weiweishen Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 Today when I cleaned my desk, I happenedly saw a sticker from a Ford representative. The sticker was given on 2001. On the stiker there is a slogan "It takes months to find a customer.... Second to lose one" Now it is 2010, seems that Ford really have learned a lot from their past and emerged out as a great company again. I never saw that representative again. Best wish to him and all his collegues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 (edited) The great part about the Ford restructuring was that they questioned their whole business model and plans going forward. in doing so they rediscovered their company's mission of providing desirable and best in class vehicles that reconnect them to private buyers. Ford is remaking itself from top to bottom and customers now see a completely different Ford to the one from a decade ago..... Edited January 30, 2010 by jpd80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ice-capades Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 Today when I cleaned my desk, I happenedly saw a sticker from a Ford representative. The sticker was given on 2001. On the stiker there is a slogan "It takes months to find a customer.... Second to lose one" Now it is 2010, seems that Ford really have learned a lot from their past and emerged out as a great company again. I never saw that representative again. Best wish to him and all his collegues. Ford's growing success is evidence of what happens when the focus is on the product! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 Ford's growing success is evidence of what happens when the focus is on the product! Or the product is the focus...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
02MustangGT Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 Or the product is the focus...... Ford will rule the automotive world once again based on Mr. Alan Mulally's vision and you guessed it, "laser focus". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-150 Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 Or the product is the focus...... a laser focus... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 a laser focus... Another early Mulally line was, "I see it but I can't get there........" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itguy09 Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 Ford's growing success is evidence of what happens when the focus is on the product! Amen. I pretty much wrote Ford off after my wife bought her 2003 Escape. They had nothing other than the SUV/Trucks that was competitive. In 2003 you had: Focus - not that competitive Contour - ???? Taurus - One year left for the Fleet Queen. Mustang - That's about it. The Fusion was the first step in the right direction, then the Edge and the new stuff blows everything away. While my wife's Escape has been good quality wise, I'm a car guy at heart and Ford had nothing besides the Mustang. Fast forward to 2009 and if you told me I'd be lusting after 2 Fords (Flex and Taurus SHO - I know different animals completely) I would have told you that you were NUTS. And if you told me I'd buy a Taurus I'd say YOUR NUTS. But the product is awesome and truly world class! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
97svtgoin05gt Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 (edited) This topic makes me think about what if anything Mulally is doing at the dealership level. Often times they've had product I Iike but the dealerships are so all over the board its crazy. Their personnel and especially the mechanics can make or break a customers feeling about Ford as an organization. I would hope that AM would make some kind of rules or minimum levels of this or that so that the dealership responsibility is on more of an even kiel. I've literally done business with dealers that flat out SUCK and others that are pretty good. I've yet to find one thats awesome. Its awesome to have the back offices working correctly again, but the customer front lines need to be reinforced as well. There's definitely room for improvement from my vantage point. Edited February 1, 2010 by 97svtgoin05gt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 This topic makes me think about what if anything Mulally is doing at the dealership level. Often times they've had product I Iike but the dealerships are so all over the board its crazy. Their personnel and especially the mechanics can make or break a customers feeling about Ford as an organization. I would hope that AM would make some kind of rules or minimum levels of this or that so that the dealership responsibility is on more of an even kiel. I've literally done business with dealers that flat out SUCK and others that are pretty good. I've yet to find one thats awesome. Its awesome to have the back offices working correctly again, but the customer front lines need to be reinforced as well. There's definitely room for improvement from my vantage point. You need to go google "automobile dealer franchise laws". Whatever you think Ford should do about their dealers is most likely illegal. Ford has absolutely no authority to do anything to bad dealers unless they're doing something illegal. They tried a few years ago with Blue Oval Certified where dealers with good customer service ratings got a bigger holdback percentage. Dealers sued them and won. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weiweishen Posted February 1, 2010 Author Share Posted February 1, 2010 You need to go google "automobile dealer franchise laws". Whatever you think Ford should do about their dealers is most likely illegal. Ford has absolutely no authority to do anything to bad dealers unless they're doing something illegal. They tried a few years ago with Blue Oval Certified where dealers with good customer service ratings got a bigger holdback percentage. Dealers sued them and won. Ford should add the dealer rating to Ford.com. People can be aware of which dealer is a good dealer in their neighborehood and avoid to go to bad dealer. I think this is legal. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 I think this is legal. I sincerely doubt it, otherwise they would have done it already. Automotive franchise laws are very strong and not likely to be repealed either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one2gamble Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 You need to go google "automobile dealer franchise laws". Whatever you think Ford should do about their dealers is most likely illegal. Ford has absolutely no authority to do anything to bad dealers unless they're doing something illegal. They tried a few years ago with Blue Oval Certified where dealers with good customer service ratings got a bigger holdback percentage. Dealers sued them and won. Sounds like if they removed the $ from the equation they could get away with it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 Sounds like if they removed the $ from the equation they could get away with it Not if the dealers thought it would affect their business. Ford tried to advertise used cars for sale over the web where the customer would pick the car and the local dealer and Ford would deliver the car to the dealer for a test drive and to close the sale. The dealers sued and won. They want no part of Ford meddling in their business and they'll take to the courts at the drop of a hat if necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Harbinger Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 Sounds like Ford needs to donate to the campaigns of more state officials... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 Sounds like Ford needs to donate to the campaigns of more state officials... These laws were passed in the 50s/60s when car dealers were a huge part of the local and state economies and they yielded a lot of power with the state legislatures. I'm sure they still have enough influence to keep the franchise laws in place (much to my chagrin). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
97svtgoin05gt Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 (edited) Well thats a shame because ultimately, the dealer level (the front line customer face of Ford) can still make this recovery difficult. As well as these new units are built, everything breaks and how that dealership handles the sale and dealing with issues that arise will be the telling tale as to whether Ford makes the transformation complete or not. Edited February 2, 2010 by 97svtgoin05gt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8-X Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 This topic makes me think about what if anything Mulally is doing at the dealership level. Often times they've had product I Iike but the dealerships are so all over the board its crazy. Their personnel and especially the mechanics can make or break a customers feeling about Ford as an organization. I would hope that AM would make some kind of rules or minimum levels of this or that so that the dealership responsibility is on more of an even kiel. I've literally done business with dealers that flat out SUCK and others that are pretty good. I've yet to find one thats awesome. Its awesome to have the back offices working correctly again, but the customer front lines need to be reinforced as well. There's definitely room for improvement from my vantage point. Exactly! I've been turned off by multiple dealers in the greater Denver Metro area. Which I finally found three dealers that I liked and would do business with, but one has since closed its doors (Stevinson Ford in Golden, CO). Then again, maybe some of these dealerships have changed their ways in the last 5-7yrs, who knows. But I have a good relationship with the two dealers I still frequent (O'Meara Ford and Lakewood Fordland), so I refuse to deal with any others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 Well thats a shame because ultimately, the dealer level (the front line customer face of Ford) can still make this recovery difficult. As well as these new units are built, everything breaks and how that dealership handles the sale and dealing with issues that arise will be the telling tale as to whether Ford makes the transformation complete or not. Absolutely correct and this has to be extremely frustrating for Ford. Every time the dealer fails to fix something or pisses off the customer they blame Ford and Ford is almost powerless to do anything about it. I wonder if Ford is secretly targeting problem dealerships with buyouts/consolidations? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.