mackinaw Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 A bad month for Ford? Here's a sampling of Automotive News headlines for a few manufacturers: Toyota: "Sharp decline, as cars, incentives slip" Honda: "A year-high drop in car volume" Nissan: "Challenging July as cars, trucks tumble" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Assimilator Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 (edited) Housing and Automotive tends to be a leading indicator for consumer confidence and right now all things are pointing in the wrong direction so Ford is not alone but it's not doing too bad at all. It's making the right decisions to get the ship in order. It's something of a repeat performance from 2006 but not as desperate. Ford has been preparing for a downturn so they can exit it financially fit and ready for the next decade. It's still amazing Ford can offset so much almost entirely on the strength of one vehicle. Edited August 1, 2018 by Assimilator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 Escape rebates are nearly $6k for at least last 3 months here so no surprise...sadly my time of ford auto ownership for over 35 years is going to end..our family ownership of ford stretches back to grandpas model T....i just do not want or need a suv so they have forced me to look elsewhere... You do realize Ford's sedans will be around for at least another 2 years right? And that Focus Active is just a Focus hatch with cladding around the wheels? Not properly refreshing Fusion was part of the plan to let it fade away as was messing with the ordering system It didn't have to be this way but the moment Ford whinged about 33,000 order variations, you knew what was coming.. I don't have a problem with a simplified order guide for non F-series products. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted August 1, 2018 Author Share Posted August 1, 2018 I don't have a problem with a simplified order guide for non F-series products. The F-series could use a little simplification. Probably not to the degree of what they did to the Escape and Fusion but it could use a tweak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted August 1, 2018 Author Share Posted August 1, 2018 On another note, I was just informed that the 10 millionth Mustang is being built as I type this. It will be rolling off the line sometime tonight. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sullynd Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 Ford is just loosing a tremendous amount of customer diversity and marketshare and that hemorrhaging is going to continue through 2020 as they cut cars cold turkey before they have their new utility products in play. They are also shedding unprofitable volume intentionally, https://www.grammarly.com/blog/loose-lose/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 I don't have a problem with a simplified order guide for non F-series products. I don't either but what I'm saying was that Ford whinged about the complexity of a system they set up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 On another note, I was just informed that the 10 millionth Mustang is being built as I type this. It will be rolling off the line sometime tonight. I guess it will be a collectors item or raffled off to charity? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackinaw Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 On another note, I was just informed that the 10 millionth Mustang is being built as I type this. It will be rolling off the line sometime tonight. 10 million. Amazing. I remember vividly April 17, 1964 when the Mustang first came out. Now here we are, 54 years and 10 million cars later. Just amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoonerLS Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 10 million. Amazing. I remember vividly April 17, 1964 when the Mustang first came out. Now here we are, 54 years and 10 million cars later. Just amazing.Of course, they sold a million of them in the first two years and it took them 52 years to sell the next nine million... ? Seriously, that's a pretty cool milestone. ...Even if the Model T hit 15 million in 19 years... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted August 2, 2018 Author Share Posted August 2, 2018 I guess it will be a collectors item or raffled off to charity? My friend looked at the window sticker and based on who the buyer is its probably going to be auctioned. Its Wimbledon White, which also made an appearance on the 2015 50th anniversary edition Mustang, and it is LOADED to the gills. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 My friend looked at the window sticker and based on who the buyer is its probably going to be auctioned. Its Wimbledon White, which also made an appearance on the 2015 50th anniversary edition Mustang, and it is LOADED to the gills. Thanks for sharing.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coupe3w Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 Escape rebates are nearly $6k for at least last 3 months here so no surprise...sadly my time of ford auto ownership for over 35 years is going to end..our family ownership of ford stretches back to grandpas model T....i just do not want or need a suv so they have forced me to look elsewhere... You are not alone my friend. I'm in the same boat. I'm 66 yo and will be retiring at the end of this year. I have owned Fords all my life and sadly I will have to shop elsewhere for my next car. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgm Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 Explorer is up 7.9%. Every other CUV/SUV (excluding Flex, which is dead man walking) are down, including Expedition. How can that be? All dealers in the metro detroit have a near zero inventory of Expedition but yet the customers want them.. I guess that's what happens when you continue to put all your hot sellers on 1 line. Wish they would get something right for once. Seems like the redesigned Expedition should have had a separate line or moved to another facility to increase capacity. GM doesn't have a problem building enough Yukon Tahoe or Suburban. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 All dealers in the metro detroit have a near zero inventory of Expedition but yet the customers want them.. I guess that's what happens when you continue to put all your hot sellers on 1 line. Wish they would get something right for once. Seems like the redesigned Expedition should have had a separate line or moved to another facility to increase capacity. GM doesn't have a problem building enough Yukon Tahoe or Suburban. GM has a whole plant to make them-Ford isn't going do that and they be like oh shit when the sales get soft on them as they age-I'd rather have them build less of them and keep prices higher then dumping them on the market place Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twintornados Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 One way to fix all this is to go to quarterly sales reporting (sarcasm included for free) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted August 2, 2018 Author Share Posted August 2, 2018 (edited) All dealers in the metro detroit have a near zero inventory of Expedition but yet the customers want them.. I guess that's what happens when you continue to put all your hot sellers on 1 line. Wish they would get something right for once. Seems like the redesigned Expedition should have had a separate line or moved to another facility to increase capacity. GM doesn't have a problem building enough Yukon Tahoe or Suburban. Gorno Ford usually has a couple on the lot. They park them front and center. Crest Ford in Flat Rock has had a platinum white one on their lot for at least 2 weeks now. Edited August 2, 2018 by fuzzymoomoo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoonerLS Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 How much of the Expedition's drop is an aftereffect of the supplier fire that limited production? I seem to recall that Ford prioritized Navigator production over Expedition during the parts shortage... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted August 2, 2018 Author Share Posted August 2, 2018 How much of the Expedition's drop is an aftereffect of the supplier fire that limited production? I seem to recall that Ford prioritized Navigator production over Expedition during the parts shortage... I dont think Expedition or Navigator were slowed down at all by that. I think if anything they were able to build more of them and build up inventory a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 Ford has been very conservative with factory capacity. In reality they could use 2 more factories - one for C2 and one for F series/Expy/Navi. But that's a lot of overhead and if you don't fill up at least 2 shifts then the business case is tough because you can just limit production in the existing plants and keep incentives lower. And if the market does go South you're saddled with too many factories. I think it's a risk they should take but so far they haven't been willing to do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twintornados Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 Ford has been very conservative with factory capacity. In reality they could use 2 more factories - one for C2 and one for F series/Expy/Navi. But that's a lot of overhead and if you don't fill up at least 2 shifts then the business case is tough because you can just limit production in the existing plants and keep incentives lower. And if the market does go South you're saddled with too many factories. I think it's a risk they should take but so far they haven't been willing to do that. . Can Ohio Assembly be expanded to take additional Expedition/Navigator production so that more build capacity can be garnered for those profit generators? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackinaw Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 Ford has been very conservative with factory capacity. In reality they could use 2 more factories - one for C2 and one for F series/Expy/Navi. But that's a lot of overhead and if you don't fill up at least 2 shifts then the business case is tough because you can just limit production in the existing plants and keep incentives lower. And if the market does go South you're saddled with too many factories. I think it's a risk they should take but so far they haven't been willing to do that. All manufacturers try and avoid excessive capacity. GM is facing the same problem with Lordstown and the Cruze. Sales have plummeted so the factory is now down to one shift. GM's quandary, keep running the factory at only 37% capacity and lose money on every Cruze they sell, or move production to the existing plant in Mexico and close Lordstown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 All manufacturers try and avoid excessive capacity. GM is facing the same problem with Lordstown and the Cruze. Sales have plummeted so the factory is now down to one shift. GM's quandary, keep running the factory at only 37% capacity and lose money on every Cruze they sell, or move production to the existing plant in Mexico and close Lordstown. But GM has been less conservative than Ford, keeping more factories open (at least that's my impression) at lower utilization. Then again they could afford to do that since they got a bailout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Assimilator Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 They did invest $25 Million to increase production 25%...or they are working on it...not sure if we are at peak production capacity yet. Once the pent-up demand settles down, I think Ford is happy with its current manufacturing footprint for these vehicles. They want sustainable capacity. https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2018/02/12/ford-increasing-production-of-navigator-expedition.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordmantpw Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 . Can Ohio Assembly be expanded to take additional Expedition/Navigator production so that more build capacity can be garnered for those profit generators? I think it would be more likely it's expanded to make more Super Duty trucks since it already makes the C&C trucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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