Joe771476

According to Tow Times magazine, some interesting data: The percentage of companies that have at least one of these brands in light duty category is as follows: Ford 63%, Ram/Dodge 39%, GM (Chev/GMC) 45%, Hino 13%, Isuzu 4%. In medium duty: Intern'l 42%, Freight 35%, Ford 27%, Paccar 36% (with Pete and KW each at 18%). Hino and GM are far behind. In class 8, Paccar again with each brand about 40% is a whopping 80%! Freight 25%, Intern'l 20%, Mack/Volvo 15%. Also, Ford Otosan has signed an agreement with European truck and trailer giant Tip Trailer Services for aftersales services in Western Europe, where they currently don't exist. I'm not sure I understand that.

They better think twice before ending Fusion. I'm seeing a lot of police depts. that have been buying Fords for 50 years now buying Dodge Chargers because they want a car, not an SUV. You know what that means, right? Now that they've been introduced to Dodge, they'll be buying Durango SUV's if they want an SUV! Hold on to the Fusion, Ford! The Ford decision makers aren't too bright.

Latest HDT sales chart show YTD Class 7, Hino 1635, Ford 2093. YTD Class 6 Hino 5686, Ford 17053! But is that a mistake? Because next in Class 6 is International with 16704 and Freightliner with 15695! Huh??!! Bluebird will be offering electric Vision school buses with Cummins all electric drive. IMO, this should have been Ford powered but Ford wasn't ready apparently. How it will hurt their Ford/Roush propane sales for the Vision line remains to be seen.

GM is suing FCA because they underhandedly worked out better deals with the union. Seems Ford should be suing them because NOW I know how Ram sales are beating Ford in class 3 thru 5...........by allowing them to dump Rams because their costs are lower! Aha!

Did anybody see Tesla's triangle pickup truck? What a joke!

Hey guys...real quick. If you're a Beatle fan, go to the Social/Lounge forum to my "Sgt. Pepper done live" thread. Check it out. (Hint: no synthesizers!) It's the most amazing thing you'll ever see!

This is the most amazing thing I've ever seen! This band called the Analogues from the Netherlands does the entire Beatle Sgt. Pepper (and others) album live! No synthesizers! All the audience, animal (Good Morning) and other sounds were either found on the internet or created themselves and made from scratch; they did NOT record them from the Beatle album! There's a documentary on how they did it, including buying all the same make and model instruments the Beatles used. The time, passion, dedication, respect is alone tear-jerking. If your eyes haven't been moist at least once by the end of Hey Jude done at the end, check your pulse.....you might be dead! I don't think the Beatles could have done it any better live, and I'm a diehard Beatle fan. Scroll down for the comments...even those will bring a tear! If you're a Beatle fan, this is a must-watch! Enjoy!!! You should listen on PC so you can hear the fantastic bass playing! You can't hear bass on phones. The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's: Live in Concert (The Analogues) - YouTube

Goodbye Ford. Hino Trucks Unveils New Class 4-7 Models | Transport Topics

Just who told Ford it would cost $11 billion to do this? And Ford believed them? Nonsense! It doesn't cost that much to set up charging stations! Gee if Ford made class 8 trucks they could be selling them to Amazon!

Ford needs to take a hint from Hino. Hino realizes that in order to be a viable and serious player in Class 6 and 7, they have to be in class 8. If Ford doesn't get that, I see no future for Ford in the medium duty segment. Let Ram do it, they're already killing Ford in Class 3 thru 5. It started when Daimler owned Chrysler and they told customers they were the only company that was a full-line producer and that they could supply them with class 1 (Dodge/Ram) thru 8 (Freightliner and Sterling) trucks.

HDT mag article said Ford and 3 other mfrs. had an increase in class7, but class 6 Ford sales were down 1000.

Bob R would like to see this.

Bob, Cadillac ambulances? A guy down the street from me back 50 years ago had an ambulance biz with a 3 bay garage under his house with 1950/1960 Packards! These monsters lumbered down the street past my house heading for an accident on the highway 5 times a day or more! Another guy who I became friends with as I grew older when I was a volunteer fireman, owned about 12 wreckers. This is back 50 years ago! Nobody had 12 wreckers back then! Well at least not in a town of just 40,000 people! Among them was an Autocar, White, Ford F700/750 tandem axle, F600 or 650, two huge Macks, three or four Chevy and Ford class 3 or 4, Dodge Power Wagon. Between the wrecker company owner and the ambulance owner, you'd be extricated by the tow truck co., and medically diagnosed by the ambulance owner!!! That was it! No EMT's , and fire dept. response was minimal and only to wash down gasoline or put out fire. Anyway, Transport Topics reports the big truck makers will be at the Atlanta NACV show. Apparently they mean BIG TRUCK makers, not big TRUCK MAKERS, because Ford is not mentioned, but Hino is! A real shame Hino is outdoing Ford! Who would have thought?! Eh, but Ford can't even launch an Explorer right, how can they be expected to produce a class 8 truck!!!!!? Little ole Hino outshining the Ford Motor Company, a company in business since 1903, in big trucks! Sad, very sad. Almost to the point of laughter!

What's the "personnel" problem all about? Internal corporate sabotage? And every five to ten years they do a multi-billion dollar restructuring! Do it once and be done with it! Is it REALLY costing them all this money to SHUT plants? It seems to cost more money to shut plants than to build them! Is it just a paperwork/tax break thing? I don't get it! Very sad.

How long are class 8 trucks kept? When Ford sold off the heavy truck, it seemed that 6 to 10 years later there wasn't one to be seen! Similarly, when Sterling ceased in 2007, the same thing happened. I don't see one now!