Comments on: Why Ford is Doomed

By: Frank

Frank — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 20:11:32 +0000

You’ve got one thing right, you may not know what you’re talking about. My Ford stock has also tripled since I bought it, not bad for a “doomed” company. And my 2007 Mustang GT has never had any kind of a service call except for oil changes. No issues of any kind, not even a squeak or a rattle.
Ford’s new CEO is a brilliant business person who turned Boeing around and is doing the same for Ford.
Want to test-drive a real yawner?, take a ride in a Camry. Unless, of course, the gas pedal sticks to the floor and won’t return.

By: Reuben Arlen

Reuben Arlen — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 13:20:59 +0000

I think this atricle lacked objectivity, Just a lot of unsubstantiated opinion, mean spirited.
I have had good service from Fords for many years. On average they are no uglier than most.

By: Joshua Steimle

Joshua Steimle — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 03:50:44 +0000

Awards don’t sell cars. Well, maybe they do, I don’t know what the facts say, but I doubt they do. I still stand by my remarks, except in the overall prediction that Ford is doomed because of their brand. Now I’ll say they’re doomed because they’re a US-based automaker, and either the unions or the government will crush them eventually. So yes, I’m wrong, but only because I used to think we had freer markets than we do.

By: RDJ

RDJ — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 02:36:37 +0000

Hahahahahahaha time has show the writer is an unmitigated idiot naysayer. My Ford stock has more than tripled since I bought it at 5 bucks. Ford is winning all kinds of awards for their CARS. would beinteresting to hear him backpeddle

By: Joshua Steimle

Joshua Steimle — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:01:00 +0000

And who would have known the government would come in and take over two of their primary competitors and run them into the ground.

By: ed crunk

ed crunk — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:49:20 +0000

ford is kicking ass now. new ceo does wonders.

By: Silence

Silence — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:47:16 +0000

Being built on American soil does not make a car American, any more than a child born to an American serviceman and his wife who are in Germany makes the child German. Just not true. A Honda built in Tennessee is still a Japanese car.

Other points are very well taken. Just being the last free-market American car company is not going to be enough to save Ford. The cars are going to need to stand on their own, and represent a product that a person will want to buy, regardless of the nameplate.

Much like food stamps, the stigma of buying a “foreign” car is gone. There is no more shame in stabbing your country in the back buy sending your hard-earned money to the only nation ever to drop bombs on US soil because you are only out for what’s best for you as an individual. No wonder there is no such thing as national pride in America. And it won’t return anytime soon, unless companies like Ford can make us proud to be Ford owners. I think it may be too late, but dammit, don’t stop trying!

That being said, I think the Fusion is one of the finest cars ever built in its class. And it’s made by an American car company! I would buy one if my Oldsmobile will ever die. But these facts don’t make a consumer like me WANT a Fusion…it makes us accept a Fusion. To drive a Fusion is to like the car, but you can drive a Camry and like it just as much (although Camrys have become deliberately uglier the past 10 years.)

The collective mindset of consumers has to believe that there is no correlation between Ford of 1985 and Ford of today. It may take a collapse and a phoenix-like resurrection of a new car company from the ashes of Ford with new name, new logo, new styling, new everything. It won’t happen soon enough to make a difference, I fear.

By: sternhead

sternhead — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 13:12:53 +0000

>What comes to mind when you think of Ford?

Sears Toughskins jeans, wholesome family 70′s TV scmaltz, squares, Sears and Roebuck, K-Mart, Ron Howard, freshman republicans with dorky haircuts, clip-on-ties, pants-too-high, dysfunctional families whose kids go on shooting sprees, gross candy Easter eggs with a million year shelf life, people who actually eat those eggs, bad dressers, dinosaurs.

Ford is fogey…..

By: Craig Roberts

Craig Roberts — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 04:45:21 +0000

Hmmm…Our single largest retail industry is in jeopardy of imploding. Haven driven many Fords well past the 200k mark, I can’t imagine that their products are overall of inferior quality or are bad enough to boycott. Most people today in this country could care less whether an American industry is preserved or not; so what does that say about their dedication to their country? On the same note, it will be interesting to see how many Chinese cars sell in Japan, as the Japanese tend to be protectionists for their industries.
If we’re going to accuse an auto maker of making ugly cars, look no farther than Toyota or Subaru. AMC Pacers are gorgeous in comparison to the vast majority of their product line. The influence that “international” styling has had on the automobile industry has not been positive. One thing I loathe, for instance, is only having the choice between grey and brown interiors. How absolutely depressing and boring.
Ford could improve its overall performance and styling image, such as with the Mustang and its European products and fare very well so long as the cost of the cars is kept in check.

By: Joshua Steimle

Joshua Steimle — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 17:25:52 +0000

I’m aware of the AFA boycott but I’m not sure how many other people are, and therefore I’m not sure how much of an effect it is having. Leaving the question of morals aside, here’s a little speculation on why catering to the gay community is a bad business move for Ford. This is somewhat tongue in cheek and includes a healthy deal of stereotyping, but bear with me, maybe I’m on to something.

Issue #1
1. Gay people seem to be more style/fashion conscious.
2. Ford is not a style conscious company.
3. Therefore gay people probably don’t and won’t buy Fords (they probably prefer VWs and other European cars), no matter how much marketing Ford does to cater to the gay community.

Issue #2
1. People who drive Fords, especially trucks, are good ol’ straight, American cowboys.
2. Good ol’ boys don’t particularly like gay people.
3. Ford’s catering to gay people is going to be a turn off to good ol’ boys.

The result? Ford’s sales to gay people don’t increase at all, but sales to good ol’ boys decrease. Net result? Bad.

Again, that’s pure speculation. Maybe gay people do like Fords. Maybe cowboys do like gays (I’ll refrain from any Brokeback Mountain references here). Maybe cowboys don’t realize that Ford is marketing to the gay community. Maybe Ford’s bad sales are due to making cars that nobody likes. But then again, maybe I’m right, who knows.