mackinaw

So MAP is finally getting its third shift.

Vans, especially commercial, are Ford's strong point in Europe.

Not just VW. Ford is now postponing $12 billion in EV investments due to customer reluctance. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/26/ford-will-postpone-about-12-billion-in-ev-investment.html

I'm guessing Ford was planning on half of that.

About $3.08 in northern Michigan.

Damn, sorry about that, I didn't now it was paywalled.

Good analysis of the proposed contact by the Detroit News. Worth a read. https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/2023/10/26/uaw-strike-ford-deal-gains-losses/70985807007/

30 seconds of that guy is all I can take. I hope the tentative contract is ratified.

The good news just keeps on coming. It appears the front suspension is poorly designed, the upper control arm bends under stress. https://www.notebookcheck.net/Tesla-Cybertruck-bends-upper-control-arm-in-testing-raising-concerns-about-suspension-durability.761845.0.html

Looks like now the UAW is asking for at least a 25% pay increase. https://www.autonews.com/manufacturing/uaw-strike-union-detroit-3-come-closer-raises

The Brits tried that with British Leyland, back in the 70's. To say it didn't work is being charitable.

The longer this strike goes on, with more and more people being laid off, and more suppliers shutting down, the risk of a recession will only increase.

I think Bill Ford would agree with you. That's why he stepped down as CEO back in 2006 and hired Alan Mulally to run the company.

Out of the Detroit Three, Ford by far has/had the best relationship. Interesting interview with Bill Ford in the New York Times earlier this week. He cautioned the Ford bargaining team not to take any comments made public personally, and to be patient. He went on to say that he knows many of the guys on the UAW team, and plays hockey with several of them on a local beer-league team, and considers them friends. I suspect they could hammer out a contract fairly quickly if it wasn’t for Mr. Fain.

Mr. Fain slams Ford, and says there's real movement at GM and Stellantis. https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/2023/10/20/uaw-president-shawn-fain-bargaining-update-strike-day-36/71253055007/

Maybe, but the shareholders won't be happy.

But, but, but....they have one million orders! Adam Jonas, auto analyst at Morgan Stanley, figures the Cybertruck is a niche vehicle that may sell 50,000 units/year. I question even that number.

Not exactly words of encouragement from the company CEO. https://www.autoblog.com/2023/10/19/elon-musk-we-dug-our-own-grave-with-the-cybertruck/

Not with 18% margins they aren't. With margins like that, Tesla is the envy of the industry.

Also, one of the investment firms is estimating that Ford is losing $44 million dollars/day, and GM $21 million dollars/day.

It was a good speech, but it will fall upon deaf ears. Fain's already dismissed it. https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/2023/10/16/bill-ford-speaks-publicly-about-uaw-talks-for-the-first-time/71199918007/

I read someplace many years back that they deconstructed what they had built. The Mexican government would still like to use the site for something and didn't want a partially constructed plant still standing.

There was a book written in the 90's that contrasted Ford and Nissan. I read it years ago, so this is from memory. The oval Taurus was talked about. My recollection was that Ford Design wanted the "oval" design, which also required complex and expensive stampings. Trotman was asked to approve the funding for the stampings, which he did.

The original 1986 Taurus didn't clinic well. They even came up with a more conventional front-end design that incorporated a grille. William Clay Ford decided to be bold and went with the design we know today.

Locking out all UAW workers would never happen. If GM and Stellantis did the same, it'd plunge this country into a deep recession and none of the Detroit Three would want to be responsible for that.