i'm sure you have all heard about what is happening at ford motor company... i was just wondering what you guys thought about how these changes might effect future design and production of new PSD's.... opinions anybody..?

 

I doubt the restructuring at Ford is going to have significant effect on the PSDs, and in a broader sense on the entire full-size truck line. Big trucks are Ford's bread and butter - they aren't going to make any radical changes and risk losing their meal ticket. It's the various passcar factions and subsidiaries like Mercury that are going to be feeling the heat.

 

very astute observations, but i was actually thinking the other way... with less diversification in the company, i am wondering if they will have a little more time and money to invest in developing the PSD's further, hopefully making them better than they might otherwise have been.... wishful thinking on my part probably, but if PSD's are one of Ford's mealtickets as you say, it would make sense to place more focus on that product.... jmo...

 

Ford's in a tough situation but they can come out of it a better company with good leadership and heads up thinking. Remember IBM not so long ago and their
attitude and where they're at now.
Nut

 

I was watching one of those late night news programs the other night and several so called experts were predicting that FOMOCO would be bankrupt within 2 years.They say their problems are far worse than anyone knows.I kinda find that hard to believe but who knows.
Kinda funny that i know several people in the car business and they all claim that business is good,however they also say their piece of the pie is getting smaller and smaller due to the fact Nissan,Toyota and everyone else is making trucks cars,hybrids and etc,which makes their piece of the pie even smaller.
Ford still claims to have market share for trucks but that market share is half of what it used to be. Could be some hard times coming in the near future for the Automobile industry.

 

Part of the problem for the domestic manufacturers is the amount of wages and benefits that they have to pay compared to the Pacific Rim companies. I'm not saying earning a great salary is bad, that's the American dream. It's just the way it is.
And all the R&D for emission, airbag, etc costs that must be absorbed somehow.

 

Exactly. The Powerstroke is what brings in the $. Why change things up when its the best selling in that category?

 

i gotta agree with you kwik... i am all for folks making a nice living, but what good is that if the company is finacially destitute a few decades later... and don't forget the EPA has put TONS of additional costs into making a vehicle with their restrictions... and i have to also say that the american car manufacturers have had an unholy alliance with the oil companies... the car guys have deliberately dragged their feet in developing vehicles that can run on alternative fuels just like the oil companies have intentionally slowed the developement of them while simultaneously price fixing on the fuel they are selling... it's all one big mess and the american people are the real victims when all is said and done... i hope Ford gets it's act together and really does "make quality job 1" this time..!

 

Just lip service. Profits and stock prices are "job one"!

Pop

 

You're right on the trucks. They are the big money makers now. But when Toyota and Nisson start building 3/4 tons with diesel engines here, Chevy and Ford had better set their feet. I hate to see it, I like the big Fords, but the folks seem to love that Jap crap. I'm afraid in the future if you want to buy an American made truck it will have to be Japanese.

Frank

 

None of the american companies will be able to compete if they dont do something about the union wages and bene's. They have thousands of employes that are laid off but in a poole where they still get paid to play cards all day, this is a deal they worked out with the union, and paying peoples health care for life !! When I leave my company ( a semiconductor ) I'm on my own for health care. This is the same problem the airlines are having. If they dont wise up and make huge changes they will all be bankrupt. They also need to trim alot of upper managment fat, thats a problem with most companies.

 

Your characterisation of the airline issue is so far of course that it's obvious your argument is fueled by press "information" rather than the facts.

Fact: Airline tickets are cheaper today than they were in 1960.

Fact: Airlines pay more taxes than any other industry including ****, alchohol, and any other vice industry.

Fact: The average salary earned by commercial pilots in the US is 36,000 a year. The 300,000 a year 40 hour work month pilot is a myth.

Fact: The average passenger wants to fly around the world, get 5 star accomodations, a 5 star meal, and limo servic for 99 dollars.

Fact: Airline labor accounts for 4% of your ticket cost. TAXES account for more than 60% of your ticket.

Fact: US Airlines are taxed 20% higher than carriers in europe, pay their employess less, and have higer fares on average and still lose money while their contemporaries in europe and the far east make profits--labor is clearly not the problem.

Fact: Non bankrupt airlines have to pay for everything and compete against carriers propogated by bankruptcy laws that give "dead" airlines unbelievable operating advantages.

Fact: The government wants the airline industry to be unregulated yets continues to regulate it as if it were which forces good airlines into failure because they can't make market decisions due to regulatory roadblocks.

Fact: When you fly on one of those little airlines wall street loves so much think about these things:

Your pilots are there because they probably couldn't cut the mustard and get on with one of the majors. Your pilot probably paid for his job--that is, he had the money to pay for training and that guranteed his job--competence wasn't issue.

They don't have tomaintain the infrastructure necessary to operate world-wide. It's a lot easier to balance a spreadsheet with 40 million dollar airplanes than it is with 200 million dollar airplanes. Try to fly Jetblue to say Moscow or Spirit to London.

 

i couldnt help it---sorry!

 

snort , very good info on the airlines, you oviously know alot more about them than I do, I still stand by my union comments in respect to auto manufacturers... I know there are many other ways they can save money to but they have to look into getting away from the unions, at my company if we have a lay off they get rid of the loads, in the union if you have alot of seniority your set for life, thats no way to run a business..