Why did Ford exit the medium/heavy busniess?
Why did Ford sell their medium/heavy busniess to Freightliner, and for it in turn; to become Sterling?
Why was the B-Series School bus chassis discontinued?

 

This is all my opinion. I grew up in my father's Ford heavy truck dealership and was still there when Ford sold out. I think the biggest reason Ford sold out was to make pickups at the Louisville truck plant. The F150 and super duty business was Ford's bread and butter and they needed to expand capacity. The big truck business was booming in the mid/late 90's and Jim Hebe was buying anything that was available. It was ready made for Freightliner to take it over as ideally no one on the Ford side had to move as everything stayed where it was for the most part other than production. But Freightliner had a plant in Canada so that was changed over to Sterling. All they had to do was come up with a name and stick it on Ford's trucks. Look where Sterling is now.

Once again this is my opinion. Ford dicontinued the b series chassis because customers told them they would not use the Lucas Gurling hydraulic brakes anymore. For some reason Ford just refused to offer air brakes. The L/G brakes were terribly expensive to repair and until Ford got smart and started offering wheel kits, an owner could spend $1000 per wheel repairing them

 

Ford was making very little money on heavy duty trucks, and converting the Louisville plant over to light models would increase plant profits substantially. Another factor was the HN80 series trucks. These were the new generation Louisvilles that were introduced in 1996. The HN80 program was way over budget, and was late as well. The trucks were supposed to have come out in the early 90's. Many were surprised that Ford announced they were selling their heavy duty line to Freightliner in late 1996, only a few months after the HN80's went on sale. What was funny was the HN80 series was also to include a medium duty line to replace the F series medium duty. Ford had to do a 'hurry-up' job and design the 2000 F-650 and 750 to replace the HN80 medium. The 2000 650 and 750 were basically the 1980-99 Ford F series medium chassis with a Super Duty cab on them. Freightliner came out with the Acterra, which was basically what the HN80 medium would have looked like. Ford basically got out of the medium duty business in 2003 when they started a joint venture with International called 'Blue Diamond'. The 2003 to present 650 and 750 are basically International 4400 chassis with a Cummins ISB engine and a Ford Super Duty cab. Blue Diamond started as a 50-50 joint venture between Ford and International, but now International controls it. Ford sold much of their interest in Blue Diamond to International as part of the settlement over the 6L Powerstroke lawsuits.

 

never mind, nothing to see here, move along...................

 

Well, now that was interesting! Anyway, there is some news on this topic: Seems we are seeing the final end of all Ford-Navistar relations, the Blue Diamond joint venture that manufactures the 650 and 750 is coming to an end. The 650 and 750 production is supposed to be moving to the Avon Lake Ohio plant that currently builds the E Series vans.

 

That was brilliant business on Ford's part to obtain financing before the real crisis hit and also to sell of all peripheral interests and focus on it's core mission- producing light trucks and automobiles. When the business schools start teaching the lessons of the Great Recession, this will become the model of a good business anticipating then reacting to some really tough times rather than running things into the ground then asking the government for a bailout. (You all may recall the negative headlines just before the crisis when Ford was pummeled for mortgaging everything including the Blue Oval logo. That move saved not only Ford, but the entire American auto industry. Had the last viable player of the Big Three gone down, it would have been game over.)

 

I belive you are talking about the 2008 crash.

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It was sold off If I recall correctly in 1996

I had a friend working a the Louisville plant at that time. He said THe company explained it this way.
THey made about $5000 on a F250-350 and F-superduty model trucks
Competitors were Chev,GMC and Dodge.

And they made about $600 on the F-600s and larger trucks.
competing brand were a MUCH larger group
Chev,GMC,freightline, KW,Izuzu, Hino.......

I still don't think it was a bright move.


on a related note.
Have you heard Ford is going to stop making the Econoline Vans??
Now for the stupid part. THe last full year the econcoline had something like... 79% Market share!!!
THis is almost as bad them stopping production on crown vic police cars.
No one shoots them selves in the Foot like Ford

 

The crash didn't just happen one day nor did the factors that doomed GM and Chrysler or floated Ford. It was smart for Ford to sell off non-core assets and obtain financing like it did and avoid a government bailout. These were just smart decisions made over an extended period of time that worked out very well for them as well as the American taxpayer. We also should not judge their dropping certain products from the line so harshly. We are in the last 50 years of the petroleum era and a smart and forward thinking business should be anticipating that now. I am sad to see the Crown Vics and Econolines die too. But the bottom line is that they could continue to build evolutionary versions of these products for the next 50 years then suddenly become as obsolete as the company that built harpoons for the whaling captains, or they can take a chance and devise completely new platforms that may be more adaptable to the uncertainties that lie ahead.