Ford......emasculated and emaciated

[Joe771476]

Ford -- and GM -- have nothing to show for a century of operation! GM has sold off Electromotive, Detroit Diesel, Defense, part of GMAC etc. to raise capital. Ford, not to be outdone, has sold off farm tractor, heavy truck, and recently Aston Martin and also the casting foundries to raise cash. You would always see a lot of heavy Ford fire apparatus at parades; many won awards. A lot of pride down the drain. The farm country still offers a glimpse of some Ford tractors. Henry and Henry II are rolling over. Ford made many acquisitions since 1989 but paid way too much. Someone at Ford gave terrible advice. So now we see a much smaller Ford and GM after 104 years, while we see a much bigger Toyota after just 50 years. Sad.

[Deanh]

another motivational speaker......for Kamikazee pilots! ( why did they wear helmets? )

Edited May 10, 2007 by Deanh

[2005Explorer]

As far as selling off Ford Tractor Operations, it was probably a smart move by Ford back in 1991. We owned a lot of Ford products around the farm and they were good tractors, however as farms became larger and equipment became bigger, there was not room for a lot of competition in the market. Today, you have 3 major farm equipment manufactures in the world. 1) John Deere 2) CNH (Case New Holland) and 3) AGCO (Allis Gleaner Company). AGCO is by far the smallest of the 3 mega companies.

 

CNH and AGCO are conglomerates that have been formed by the merger of many brands.

 

CNH-Case, International Harvester, Ford, New Holland, Versatile (however the courts made them sell pieces of it when they merged), Flexi-Coil, Steyr, Kobelco

 

AGCO- Allis Chalmers, Deutz Allis, Gleaner Combines, Hesston, Massey Ferguson, White, New Idea, Glencoe, Farmhand.

 

John Deere- Well just John Deere!

 

John Deere really is a success story when it comes to US industry. They have weathered every kind of storm in their path and seem to have a loyal following that no one can stop. Almost seems the way Toyota is going today. People are passionate about green and yellow. Brand loyality for JD is off the charts.

 

So in reviewing where the farm equipment market is today I can honestly say I don't blame Ford for selling thier farm equipment division. They were actually starting to make their own conglomerate with Ford New Holland and Versatile back in the late 1980's, but the way agriculture was going they decided it was not in their best interest at the time. I guess in hindsight they could be the parent company of Case New Holland today, but the decision way back moved that ownership to Fiat.

[RichardJensen]

Heavy truck is also turning into a handful of conglomerates: Volvo/Renault/Mack, Paccar, & DCX are about the only companies left, right?

[jpd80]

Ford -- and GM -- have nothing to show for a century of operation! GM has sold off Electromotive, Detroit Diesel, Defense, part of GMAC etc. to raise capital. Ford, not to be outdone, has sold off farm tractor, heavy truck, and recently Aston Martin and also the casting foundries to raise cash. You would always see a lot of heavy Ford fire apparatus at parades; many won awards. A lot of pride down the drain. The farm country still offers a glimpse of some Ford tractors. Henry and Henry II are rolling over. Ford made many acquisitions since 1989 but paid way too much. Someone at Ford gave terrible advice. So now we see a much smaller Ford and GM after 104 years, while we see a much bigger Toyota after just 50 years. Sad.

 

They still have $160 Billion/year of sales, they just have to learn how to keep 10% of that.

 

Change or Die.

[Keyser Soze]

another motivational speaker......for Kamikazee pilots! ( why did they wear helmets? )

 

I know your question is not serious, but I just can't resist.

 

I could be wrong, but I'm fairly sure no WWII pilot wore an actual "helmet", they were really leather or fabric hood-like hats. Since many of these had the radio mic and earphones integrated, it makes sense that even a Kamikaze pilot would wear one.

 

Even barring the radio interface, protective head gear would be wise for any suicide pilot. It would be easy for an attacking fighter pilot to strike his head on the canopy during both offensive and defensive maneuvers. Such an injury could result in disorientation, loss of consciousness or even immediate death, preventing competion of the mission.

 

Also, not all Kamikaze pilots actually reached their target. Some suffered mechanical failure, weather related incidents or serious damage from Allied fighters and anti-aircraft weaponry. It would be sensible to provide reasonable protection to the pilot in the hopes that he could limp hisd plane back to his home base or be rescued after bailing out. He would then be available to fly another mission. A trained pilot became an increasingly valuable commodity for the Japanese as the war dragged on.