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Ford reports record yearly loss
- Thread starter edesignuk
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Lazy
They've tried to ignore climate change and it's biting them in the bum now.
If they had adapted to greener technologies sooner, people might be interested in buying their product. I'm glad to see the likes of the Fiesta and Ka heading to North America now. I just hope they don't do what they did to the Focus and inflate it's size!
They've tried to ignore climate change and it's biting them in the bum now.
If they had adapted to greener technologies sooner, people might be interested in buying their product. I'm glad to see the likes of the Fiesta and Ka heading to North America now. I just hope they don't do what they did to the Focus and inflate it's size!
I didn't say green. I said greener. Are you saying that Americans have no interest in getting the maximum out of their fuel? Surely if your cars were more efficient like European cars it would be a benefit? If the American market doesn't offer greenner cars, how are you supposed to buy them?
Yes.
You're starting to change now, and so they're coming to market in your country.
Businesses are here to make money. If there was a huge market for fuel efficient vehicles, they would have made smaller, fuel efficient cars years ago, possibly more diesels as well. Why not? Again, businesses are here to make money, and they'll give you what everyone wants if it means they'll sell more cars, while taking sales away from their competitors.
I agree, but we're talking about a company which isn't making any profit. Clearly it needs to change and is changing, because those fuel efficient vehicles are heading to the US. The market is there, they just didn't see it. Bare in mind that it's the same for most of the US car companies.
Come on, you want to tell me that the "Big 3", plus all the European car manufacturers, plus all the Japanese car manufacturers, sold cars that Americans didn't want for over a decade?
In fact, Japanese car manufacturers like Honda and Toyota had to actually develop SUVs to sell in North America, since they felt that they were losing out on sales. If the market was prime for smaller, fuel efficient vehicles, I'm fairly certain that several car manufacturers would have caught on and spent that money on developing, or I should say, bringing over their fuel efficient cars from other markets.
In fact, Japanese car manufacturers like Honda and Toyota had to actually develop SUVs to sell in North America, since they felt that they were losing out on sales. If the market was prime for smaller, fuel efficient vehicles, I'm fairly certain that several car manufacturers would have caught on and spent that money on developing, or I should say, bringing over their fuel efficient cars from other markets.
Yes they don't. Why are Americans buying Prius's? Because they love the image of being green. If it had no positive image, people wouldn't give a hoot about it. If we were so interested in getting the most out of our fuel, we would have switched to diesel a long time ago......
Anyway, the economy sucks and it isn't just affecting the American automakers. Toyota is reported to post their first loss in 70 years and rumors of having $18.5 billion dollars left in reserve. It is just the market hit the American automakers first. Toyota will follow within the next year if things don't improve and these reports are true.
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/01/26/toyota-reportedly-down-to-18-5-billion-in-cash/
At the same time, announcing their first loss in 70 years and losing $40m per day like Ford have done are worlds apart.
No large company can be agile enough to withstand a recession unscathed, but the US carmakers have been hit particularly bad because they are inefficient, crippled companies unable to compete in a global market.