Not to rain on the new F-150 parade but Ford's commercial paper has been downgraded again to CCC status.

Fitch downgrades Ford credit rating another notchOctober 6, 2008 4:41 PM ET advertisement

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compared with September 2007.

 

It's a shame that it has to be this way, however, the new vehicle market has popped just like the housing market has. New trucks have gone up an average of $700-$800 or more per year for how long? I know that materials and technology and people are expensive, however, sometimes keeping it somewhat simple may be best. In 1988 my F-150 was about $13,900 window sticker. I can't replace that truck today since Ford discontinued the 5 Speed manual tranny and the particular XLT Lariat package that my truck has. My truck is simple and 20 years old and still gettin' done. Why do we need 7 trim levels ranging in price from 22k - 50k?

Tim

 

Yep they went after the starbucks/mall and women demo :
No stick , no lock out hubs , no motor options . 10-20 years ago a f150 stick six was a great selling truck , a workhorse at a good price.
Now the mall crowd is buying a honda or toyota prius.
They forgot about the core truck buyer who needs a truck and will now pay the price.
All Auto , All V-8 , what a joke. buy hey they have a "platinum edition" that look's and rides like a caddy or town car with all the goodies truck people have No need for.

 

I think there's a need for the nice models in truck form. People these days have more money spare than 20-30 years ago and they have gotten used to being comfortable in their cars/trucks. Why wouldnt you want to get into a truck after work with heated/cooled seats. Why wouldnt you want a nice leather seats to sit on. why wouldnt you want a nice audio system. You have to remember that the truck is still a truck and a nice model will still do the same as the lower end models if ya happy to pay the price and want the luxery. If ya want an old banger to drive around in and mess up then buy a used truck. But there's a lot of people who take car off their truck's even though they use them for work. Also if they didnt do such nice models i would be having to buy a truck and a car as i wouldnt want to be driveing about in a piece of sh** truck in my own time. I drove stick shift for 16 years and to be honest i dont think i would ever go back and i think ford know that 99.9% of people are perfectly happy without stick shift. Why make something that is only going to sell to a very smal amount of people. I think they would sell more models with donut machines built in.

 

I'd go for the built in donut machine... but I'd still have to demand a stick shift otherwise NO DEAL. lol

btw bsimmer... I am sure we all appreciate you calling a non-leather non-heated seat truck like an XL a POS. Thanks man. Guess those trucks that are only around 30-35k are automatically beaters off the lot.

 

10-20 years ago was a different time. You could get an 8 track tape plaayer in the F150 then but times move on. The manufacturers make what the public will buy. The market for a stick shift six cylinder to so small that it is not profitable. Almost everyone who wants a stick has a spouse or partner than can't or won't drive one. If there was a profitable market for sticks, they would make them.

 

Yeah, if it doesn't recognize your voice and have your coffee ready for you in the morning, it's not a real truck

 

Ford's credit downgrade to CCC is unfortunate but not unexpected, concidering the current events/conditions.

I Loved the 4.9L I6/manual transmissions in my prior trucks, but I accepted that it's time had come to pass in 1996. Guess what? Ford still offers a solid axle/ manual lockouts/ manual transfercase/ manual transmission/ base truck. They sell it as a F-250 Superduty.

As long as a F-250 can be ordered as mentioned above, I really don't understand why there are complaints that the F-150 can't be had that way anymore.

I understand that when I purchased it(new), My 2006 XLT F-150 was/is more or less a base model. It has the features I need/want. I personally have no need for a $60,000 F-150, but I know that there are those like Bsimmer3000 that have the means to justify/afford one. That's fine, a person should be free to equip there vehicle with luxuries as they see fit.

Fun Fact: $13,900 spent in 1988 would be the equivalent of spending $25,742.14 in 2008, according to http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm

T. J.

 

Fitch downgrades Ford credit rating another notch: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

Here's a link to the orginal article, I see it was snipped by the Mods.

T. J.

 

They can't have any negative light cast on their beloved company. It reminds me of the liberal media and Obama.

Ford needs to have a fire sale and clear out the 08's now. The 09's are going to sit just like the 08's.

Ford needs capital and having additional F150's parked on the lots for months and months isn't going to help them at all.

 

Ford is about selling trucks. They sell what the market wants. The market is not for used buyers complaining about new models they'd never buy even if they were like they wanted them. Its about targeting the vehicles to the consumers who actually buy them -- not someone who buys used trucks.

If folks were lining up to buy new trucks with 6 cylinders, manual transmissions, AM/FM radios with cassette or 8-track and CB radios, Ford would be selling them. But the fact is the vast majority of buyers of new trucks want 21st century technology, not 20th century technology.

It may hurt the feelings of those with thin-skin but its true... Ford sells to new truck buyers and sells what they want.

I don't think anyone called XLs a POS. He said he's driven some POS's in his past. The fact is though that XLs are primarily sold to fleets and as very base work trucks. Its not that options aren't nice, but if I were purchasing a truck for a work crew I wouldn't pay for anything they would steal, break or abuse. The work crew doesn't need to spend its time listening to CDs, or getting mud out of the carpet.

 

I'm going to assume that falsehood was made out of ignorance, and not malice. Links to the articles are just fine, but the site has a policy of not allowing copyrighted material to be posted here and the guidelines are specific about it. There are plenty of links to positive and negative articles about Ford, and the staff, myself included, have made their share of criticisms about Ford Motor Company in these forums.

Also, keep the political comments out of the non-Club FTE section, please.


Thanks.

 

Yeah he did and at least I did not take it he was talking about old trucks...

I have no problem with them offering the fancy bling bling trucks... and I beleive that is where ford is making the most of thier money. And I would not think it wise for Ford to continue producing options that end up not being profitable. I think its just sad that 99.9% of new truck buyers have to have power leather everything to the point where Ford ditches these options. I know many folks who still have sticks in thier 150's and SD's and most of them would rather have them. As long as they still offer it in a SD and I can factory order it the way I want then I am happy, especially since the 150 is getting so bloated with standard options and high costs that a model I want (Scab, 4x4, cruise, and thats about it) is cheaper in the SD (as my post in another thread shows).


Yeah I am aware what XLs are commonly used for. Well, they used to have the work series,XL was not the lowest trim. Not really sure if thats the case still or not. And you could always add options to the XL, mine has cloth 60/40, cruise and tilt, AC, CD player, 4x4 off road, chrome bumpers, etc, that were not standard (at least at the time) on an XL. Its been a great daily driver for almost 10 years now.

Sorry I am really not trying to be rude by all these quotes but this one is almost funny. My truck is officially 10 years old and I can can attest that for the '99 model year and 8 track was not an option. I dont know for sure but perhaps 20 yrs ago.

 

Here's exactly what he said:
Also if they didnt do such nice models i would be having to buy a truck and a car as i wouldnt want to be driveing about in a piece of sh** truck in my own time.

I think you're pulling those numbers out of thin air. Where do you get your data from? What percentage have leather? What percentage have power everything? Did you just make up 99.9%?

The number of sticks sold with the SDs has been decreasing. The trend will follow...

Okay, but what does that prove besides that you're a bit two-sided about luxuries since you have them in your own truck? Who needs tilt, cruise, CD player, chrome, etc.? They are things people want and pay for. Or is only "bling" when its more than what you got? Different folks have different means and some therefore buy more and others less. No reason for folks to get into subtle classism throwing rocks at people. It smacks of being a hater. Ford will adjust what they sell over time to consumer demand. If the customer starts wanting stripped trucks Ford will eventually shift towards that... its the way of the market.

You missed my point completely.

 

Most of the Public will buy whats on the lot .
Whats on the Lot ? The big buck models with the most profit.
The lack of sales and future model changes with Smaller motors and more "truck like" options will tell the story.
An all V-8, Auto only for the F150 is just not going to work.
Ford will get back building trucks after this cycle of chick mall truck buyers bail on the market and go to the cars they should have bought in the first place.
Time will tell