Hummer to be wound down

[quagmire]

Ford is doing quite well even with the debt load. Their market share and stock price continues to rise. Last month, Ford outsold GM in the US for the first time in 13 years. If you go back before that one month in 1998 when GM had a large strike to contend with I think you would find the last time that happened was sometime during the Great Depression. I am not sure if it will become a trend, but it is a notable accomplishment.

You have to understand that one of the biggest reasons Ford took a risk and mortgaged everything to survive without going through bankruptcy is the Ford family did not want to lose control of their company. Without the family, Ford probably would have went down the same path as Chrysler and GM.

You criticize others for wishing that GM would go under, but it sounds like you criticize Ford for taking the high road and being accountable for their own actions. Bankruptcy and a Government bail-out is the simple solution. Doing what Ford has done is not and I think customers notice that. Just think Ford was able to outsell GM this past month and they have many new products that have not even launched yet. One example in my mind is comparing the next generation Focus to the upcoming Chevy Cruze. I hate to say it to a GM fan, but the new Focus is going to have the Cruze for lunch when it comes to sales. I think the same is true when we compare the Fiesta to the Aveo. GM has made a lot of improvements, but I still think Ford can and will produce higher quality small cars. When the economy is poor small economical cars are big sellers.

This is just my opinion. I hope all of our US automakers survive. I am a little worried about Chrysler because they don't seem to have much of anything new and Fiat can only go so fast when it comes to trying to re-build the line. GM and Ford both have some nice new products, but I am glad that Ford has done it without taking massive Government bail-outs and that the family still controls the company. Bill Ford has said before that you care A LOT more when your name is on the building and on the products you make. I think this is very true.

Not criticizing, just pointing out Ford took a huge risk, but luckily it paid off. They have a good image right now. Just pointing out financially Ford is not in good shape at the moment. But, since they are starting to be profitable again, they can get that debt paid off.


I am not so sure about the new Focus design wise. I am sure it will sell well, but I liked the previous European Focus better then the new one. They ruined the Fiesta though in sedan form.

 

[QuantumLo0p]

IMO the market should decide; it is self correcting but the Obama regime would have believe otherwise. The gov't should never had stepped in. It was a bad idea and still is. It is wrong for the gov't to own so much of our economy. Any of our economy, actually. That is not the purpose of gov't. It is wrong for the gov't to bail out the auto workers unions as well and is nothing less than a power grab.

Personally I know nobody who approves of the gov't takeover. I know quite a few people who used to be die-hard GM fans as well as Big-Three fans.

But no more. They have all vowed to never buy another GM product. Even if GM could pay back the tax payers, which will most likely never happen; the power grab by the current regime will attempt to perpetuate.

We would serve the future well to follow the wise decisions of our founding fathers and the framers of out constitution rather than the irrational, oppresive rants of Hitler, Chavez, Castro and Kim.

What the heck happened to us?!? How did we get so lost?!?


You are all entitled to your opinions as I are to mine...at least for now, until our constitution is rendered completely useless.

 

[quagmire]

IMO the market should decide; it is self correcting but the Obama regime would have believe otherwise. The gov't should never had stepped in. It was a bad idea and still is. It is wrong for the gov't to own so much of our economy. Any of our economy, actually. That is not the purpose of gov't. It is wrong for the gov't to bail out the auto workers unions as well and is nothing less than a power grab.

Personally I know nobody who approves of the gov't takeover. I know quite a few people who used to be die-hard GM fans as well as Big-Three fans.

But no more. They have all vowed to never buy another GM product. Even if GM could pay back the tax payers, which will most likely never happen; the power grab by the current regime will attempt to perpetuate.

We would serve the future well to follow the wise decisions of our founding fathers and the framers of out constitution rather than the irrational, oppresive rants of Hitler, Chavez, Castro and Kim.

What the heck happened to us?!? How did we get so lost?!?


You are all entitled to your opinions as I are to mine...at least for now, until our constitution is rendered completely useless.

You can add me to the list of people who supported it. I do not believe in letting our domestic auto industry go down the tubes and rely on foreign brands for our products. I do not like that Ares was cancelled with no plans for a replacement program to replace the Shuttle because we are now reliant on the Russians to get us to space.

Considering how poor our public transportation is, I would not feel comfortable relying on cars companies from foreign countries just in case our relations sour. Call me paranoid, but I believe in being self reliant for our products. We already don't allow foreign companies to buy a majority stake in our domestic airlines nor do we allow foreign airlines to fly within the US( as in fly from NYC to Las Vegas). This is to protect our aviation industry. Lets say we let British Airways buy United. We go to war with Britain and BA can tell United to stop flying in the US.

Tell your friends if they went to buy a Toyota( and Honda most likely, but I have read of them helping Toyota more), that their government has given them money as well. They also gave Toyota money last year back in the worst of the recession. Sort of hypocritical of them if they refuse to buy a GM product because our government stepped in to aid our own industry while they buy a product from a company that their own government has aided them.

 

[QuantumLo0p]

There seems to be a lot of internal struggle for people involved in what used to be considered to be "American" cars. To buy an American brand car with a high percentage of foreign made parts and foreign assembly or buy a foreign car that has more American parts and assembly. Obviously it varies model to model but there are foreign models with more manufacturing and assembly done by American workers. The only difference becomes the stock of the company. That IS a very hard pill to swallow for union workers but sooner or later they have to accept reality.

The Honda Goldwing touring motorcycle had more American parts and assembly than Harley Davidson. That was one heck of bitter pill for Harley riders. Can you imagine?! (Although that was an old stat, I wonder if it still holds true. I will look it up.)

I would prefer to buy a car, any brand even foreign, that has a high level of American parts and assembly. To me that IS an American made car, like it or not. To take it one step further I could buy stock in that company too. Unions are going to have to get with the 21st century and make themselves sustainable if they want to survive. As of yet they are becoming more and more huge pains in the arse and more of them will be broken if they don't play ball with everyone else. Everyone is getting quite fed up with entitlements and the HUGE union "tax" that inflates car prices. That is one reason I have not bought a car newer than two years old; I find a clean, slightly used model I like and let the first owner take the 30-50% depreciation then step in to own the majority of the life of the vehicle.

 

[sharilewis]

H3 is 5 cylinder better on gas than Toyota, Range Rover, Jeep, Pathfinder, Ford F150, Cadillac cars, some BMW's and more so what's the problem?


Yuasa NP7-12

 

[H00513R]

The sooner the better. What a worthless hunk of junk.

 

[MattG]

Good riddance.