Ford, UAW reach deal on Focus plant

[jpd80]

LINK

 

 

Ford and the UAW have reached a tentative local agreement that would allow the automaker to build the 2012 Ford Focus compact car profitably at Michigan Assembly Plant without a second-tier wage rate like the one announced earlier this week at a General Motors subcompact car plant.

 

The tentative deal for Michigan Assembly was confirmed by Bill Johnson, a UAW Local 900 plant chairman, but it depends on reaching a deal at a nearby stamping plant.

 

"Right now, we are not talking about wages," UAW Vice President Jimmy Settles told the Free Press on Friday during an event where Ford CEO Alan Mulally was given the Edward H. McNamara Goodfellow of the Year Award. "There are many ways to create efficiencies without looking at wages," Settles noted.

 

 

Ford gives GM another lesson......

[twmalonehunter]

Ford gives GM another lesson......

 

In all fairness, GM is building a subcompact, which the Focus is not. I don't think the Fiesta could be done the same way.

[akirby]

In all fairness, GM is building a subcompact, which the Focus is not. I don't think the Fiesta could be done the same way.

 

Bingo.

[FordBuyer]

In all fairness, GM is building a subcompact, which the Focus is not. I don't think the Fiesta could be done the same way.

 

Yeah, GM is building both its C and B segment vehicles here in the states while Ford is only building its C segment vehicle in the states. And GM already has more new Cruzes at dealers than Ford has Fiestas as they are still bottled up in Mexico. For example, Blackwell Ford has one Fiesta in the showroom and one on lot. Lou LaRiche Chevy next door has at least five new Cruzes sitting on lot. Bill Brown Ford down street has never had more han maybe 6 on lot sitting in inventory and Fiesta has been out for at least four months now. The Fiesta is a hot seller and out of over 50,000 built only about 9,000 have been sold so far. And no, Canada and South America don't get all the rest. Most of those vehicles are meant for American dealerships that sell the bulk of them. Ford still hasn't figured out a way to get them into dealerships here. And to make matter worse just about every Fiesta here is tagged, and hardly none available for sale. Varsity Ford in Ann Arbor was complaining other day that Fiesta is allocated and dealers can't come close to meeting demand. So those who want a Fiesta have to wait for months and months or they are out of luch as dealers around here have none in inventory to sell. Meanwhile, the Cruze is sitting in inventory for immediate sale. Go figure.

[akirby]

Yeah, GM is building both its C and B segment vehicles here in the states while Ford is only building its C segment vehicle in the states. And GM already has more new Cruzes at dealers than Ford has Fiestas as they are still bottled up in Mexico. For example, Blackwell Ford has one Fiesta in the showroom and one on lot. Lou LaRiche Chevy next door has at least five new Cruzes sitting on lot. Bill Brown Ford down street has never had more han maybe 6 on lot sitting in inventory and Fiesta has been out for at least four months now. The Fiesta is a hot seller and out of over 50,000 built only about 9,000 have been sold so far. And no, Canada and South America don't get all the rest. Most of those vehicles are meant for American dealerships that sell the bulk of them. Ford still hasn't figured out a way to get them into dealerships here. And to make matter worse just about every Fiesta here is tagged, and hardly none available for sale. Varsity Ford in Ann Arbor was complaining other day that Fiesta is allocated and dealers can't come close to meeting demand. So those who want a Fiesta have to wait for months and months or they are out of luch as dealers around here have none in inventory to sell. Meanwhile, the Cruze is sitting in inventory for immediate sale. Go figure.

 

That is a one time problem. They've been delivering Fusions, Milans and MKZs for over 5 years with no major problems. You can have delivery delays anywhere. I seem to remember problems with U.S. rail systems last year.

[aneekr]

Yeah, GM is building both its C and B segment vehicles here in the states while Ford is only building its C segment vehicle in the states. And GM already has more new Cruzes at dealers than Ford has Fiestas as they are still bottled up in Mexico. For example, Blackwell Ford has one Fiesta in the showroom and one on lot. Lou LaRiche Chevy next door has at least five new Cruzes sitting on lot. Bill Brown Ford down street has never had more han maybe 6 on lot sitting in inventory and Fiesta has been out for at least four months now. The Fiesta is a hot seller and out of over 50,000 built only about 9,000 have been sold so far. And no, Canada and South America don't get all the rest. Most of those vehicles are meant for American dealerships that sell the bulk of them. Ford still hasn't figured out a way to get them into dealerships here. And to make matter worse just about every Fiesta here is tagged, and hardly none available for sale. Varsity Ford in Ann Arbor was complaining other day that Fiesta is allocated and dealers can't come close to meeting demand. So those who want a Fiesta have to wait for months and months or they are out of luch as dealers around here have none in inventory to sell. Meanwhile, the Cruze is sitting in inventory for immediate sale. Go figure.

[jpd80]

In all fairness, GM is building a subcompact, which the Focus is not. I don't think the Fiesta could be done the same way.

 

In all fairness, Ford moved all F Truck production back to USA and converted Mexican plant to Fiesta production.

 

Maybe UAW prefers to build Focus and more F Trucks than be screwed over with B car plant economics....

Edited October 11, 2010 by jpd80

[PREMiERdrum]

Maybe UAW prefers to build Focus and more F Trucks than be screwed over with B car plant economics....

 

And hadn't GM decided to move production there before the deal was even reached? "We'll build it in the USA! And if the union agrees, we can make money on it!". Reeks of Old GM thinking.

[akirby]

In all fairness, Ford moved all F Truck production back to USA and converted Mexican plant to Fiesta production.

 

Maybe UAW prefers to build Focus and more F Trucks than be screwed over with B car plant economics....

 

They also moved Focus production back to the U.S. to make room for Fusion/Milan/Zephyr.

[MGallun]

Yeah, GM is building both its C and B segment vehicles here in the states while Ford is only building its C segment vehicle in the states. And GM already has more new Cruzes at dealers than Ford has Fiestas as they are still bottled up in Mexico. For example, Blackwell Ford has one Fiesta in the showroom and one on lot. Lou LaRiche Chevy next door has at least five new Cruzes sitting on lot. Bill Brown Ford down street has never had more han maybe 6 on lot sitting in inventory and Fiesta has been out for at least four months now. The Fiesta is a hot seller and out of over 50,000 built only about 9,000 have been sold so far. And no, Canada and South America don't get all the rest. Most of those vehicles are meant for American dealerships that sell the bulk of them. Ford still hasn't figured out a way to get them into dealerships here. And to make matter worse just about every Fiesta here is tagged, and hardly none available for sale. Varsity Ford in Ann Arbor was complaining other day that Fiesta is allocated and dealers can't come close to meeting demand. So those who want a Fiesta have to wait for months and months or they are out of luch as dealers around here have none in inventory to sell. Meanwhile, the Cruze is sitting in inventory for immediate sale. Go figure.

 

 

and what makes you post so lame is..

 

#1 the fiesta is selling, it comes, it goes..

 

#2 the cruze is chilling, its avail on the lots, and its staying there! nobody wants them!

[FordBuyer]

and what makes you post so lame is..

 

#1 the fiesta is selling, it comes, it goes..

 

#2 the cruze is chilling, its avail on the lots, and its staying there! nobody wants them!

 

Correction:

 

#1 The Fiesta could be selling much better, but it's NOT coming as dealers could sell 2 to 3 times more than they've been allocated.

 

#2 The Cruze first month sales figures are not out yet and the Cruze should be a good seller for Chevy. It's a damn nice vehicle...much better than the Cobalt and class competitive.

 

#3 The first 6-9 months after Fusion launch they were in short supply at dealers and dealers did complain about slow delivery from Mexico. It took almost a full year for dealers to have healthy inventory of them. It looks to be same with Fiesta. Still vaporware six months after launch. I know a Ford salesman told me in July that it would be October before his dealership had any decent inventory of Fiestas. He was wrong. It's October and still no Fiestainventory unless you consider one a decent inventory. Fiesta launch hasn't gone well. More new Edges on lot than Fiestas and Edge launched two months after Fiesta.

[BrewfanGRB]

So those who want a Fiesta have to wait for months and months or they are out of luch as dealers around here have none in inventory to sell. Meanwhile, the Cruze is sitting in inventory for immediate sale. Go figure.

 

Let's revisit this in a couple, few months. If the Cruze is killing the Fiesta, then you can blame "delivery" problems. But, if they sell equally well or the Cruze sells worse, then it being in inventory for "immediate sale" is completely irrelevant.

[RichardJensen]

It's nothing to do with Mexico and everything to do with QC.

 

EVERY Ford product trickles into showrooms after launch.

[jpd80]

Fiesta coming at a slower than expected rate still out sold Yaris last month,

we shouldn't lose sight of that..

[Hugh]

It's nothing to do with Mexico and everything to do with QC.

 

EVERY Ford product trickles into showrooms after launch.

Agreed. Don't forget Ford has been under a lot of scrunity over the past 5 years. The 2006 Fusion/Milan/Zepher launch was delayed. The current F-150 was slow IIRC. 2006 Edge/MKX, Flex. The launches that are the slowest are the all-new models. The MCE's are not so much such as the current Focus, Fusion, Taurus (considering the Five Hundred/Taurus do-over was in the works).

In the end it is par for the course. I already argue with folks about my new Fiesta and wait with "What were you expecting? The dealer's gonna build you one in the garage out back for your specific needs?" They use the competion for examples I argue: "Harldy conclusive considering the competion's been out for a few years and THEIR first year wait time was almost the same as getting a Fiesta (6-8 weeks)". Simply put, I'd wait for get it right over get it here now. OTOH, I'm getting bored with the bus

[Marginal Economist]

Yeah, GM is building both its C and B segment vehicles here in the states while Ford is only building its C segment vehicle in the states. And GM already has more new Cruzes at dealers than Ford has Fiestas as they are still bottled up in Mexico. For example, Blackwell Ford has one Fiesta in the showroom and one on lot. Lou LaRiche Chevy next door has at least five new Cruzes sitting on lot. Bill Brown Ford down street has never had more han maybe 6 on lot sitting in inventory and Fiesta has been out for at least four months now. The Fiesta is a hot seller and out of over 50,000 built only about 9,000 have been sold so far. And no, Canada and South America don't get all the rest. Most of those vehicles are meant for American dealerships that sell the bulk of them. Ford still hasn't figured out a way to get them into dealerships here. And to make matter worse just about every Fiesta here is tagged, and hardly none available for sale. Varsity Ford in Ann Arbor was complaining other day that Fiesta is allocated and dealers can't come close to meeting demand. So those who want a Fiesta have to wait for months and months or they are out of luch as dealers around here have none in inventory to sell. Meanwhile, the Cruze is sitting in inventory for immediate sale. Go figure.

 

Please link to where over 50K Fiesta's have been built.

[FordBuyer]

Let's revisit this in a couple, few months. If the Cruze is killing the Fiesta, then you can blame "delivery" problems. But, if they sell equally well or the Cruze sells worse, then it being in inventory for "immediate sale" is completely irrelevant.

 

The Cruze is a C segment vehicle and I would imagine Chevy is expecting to sell at least 12,000-15,000/month once production ramps up fully and each dealer has nice inventory of them along with incentives. The Fiesta is a B segment vehicle and I don't think Ford is expecting to sell more than 8,000/month tops. In fact, 6,000-8,000/month would make Fiesta best selling B car. In C segment, the new Focus will have to sell in 15,000/month to be considered one of the top selling vehicles in that class. Both the Corolla and Civic are way over 20,000/month most months.

[BrewfanGRB]

The Cruze is a C segment vehicle and I would imagine Chevy is expecting to sell at least 12,000-15,000/month once production ramps up fully and each dealer has nice inventory of them along with incentives. The Fiesta is a B segment vehicle and I don't think Ford is expecting to sell more than 8,000/month tops. In fact, 6,000-8,000/month would make Fiesta best selling B car. In C segment, the new Focus will have to sell in 15,000/month to be considered one of the top selling vehicles in that class. Both the Corolla and Civic are way over 20,000/month most months.

 

 

Oops you're right---different segments. Fine. What I'd love to see is what the Cruze is selling in 2 or 3 months compared to the Focus now, with its "all new" replacement still not out. Either way, look at that: YOU comparing 2 different things and getting pissy about it.

 

So thanks for proving my point. The Cruze was going to sell more than the Fiesta anyway, even if they were built in 8 locations in the US.

Edited October 12, 2010 by BrewfanGRB

[jpd80]

The Cruze is a C segment vehicle and I would imagine Chevy is expecting to sell at least 12,000-15,000/month once production ramps up fully and each dealer has nice inventory of them along with incentives. The Fiesta is a B segment vehicle and I don't think Ford is expecting to sell more than 8,000/month tops. In fact, 6,000-8,000/month would make Fiesta best selling B car. In C segment, the new Focus will have to sell in 15,000/month to be considered one of the top selling vehicles in that class. Both the Corolla and Civic are way over 20,000/month most months.

Let's check a few facts.

Up to September, old Focus has sold 161,581 for an average of 17,953......LINK

 

New Focus will push that boundary even higher and put Ford in range of Corolla and Civic.

Edited October 12, 2010 by jpd80

[old_fairmont_wagon]

I wouldn't have my volume expectations for the new focus that high if I were you. Given the higher target prices for the new Focus, and the general lack of an overall economic recovery in the US, I would expect that volumes for the new focus will have a difficult time going past the 80% mark as compared to the current and slightly discounted version. Now, if we see a astounding level of overall economic recovery, then we might see a higher volume move. I just have no reson to predict that. As for counting on conquest sales to bring over potential purchasers of Civics and Corollas, all I can say is that most buyers of those vehicles at present had made up their mind to get a Honda or toyota before even leaving the house to shop. Add to that a more competitive GM Cruze, and you've got a recipe for a Focus that just soldiers on from where it is at best.

[MGallun]

lol, who is this fordbuyer guy? he seems to be really lost and confused with all these blanket statesments that have no validity

[RichardJensen]

Given the higher target prices for the new Focus

Higher target prices are based on more available options, and (to a lesser extent) more standard equipment.

 

Adjusted for inflation and additional standard equipment (i.e. ABS, stability control), the current Fusion is only a few hundred more expensive than the 2006 model at various trims.

[grbeck]

One Cruze has been sold...to our neighbors. It now sits in front of the house where their Saturn L-Series used to be parked. The Cruze is an attractive car, although the new Focus that I saw at the Washington, D.C., auto show earlier this year is still better looking.

 

Given that this Cruze replaced a Saturn L-Series, I believe that they should be eligible for some sort of neighborhood beautification tax credit.

 

As for Focus sales - even if total sales don't increase greatly, it would still be a good thing for Ford if more of those customers were retail customers, and they went for the higher trim levels. But considering that the Focus will be facing a still-new Cruze and an all-new Civic, expecting a substantial increase in sales may be too optimistic.

[silvrsvt]

But considering that the Focus will be facing a still-new Cruze and an all-new Civic, expecting a substantial increase in sales may be too optimistic.

 

Well I got a feeling that the Cruze will be following the Colbot into rental fleets if GM acts like the GM we all know and love...

 

As for the Civic, the only thing that car will have going for it is its reputation..Honda seriously needs to get itself into the game or its going to be leapfrogged by everyone. From what I've seen of a buddies '10 Accord...it has nothing special about it. Hell I liked my buddies Mom's Fit better then the Accord when we borrowed the Fit a couple times (He has a E-350 van for work LOL)

 

Just going by what Ford is going to offer in the Focus and the styling/details done to it, the 12 Focus is going to be in a whole another world...it looks like a much more expensive/larger car then it is. I showed my old man photos of it and He thought it was a Fusion!

[jpd80]

Given that this Cruze replaced a Saturn L-Series, I believe that they should be eligible for some sort of neighborhood beautification tax credit.