7Mary3

That's easy- International's cost structure for producing medium and heavy trucks is more profitable than Ford's was (or GM or Chrysler, for that matter). The sale of GM's medium duty line to International proves this. A 'Big 3' automaker can't compete with a specialized company in commercial truck production. Vice-versa is true, too. International couldn't compete with the 'Big 3' in light truck production. It's classic apples-and-oranges. Companies like International, PACCAR (Kenworth and Peterbilt), Volvo-Mack, and Freightliner have different UAW agreements, different plants set up solely for medium-heavy production, and higher sales volume of these vehicles.

Ford's heavy truck sales were almost exclusively low-bid fleet sales. Contrary to what some people think, fleet sales are usually very low margin. The though was in the past was to basically give the vehicles away, and hope to make money on the parts and service. Don't know how true it was, but I was told that back in the early 90's, the profits from Ford's class 7 and 8 trucks barely paid for Ford's NASCAR involvement.

Huge, yes. Profitable, not very!

The Intrepid was a lousy squad. So was the original Taurus. The Impala is the best FWD squad to date. The question is what is Ford going to bring to the table when that Crown Vic. is gone?

You really believe the EPA cares? Fact is most F-150's (along with Silverado 1500's and Ram 1500's) are bought for private use, and they will be subject to new fuel economy standards. Larger trucks like the Super Duty that most of which are bought for commercial use will not have to meet as high a standard. 35 m.p.g. CAFE will radically alter what vehicles are available.

Bye bye Panther, Mustang, new RWD platform, F-150.......

Doesn't matter. The Crown Vic is dead anyway.

My 'wish list' would include: Bolt the grille on the front of the truck, not 'Dodge Style' to the hood. Grille gets pushed in and you have to fix the hood too. Upshift/downshift switch on the shift lever, like the Allison and 6L90. NO MORE REMOVE THE CAB TO FIX THE ENGINE B.S.! Some big gas engine, doesn't have to be the V-10. Flex fuel is a good idea too. Gas engine option for the F-650. Doesn't need to say 'Super Duty' in more than 6 places on the whole truck. No more Twin-I-Beam on 4X2's. Enough allready. I wouldn't be opposed to independent front suspension on the 4X4's, if it was designed right. And that's a pretty big 'if'! In house diesel, no more Cornbinders!

Is there anything to report on the 650 and 750? There has been a few stories that they may be discontinued, but I have not heard anything certain. They seem to be another forgotten Ford like the Crown Vic.. Just ignore it until it goes away........

Every day, Ford is looking more and more like Chrysler did in 1977. I remember around that time, Dodge introduced what was to be the best motorhome chassis ever built, and would take advantage of the growing RV market, which was supposed to double in a few years, ect.. How come I got such a bad feeling about Ford's future?

My understanding is: A new 6.7L Ford designed diesel is on the way, maybe as early as late 2009. 3 valve V-10 continues, possibly to be replaced at some point with a heavy duty version of the upcoming 'Boss' or 'Hurricane' V-8. 650 and 750 may be on the way out. Wide track front axle for F-350 DRW's first quarter 2008.

Just got back from the Los Angeles Auto Show, and noticed a few things. Fist off, Lincoln and Mercury had separate displays, though they were next to each other. FWIW, not a Panther in sight, no TC or GMQ. Good thing? You be the judge. The Mercury display was a ghost town, fewer vistors than Suzuki. There were more people at Lincoln, but still not too crowded. The Cadillac display was packed, people all over the new CTS. Regardless of who Cadillac copied, or how old Lutz is, I would have to say Cadillac is at least in the game. A wide variety of models, a distictive style, and people are interested. Lincoln has an overdone F-150, an overdone Expedition, an overdone Taurus, something to make limo's out of, and an upcoming car that's going to try to compete with the CTS/3 Series/I Series/C Series. Ford allowed Lincoln to die and pinned their luxury hopes on Jaguar. Now they are going to sell Jaguar (at a huge loss) and try to revive Lincoln. Just imagine what Lincoln could have been with 1/3 the money Ford spent on Jaguar.

Since when is the 6L or 6.4L Powerstroke 'marketed worldwide'? I have news for you, they are not. Ford uses the Powerstroke name on some South American diesels, but they are in no way related to what is sold here. Neither the Duramax or the domestic Powerstrokes are sold abroad, they are far too large for the rest of the world. Also, the 6.6L Duramax was designed by Isuzu, but all the rights to it and the plant it is manufactured in belong solely to GM. The engine isn't Isuzu's to sell or use.

Another opinion: http://money.cnn.com/2007/11/13/autos/gm_f...rce=yahoo_quote

Are you certian you were not looking at the 1998 and older 16" plastic full wheel cover? It had 7 chrome fake lug nuts on it.

I believe this was a problem with some older Ford F-250's and 350's which didn't have a large enough power steering pump to run both the steering and brakes in an emergency situation. I never saw this condition in any GM trucks or the Super Duties.

Ford's Total Enterprise Value is inflated by interest bearing debt held by Ford Credit and Ford's Market Cap.. When GM sold half interest in GMAC, it was reflected in their Total Enterprise Value, just as there was a large reduction in their total debt. One or two figures out of context doesn't always paint a complete picture. I wouldn't invest in either one unless I was willing to gamble.

Vacuum booster power brakes are NOT better than Hydro-boost. Sounds like they are getting a bit cheap on us.

I wouldn't say GM is doing great right now. But, they have more new products in the pipeline than Ford does, they have not had to mortgage nearly everything they own, and they are not experiencing the month to month sales declines Ford is at present. In light of the 'sub-prime meltdown', GM was at least smart enough not to be holding the whole GMAC bag. Ford Credit wasn't into real estate, so it made no sense for Ford to sell it. BTW- as far as debt is concerned, it is far better to have less debt in the face of a market downturn than more. And neither Ford or GM is in a great position for an economic slowdown.

FWIW, Rick Wagoner had no doubt GM would pull through, even during the summer of 2005. They are certainly not out of the woods yet, but are far more comfortable than Ford is right now.

About the cheapest I have seen regular this week is $3.23/gal.. Last night, I saw diesel at $3.85/gal.. I think I'll see diesel at better than $4/gal. pretty soon.

You all really think that if Toyota came out with a heavy duty Tundra, it would have a 1/2 ton chassis under it?

Ford sold their heavy truck operation including the then new HM-80 models to Freightliner for next to nothing. Something like 300 million. Nowhere near what they spent to Jaguar.

In my area, both the Isuzu Truck dealers and the Chevy/GMC dealers sell lots of the smaller LCF's, and a few of the larger tilt cabs. Neither of those trucks really has a Duramax in it, the small truck uses an Isuzu 4 cyliner diesel, the larger versions use the 7.8L Isuzu 6 cylinder (which is probably the best mid-range diesel out right now). The 'real' Duramax V-8 is in the Topkick/Kodiak 4500/5500, and if I had to pick between a Duramax and a 6.0L Powerstroke, well......

Sure, it will be the best police car of all time. Probably cost $80,000 a copy.