the focus here the same as it is in europe we would have no problems the diesel in the focus over there is awesome plus it would be nice to have an ST300 over here or even a Falcon FPV from aussieland. and we do have a car out to compete with the corolla and camry the fusion debuts this fall. our line is getting better. with the exclusion of the excursion im kinda glad its gone. but teh expedition and navigator are vidal parts of our business. the other major halo car we couldent be without is the F150 if it wasent for those cars we'd be in alot worse shape than we are now. Ford will bounce back. they are building better cars than ever for cheaper. GM on the other hand...... just my 0.02