Too funny, looks like Warren and i have an partner in crime!

Marlon, did you hear how much stock ford sold?

I mean who cares anyways right, mazda is just another import company

 

sure... strip me of my blue undies... you'll find a true blue butt, and other male body parts. "cut them off" you say... ok... but then there's going to be a mess of true blue blood all over the place... ...go on and laugh...but if there was a lot more people like Marlon, Morris and I, the automakers wouldn't be in the predicament they're in. there's no "sticktoitiveness" any more... no loyalties. its one little flaw and lets try something new... not only with the auto industry, but with everything.

 

Ford had 33% stake in Mazda now is 13%.

 

Thanks for posting this video Marlon, I really enjoyed it!
To me the last interesting Charger was back in the 60`s........

 

just messin with you guys!!! i`ve had lots of fords,gm`s and dodges, i will say the only one i will never go back to for newer cars or trucks is gm, i went from ford to gm because my buddies all bragged how their trucks were, the car i bought because it was one of the nicer cars out there (1999 grand am gt) at the time, between the car and truck they were in the shop every 2 weeks getting fixed, the car was the first to leave because it just fell apart, we traded it onto a honda crv, got tired of the truck,looked around and bought a 03 ram, never had a stich of problems with both, yes i like to wander from brand to brand but there`s good products in all brands, i`ve got multi-coloured underwear!!

 

Your saying that the automakers problems are actually caused by the consumer?

Puh-lease! I hope you were joking about that, otherwise that has loopholes all over the damn place!

Blind loyalty is such a sad thing, it doesnt help auto manufaturers at all.
I always laugh at the blind loyal consumer of every product. Its almost sad actually.
If people were that loyal to a company, guess where the quality would go? Ford itself has proven that in the past with their small and midsize cars. Look what happens when you dont meet the NEEDS and WANTS of the consumers?

The problem with the automakers is them, not the consumer. (a little more then one LITTLE flaw lol)
I will use ford specifically here, but they rode on selling trucks and suvs at high prices cause people were buying them. They didnt put alot of work into their car market at all. People notice that and buy elsewhere. Now all of a sudden the market changes and boom ford is caught. Notice how their quality has gone up considerably in the last couple of years (regarding cars)? They are always saying they are "catching up to import quality in cars" There are statistics to back that up!

So why would a person buy a worse quality product, for a little cheaper, (in alot of case the same)? For the majority, they dont. (theres lots of statitics to back that up too)

Would you stay with your wife if she cheated on you all the time? Would you buy tools if they failed you all the time and didnt suit your needs? (would you kep buying ford if the quality went down and they didnt provide what you needed, "cheating" you, as a consumer?)

I think you need to do some research my man, before ya start spouting that blind loyalty BS!
(not like you will, the truth would just suck to learn now wouldnt it?)

Ding ding ding, round 2?

(also I would like to add that just cause I am not ignorant to the problems with my favorite automaker Ford, doesnt make me any less of a Ford fan! I just choose to recognize the good, and the bad about them, to try and help them become a better company I also currently own 5 ford trucks, and in my life have owned more then 50 ford cars and trucks)

 

I`ve got multi-coloured underwear, it`s many different shades of blue.........

 

I have had 10 different ford vehicals(from cars,trucks and SUV's) and my parents a lot more. All those vehicals have been really good to us and so has Ford. Same with my Wife's family and she is as strong a ford person as I am, that's why we drive ford! I could not talk her into checking out a mazda 3 when we bought the focus!!

 

As long as it's just blue...

 

Thats definatly awesome for ya

I have had probably over 50ish (at least) ford products from various years and types. I stick by their v-8s, but alot of the other stuff has really let me down. Granted I bought all of them used, but I think used is the best way to determine how they really stand up against, well, everything.

There has been too many letdowns to myself, my family, and lots of other friends(alot of hardcore vehicle enthusiasts) and neighbours with the smaller ford(not just ford, but domestic) econo box's (alot of people buy a truck then like to have something better on fuel). Alot of people experienced the same thing over the years, and thats why the big 3 have their name rubbed in the dirt a little when it comes to anything other then trucks/suvs.

I can see why the big three are failing(personally, especially car-wise), and all Im trying to say is its definatly not because of the consumer, and lack of "loyalty", and thats a pretty silly uneducated thing to say.

 

As long as there isnt any shades of brown in there, I think your good to go!

 

Oh how wrong you are my young friend, for it was blind loyalty that really screwed them by not catching market trends in time including the call for more dependability and value. People just kept buying and market share signals didnt get through. With globalization and a better awareness of 'value' driven largely by economic realities of a shrinking disposable income for the middle class the bigthree found themselves behind the leaner meaner import companies! Everyone has the right to spend their hard earned $$$ wherever they want and it usually is a compromise between passion, practicality, value, and economics!

 

It`s a combination of factors such as that rapid rise of fuel prices, the down turn in the US and world economies.
Also as you stated Warren, not accurately anticipating up coming market trends. Possibly the union demands, pension plans and concessions are a significant factor.
All the former big three got caught and now even the ''leaner meaner import companies'' have found their sales and profits shrinking, none are exempt from today`s declining market conditions.
No doubt it`s a big mess........

 

Shades of brown.........
Fart cans, boom box cars, imports, smart cars............

 

Something ya may find interesting about sales

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/7...l-money-4.html Post 50

Thru July 2008:

2008 overall sales figures vs 2007 overall sales figures-YTD.

FoMoCo is down 14.6%.

F Series sales are down 22.4%

Explorer sales are down 51.8%
------------------------------
GM is down 17.7%

Silverado sales are down 26.1%

Tahoe sales are down 27.8%
----------------------------
ChryCo is down 22.8%.

Ram sales are down 30.0%

Durango sales are down 51.3%
------------------------------
Toyota is down 7.6%

Tundra sales are down 15.2%
-----------------------------
Honda is up by 3.2%.
----------------------------
Source: thetruthaboutcars.com