rmc523 Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 The difference is GM has used product to achieve it turnaround, Ford is only starting to.Doing all the hard work behind the scense is going to pay off big time for Ford. They are really changing the way they do business. As you said, Ford decided to fix the 'behind the scenes' stuff first, which IMO, is a better plan. That way you may have a older looking product, but it's a reliable one, while with GM, they may have exciting looking product, but the quality isn't quite there. Now, Ford's quality is fixed, and they're concentrating more on product design, while GM has to begin to work on quality, which given the bigger size of the company, will likely be more difficult. Anyways, Ford has an avalanche (no pun intended) of new product coming out over the next 2 years: Flex, MKS, F-150, Fiesta, Mustang, CD3 triplets, Explorer, Edge, MKX, upgraded Expy/Navigator, MKT....etc. I think this time next year, with the Flex, MKS, and F-150 alone, Ford will be doing much better sales-wise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 But in all seriousness, I dont think the Explorer will be on GRWD platform....the new one will be out 2010, much eariler then GRWD will be out. Who knows with Ford's recent "lockdown" of spied products, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Harbinger Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 But in all seriousness, I dont think the Explorer will be on GRWD platform....the new one will be out 2010, much eariler then GRWD will be out. Haven't people been saying it'll be D3? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Haven't people been saying it'll be D3? Thats the only platform that would make a lick of sense outside of the GRWD program Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elkarlo Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Good article. I agree with most points made, especially this one. Cars yes. SUVs/CUVs/Trucks, no. I think Ford needs to up their game with the cars. Toyota can sit on their hands, as they already have a good rep. Ford needs to make a rep, therefore they need to push the envelope a bit. he Focus may be Euro soon, but I still think they need better volume to make a decent margin off of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grbeck Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 In short, GM is riding they typical Detroit upswing, which seems likely to be followed by the typical Detroit downswing, and if past performance is any indicator, the downs are usually deeper than the ups are high. If GM's results of the past two years have been an "upswing," then the company is really in trouble. That wasn't much of an upswing. And what, exactly, are GM's plans regarding the Impala? Will it switch to a rear-wheel-drive platform, or will GM remake it but stay with the front-wheel-drive layout, or will the car just fade away? The plans seem to change every six months or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BORG Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 (edited) GM has sort of jumped in head first, doing a spectacular job overhauling its product range but with a dubious underlying business structure to sustain it all. Ford's product turn around has been extremely slow and conservative but you know things are evolving and the future looks far less dubious at Ford than it does at GM. Although I would argue that GM is in no danger of running out of new product launches. The next SRX/Equinox pair are equivalent to the Edge/MKX and those were substantial vehicles for Ford so expect the same for GM. Edited March 25, 2008 by BORG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old_fairmont_wagon Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Well, going on what was announced a while back, Impala to RWD was canned. So, Impala either gets another revision to the W-body, or, it gets an extended length version of the Malibu setup. The Malibu is so large as to be knocking on the Impala's door right now. So, a modest stretch would make a workable Impala. Personally, if I was GM, I'd probably take the existing DTS setup and reskin it as a Buick and had that over as the updated replacement for the Lucerne (with which it already shares a platform). Give it all the tech, after all, the DTS replacement will be a RWD STS/DTS merger, meaning that none of that will be used by Cadillan any more. Then, take out all the goodies, save for the neccessities, and make that the Impala. Should work well enough to keep that fleet Beast going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 And what, exactly, are GM's plans regarding the Impala? Will it switch to a rear-wheel-drive platform, or will GM remake it but stay with the front-wheel-drive layout, or will the car just fade away? The plans seem to change every six months or so. Still being debated last I heard.....it was supposed to switch to Zeta, IIRC, but CAFE requirements put that plan on hold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 The next SRX/Equinox pair are equivalent to the Edge/MKX and those were substantial vehicles for Ford so expect the same for GM. Do you mean BRX? Cadillac is dropping the SRX from the lineup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musclford Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 I think Ford really needs to address fuel economy as well... Ford had the Diesel market cornered for years and then along comes GM with the Duramax and brings less, weight, more power, easier to service (NO CAB REMOVAL) and better fuel economy.. Furthermore, everyone else is using cylinder shutdown technology and Ford is content with 14mpg and variable cam timing.... They are going to continue to lose sales to the NON brand loyal truck customer if they are 1-3 mpg less than the competition.... My 2 cents.... as if u cared.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 Farley, on the conference call for Feb. said F150 mileage is improving across the board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 Farley, on the conference call for Feb. said F150 mileage is improving across the board. Good news Richard, did they by chance say what it was attributed to? V6 Ecoboost? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 GM has sort of jumped in head first, doing a spectacular job overhauling its product range but with a dubious underlying business structure to sustain it all. Ford's product turn around has been extremely slow and conservative but you know things are evolving and the future looks far less dubious at Ford than it does at GM. Although I would argue that GM is in no danger of running out of new product launches. The next SRX/Equinox pair are equivalent to the Edge/MKX and those were substantial vehicles for Ford so expect the same for GM. Ford had to fix it's corporate machinery first - they saved $5 billion internally last year and will again this year and the year after. Products are what everyone sees but they take a minimum of three years from ordering to delivery. So any plans from late 2006 arrive MY 2010 at the earliest. Those who care about GM's RWD Impala, It was put on hold while Holden worked on the Ute (sports truck) and Sportswagon before it was cancelled. GM just couldn't bring itself to switch to RWD in the snow belt states. Would have been easier to just import the Chev Lumina (G8) as a side line like Pontiac's G8. We'll see how that one goes too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 Good news Richard, did they by chance say what it was attributed to?V6 Ecoboost? Nope. It's across the board--all engines. My guess would be the directive came down from on high to make economy a priority with this iteration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANTAUS Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 Which turnaround? There's been so many I've lost count... :shrug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BORG Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 Do you mean BRX? Cadillac is dropping the SRX from the lineup. That's correct, the SRX replacement is the BRX. In reality, Equinox and SRX are names that will probably be lost with the new products. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 Nope. It's across the board--all engines. My guess would be the directive came down from on high to make economy a priority with this iteration. Don't forget, the FE improvements come with an all V8 lineup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 That's correct, the SRX replacement is the BRX. In reality, Equinox and SRX are names that will probably be lost with the new products. I don't really like the Equinox name, so I hope it goes too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustangman9494 Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 GM quality what? inferior at best how many of their cars made the top ten list for complaints per 100 guess what it,s a big fat ZERO!! those old diehard chevy fans out their don,t want to face the facts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Critic Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 GM quality what? inferior at best how many of their cars made the top ten list for complaints per 100 guess what it,s a big fat ZERO!! those old diehard chevy fans out their don,t want to face the facts. Someone interpret this for me, please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordBuyer Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 Someone interpret this for me, please. With about 30 GM plants closed down and no end in sight with American Axle strike, it looks like Ford may just go way past GM in turnaround efforts this year. Already some GM dealerships in Metro Detroit are running low on vehicles and not worth ordering new vehicle as one plant after another goes down. Ford should pick up a few extra sales because of GM shut down by American Axle and its employees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 Could GM be constrained badly by this for the rest of the year or is it more short term? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordBuyer Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 Could GM be constrained badly by this for the rest of the year or is it more short term? [/quote I obviously have no idea, but I predict this American Axle strike will last up to SIX months. It is already over one month old and is constraining GM in last week or so. The UAW has hunkered down and American Axle can't afford to back down since it's competition pays a lot less than what American Axle pays. Dauch has already threatened to close up and move Overseas with the rest of his empire. There is no end in sight for this strike and it's really starting to hurt GM. But GM can't stick its nose in too much since it won big concessions from same UAW and if UAW wins this battle, GM will have disgruntled workforce. Looks to me like GM will have to sit and squirm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 (edited) It's the simple things that can let corporations down in recessed times like looking after staff. Maybe Ford just sticks to it knitting this year, keeps its house in order and roll out new products next year. Edited March 29, 2008 by jpd80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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