Comments on: If Anyone Can Save Ford....

By: Ray in PA

Ray in PA — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 22:23:04 +0000

Reality Check…
With both housing and car manufacturing, we created more capacity than we need. Subsidizing these industries will not solve the problem. We need to downsize them to meet realistic demand. We don’t need to continue to build houses that people don’t need while we have a hugh and building housing inventory. If we need to employ home builders, turn them loose in the cities to rehabilitate houses/apartments ala Habitat for Humanity.

Also, with regards to cars, are you going to buy a new car today or next year when you know in two or three years they’ll be more efficient and maybe run on electricity or some other alternative fuel? With many people in deep credit debt and others losing their jobs, who is going to buy the new cars Detroit is planning on producing?

I think we need to face reality and merge the big three car companies together. We need to take the excess labor and train them for new jobs outside the auto industry. Otherwise, we’ll just be wasting our tax dollars and have to face the same problems down the road. Bite the bullet now and make better use of that bailout money.

By: James

James — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:34:45 +0000

The Detroit 3 Auto Manufactures contribute to 1 out of every 10 jobs in the US. If anything was to happen to one of these companies it would have a direct effect on every state. If you think because you are not directly dealing with one of the auto makers it won’t effect your industry, you are dead wrong. If you truly believe they should fail, wait and see what happens to your industry?

I can not believe that people would suggest that it would be better to have a foreign company meet the market demands. The domestic Auto Companies keep their money and invest in the US, foreign companies take it home to invest in their countries. Buy American, support America, keep jobs in America. It is the only way to get the economy turned around. I believe in free markets, but you have to re-evaluate the Detroit 3’s products. Do you want us to purchase your goods & services? Maybe we should look for an offshore solution to your industry? How long could you survive?

Its easy to say “let them fail” however, you have to look at the entire scope and impact that a failure would have on this economy.

If you have not purchased a domestic car lately you really need to see how they have improved and exceeded quality standards against all the foreign competition. Ford, GM and Chrysler contribute more to the US economy then most people understand and their products are Best in Class.

By: Listening In Texas

Listening In Texas — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:30:57 +0000

I would agree to LOAN the big three automakers ONE years worth of cash PROVIDED there were some drastic changes BEFORE the loan occurred; else they can go under like all the other companies that have made POOR decisions.

1. As condition of the ONE year cash flow loan. The UAW is disbanded and no longer threatens to walk out strike or any other action to stop the flow of cars off the assembly lines.

2. Car companies get OUT of the financing industry.

3. All employees are working for the companies; not the UNIONS.

4. All the companies agree to offer multi-fuel models. This is not difficult; Ford already does this in South America.

5. The companies agree to setup their own insurance for employees and remove it from the cost of a car.

6. The employment structure is established closer to what Toyota does. It looks like they have it right. Granted the car companies will say “bunk” about this; however it is obvious their business model has FAILED. They failed their employees, their retirees, stock holders and any other investors. When they have to come to the government for a multi-BILLION dollar BAIL OUT as a direct result of their poor planning and poor decision making; then we in turn should have some say about what they can and cannot do regarding future needed dollars.

If they only want the dollars with no accountability (like AIG going on business vacations on our dollar, and even those who have not invested in the company); let them FAIL just as they have. Someone like Toyota and Honda will step in to fill the gap. Let the private sector take care of them…. oh, yea… not many takers out there it looks like….. hhhmmmmmm… maybe we really need to think this one over some more as well.

By: blogsstopped

blogsstopped — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:25:50 +0000

I hope Ford is sued retro in class action for polluting, wrecking the atmosphere, causing pulmonary distress – no doubt some cancers from auto emissions.

Turn off the machine – use the force Luke.

By: A.J

A.J — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 13:59:06 +0000

There is a time to criticize and time to understand.I owned a GM cars since 1970’s
I also owned 2 Japaneese cars , one Italian and one French.All 4 of my foraign cars did not last very long.They were a pile of junk.Every car manufacturer have its share of problems.It is very competitive market.But who is responsible for the problems in the car industry.Politicians because of ever increasing demand on polution,milage,unions because of unreasonable wages and benefit demands and finaly us.Lots of us are plainly
ignorant and buy foregn cars because we believe that they are better.If one takes a time to research milage,quality and cost of ownership he will find that there is very small diference between imports and domestic cars if any.
I travel a lot visiting countries all around the world.I Germany a great percentage are German cars,in France French cars in Japan Japaneese cars in USA foreign cars.
The only country where I sow most American cars was China.I guess that Chineese know more about American cars then we do.

By: bruce

bruce — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 12:46:48 +0000

Lets see, Mr Mulally an Aerospace Exec, is going to save a car company. How original! Well actually, wasn’t Studebaker supposed to be saved by Curtis-Wrigt’s Ron Hurley? And boy didn’t that work in 1957! Actually he turned a 200 million doller company into a 20 million dollar in the space of a year. Good luck Alan!

By: Rich Pelkey

Rich Pelkey — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 10:17:58 +0000

A little eco 101 for those who say I dont want my money to save the big 3. First of all if they file bankruptcy their pensions become unfunded and the us government is on the hook for them. 2nd if their stock goes to zero your retirement plans if in mutual funds will take a hugh hit as not only do the big 3 go under so will thier suppliers. Their suppliers are also unionized so then we have more pensions to cover. That means local and national store chains will lose thousands of customers and then some will have to close down increasing unemployment. A lot of these people will have their houses forclosed on forcing down the value of your home. That means more loses for the banks and you will end up paying for that all over again. The issue is what is cheaper for everyone. I would love to see the big 3 given 50 billion in loans. It was not mismanagement that caused the issue they are facing. It is an union that did not get the fact that at some point you cannot get more when the company starts loosing money. I bet if given a choice all those union members would take 2/3rds pay versus unemployement. However the union will never let that happen. they would rather see people lose their job rather than give something up.

By: Chris Pedersen

Chris Pedersen — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 06:48:46 +0000

I worked for ford for fifteen years. I was a sales manager for most of those fifteen years. We all saw it coming. Ford quality is TERRIBLE. The taurus was known for its bad transmissions. The T-BIRD was a total disaster. Ford took a great car that everyone could afford and turned it into a (sports car, two seater, that very few people could afford, and priced it with the BMW crowd)IT FAILED The contour which Ford said it spent a billion dollars on to develop was an ugly car, TERRIBLE QUALITY, and looked like a disaster when it came out. Then they made the Freestar, which they called a CROSSOVER, but was just a station wagon. The ford 500 was so under powered we told the sales people not to take it on a test drive on the freeway.!!(TURNS OUT FORD NEW ABOUT THE UNDER POWER OF ITS 3.0 LITER ENGINE, WHICH WAS JUST A TAURUS ENGINE STUCK IN A N EW 500 FORD) The focus, we sold it to college students….THE F-150 was FORDS bread and Butter….. Then the gas crisis…..I HATE FORD PRODUCTS, I HOPE THEY FOLD and take all the union idiots with them… They made their own beds… SLEEP WELL FORD!!!!!!AND THE FORD ESCORTS HAD A TERRIBLE CRASH RATING… PUT THE FORD EXECUTIVES IN JAIL!!!!!!!!!! YOU DESERVE TO GO BANKRUPT!!!!!!!

By: A Capitalist

A Capitalist — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 22:53:56 +0000

Consumers have voted with their dollars. The verdict, let the Big 3 go under. If the consumers wanted to give Ford or GM a bailout, they’d do it by purchasing their products at prices higher than Ford and GM’s cost to produce them.

By: Hunter Baker

Hunter Baker — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:20:33 +0000

I mentioned this over on the American Spectator blog, but I have a hard time understanding why Ford isn’t doing considerably better than GM. I’ve driven models from both companies the past few years and have the sense Ford has come far closer to giving me the Honda Accord style driving experience I’ve wanted.