Ford cutting back on the Minivan

[Toronto]

Ford will announce on monday, that they plan on cutting back in north america (1 in 5 employees in canada and US over the next 5 years)

with these cut back, they plan on shutting down minivan production.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/...ans-usat_x.htm

[graywolf624]

Woohoo.. nationwide pussy whipped men rejoice. ..... and one jw member...

[racer_f50]

they plan on shutting down minivan production.

Wohoo! Now if they'll just cut back a bit more and get rid of the SUVs it'll be a much more convenient place to drive for those of us with small cars

[noliebro]

good, maybe they will come back with a new one that does not look like a foot and dosn't cost some stupidly high prices.

[loliea]

They should put a real CEO with a vision instead of crushing US workforce...
I am betting that in 4 years there will be a new reorg and restructuring!

[nthfinity]

Originally Posted by loliea They should put a real CEO with a vision instead of crushing US workforce... I am betting that in 4 years there will be a new reorg and restructuring!

tell me, when since 2001 has Ford not been in the process of reorganization?

as far as a 'real' CEO... well, Bill ford did have Ford in profits even in 2005... a bonus does exist... im not sure about GM, however.

the real problem in Ford are the "yes men" there are far to many at higher level positions; that have real problems prioritzing, and fixing problems cheaply/correctly... and are incredible egocentric persons.

also... its not so nice to have a Ford family member name so many of the models... so many have such crappy names... "zephyr/millan/freeXXXX" etc.

[jon_s]

Originally Posted by loliea They should put a real CEO with a vision instead of crushing US workforce... I am betting that in 4 years there will be a new reorg and restructuring!

There are some who think Chapter 11 bankruptcy is on the cards long before 4 years! Could be a good thing in the long run.

[AlienDB7]

Originally Posted by loliea They should put a real CEO with a vision instead of crushing US workforce... I am betting that in 4 years there will be a new reorg and restructuring!

More like the other way around. A 'real' CEO has goals instead of talking about vision all day. You can say Ford is crushing US workforce but look at the big picture. Either Ford goes bankrupt and everyone loses their job or a portion of people get laid off and work elsewhere.

Last thing you want is a doctor with the vision of saving your life who just sit there and let the cancer grow. So far, Bill Ford is doing a good job with his goal of getting Ford back in profit.

I can see Ford is in better shape than GM in the long run. They have probably some of the best designer in the business right now

[jon_s]

If you can be arsed, quite an interesting read:

SAN FRANCISCO (AFX) -- A day after Ford Motor Co.'s sweeping cost-cutting plans and upbeat earnings report triggered a surge in its ailing stock price, Wall Street on Tuesday injected a dose of harsh reality into the bull party. Analysts, as a whole, were unconvinced that Ford's 'Way Forward' plan is the cure for what ails the automaker. While the plan calls for cutting 30,000 jobs and shutting 14 plants, it offered no news on how to tackle ballooning health-care and pension costs. Ford shares have shed 36% of their value over the past 12 months. Calyon Securities' Joseph Amaturo downgraded the stock to reduce from neutral and slashed his price target to $7 a share from $10. He said that Ford's latest approach to retooling the business looks too much like its 2002 'Revitalization Plan'. 'Sadly, we know how that plan worked out and we question whether the results of this new plan will be much different,' he added. Amaturo slashed his earnings targets for 2006 to 16 cents a share, down from $1.25, with 'significant' losses on tap from its North American automotive operations. Merrill Lynch's John Murphy agreed, calling the plan a 'mirror image' of the prior restructuring and saying the assumption of Ford maintaining flat market share is extremely ambitious. 'As Ford increases its offerings of small cars and CUVs, and SUV sales fade, margins will come under considerable pressure,' Murphy said, pointing out that Ford's better than expected, fourth-quarter earnings will be difficult to repeat. 'This is a tough backdrop in which to successfully execute a turnaround plan.' Ford previously pegged sales of CUVs, or crossover utility vehicles, to surpass SUV sales this year, and it's placing bets accordingly. At the Detroit auto show earlier this month, Ford showcased the Edge crossover, which will go on sale later this year -- basically a smaller, more fuel-efficient version of a profitable SUV. Targets, we need targets Ford rankled Wall Street much like General Motors Corp. did last year, when it said that it will stop issuing financial guidance. 'The company's announcement that it will not provide earnings guidance going forward, however, came as more of a surprise, making it notably more difficult to isolate and gauge the impact of restructuring,' said Himanshu Patel of J.P. Morgan, one of the few analysts on Wall Street with an overweight rating on the stock. Chiming in from the debt side, GimmeCredit analyst Craig Hutson agreed that Ford needs to offer more clarity. 'While Ford provided some long-term goals, including automotive profitability in North America by the end of 2008, the plan was severely lacking in benchmarks of how to measure Ford's success along its road to recovery,' he said. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call currently forecast a 2006 profit of 71 cents a share, on average. Targets, however, range from as low as 10 cents a share to a high of $1.25. Job cuts contagious Ford shares soared as much as 9% Monday after the company announced its latest round of job cuts and plant closures in an effort to restore its North America auto operations to profitability by 2008. But after the initial buying spree waned and the news began to seep in, the stock gave up a chunk of the day's gains by the closing bell and continued to decline into Tuesday's session. Ford's detailed restructuring follows a similar plan from rival General Motors late last year, and preceded DaimlerChrysler's announcement on Tuesday that it will cull 6,000 white-collar jobs -- more evidence that the U.S. car market is in adapt-or-die mode. So far, more than 60,000 GM and Ford jobs are on the chopping block in North America. DaimlerChrysler didn't specify where its reductions would take place, but most of its salaried workforce is based in Germany. In midday trading, shares of Ford were up 2 cents at $8.35 while GM was up 3% at $22.52 and DaimlerChrysler advanced 5% to $54.85. This story was supplied by MarketWatch. For further information see www.marketwatch.com.

[graywolf624]

They have probably some of the best designer in the business right now

So why has gm produced the solstice and the sky while Ford answered with the Fusion and 500... (ouch)

The reality is, without dumping there unions they are both screwed. They have benefits fees that mean for every 1 employee working 4 more are getting retirement benefits. They cant reorg in terms of plants(where they really need it) cause the unions wont let them. Its the british leiland part 2.. Except this time theres no one big enough to buy the remenants..

[AlienDB7]

Originally Posted by graywolf624 They have probably some of the best designer in the business right now So why has gm produced the solstice and the sky while Ford answered with the Fusion and 500... (ouch) The reality is, without dumping there unions they are both screwed. They have benefits fees that mean for every 1 employee working 4 more are getting retirement benefits. They cant reorg in terms of plants(where they really need it) cause the unions wont let them. Its the british leiland part 2.. Except this time theres no one big enough to buy the remenants..

Consider the development time of an average car, it takes time for the new design to show up in the market. The new mustang was well received and it's much better on the eyes than the copycats from GM and Chrysler. Either way, Fusion is a huge improvement from the old Taurus.

Look at what Ford did to Mazda. Certainly mazda had one of the most boring (beside RX7) line-up back then, now it has one of the most interesting line-ups for family cars in the market segment. Ford did a great job with Aston and Land Rover as well.

Ultimately, it's all about the Products. Sure the big 3 on avg have may be $2000 higher cost per car than the jap competitions but it wouldn't be a problem if people are actually buying the car without the rebates. Look at how well they did with the SUVs. High[er] margin products people would pay a premium for. Like at the europeans, they have high manufacturing cost but they're doing very well simply cause people want to buy them, even at a premium...

The next 5 years should be very interesting in the North American market. With the chinese selling new cars here, the entry level market will probably be saturated with the Korean makers getting squeezed. Hyundai, KIA and Daewoo have been moving up in the market so who knows if at this rate they'll become the next Toyota, Honda and Nissan? They can build cars at low cost and with decent quality, not to mention all the standard features... all they need is a name people can pronounce