I own 2 Fords, both class-leading when I bought them. Ford's decision to give up and not compete isn't my problem. There are so many high-quality automakers that sell products I want to buy. Ford is dying, and I am Ok with that.

Bro.  F series, Bronco, and Explorer are brand assets. One could argue Ford isn't developing those Assets; they are harvesting the value of those assets.  The continued dilution of those brands is a long-term risk for the company, as is the inability to build new brand assets.   By any metric, Toyota is a better-run company. Interestingly, you bring up profit margin rather than net profit. The focus on profit margin is in direct Opposition to offering more affordable products.  Head-to-Head: Here's How Ford and Toyota Stack Up in the Auto Space | Nasdaq

I was bored I wonder why it seems that Ford has fewer nameplates than they did when I bought my first car in 2000. What I found was that Ford was negatively affected by the loss of brands and subsidiaries like Volvo and Mazda, which shared significant platform volume with Ford products 15 to 20 years ago.  Going from Ford’s Global Modular platform generations from C1 to C2 Gen 1 2003-2011 C1 (2003-2010) - 11 nameplates   EUCD (2006-2011) - 11-15 nameplates CD3 (2002-2011) - 10 nameplates Total 32-36 Nameplates  Platform Age 5-9 years Gen 2 2011-2018 ” One-Ford”  C1v2 (2011-2017) – 9 Nameplates CD4 (2012-2018) – 8 Nameplates Total  17 nameplates Platform Age 7 years Gen 3 2018-present C2 (2018-present) – 10 nameplates CD6 (2020- present) – 2 nameplates Total 12 nameplates Platform Age 5-7+ years   The number of vehicles on each platform has fallen, while the age of the platforms has increased.  

Nothing outperforms F series, Bronco and Explorer.  And you don't make a lot of money on value and quality alone.   You want Ford to be Toyota and cater to all markets and price points.  Ford Pro and F150 makes 3 times the profit margin of Toyota. The only reason Ford isn't making 8% - 10% margins is warranty costs which seem to be improving and poor cost control.     The irony is that they're doing exactly what you want with new EVs and new trucks but all you do is complain about it over and over.

Do the big shots at Ford understand what the company's core values are? Do they really believe in those values? This is what Jimbo and Billy Boy wrote in Ford's most recent Annual Integrated Report about core values:  

They should call Ford for the tooling on those tail lights 

I think this is a systemic issue with Ford and its Product development Strategy being "vibes-based," not aligned with the company's core values. The More I think about it, the more it becomes clear that Ford is a marketing company that builds cars.  Everything they have done in the last 5-8 years has been brand management (Bronco, Mustang, F-series, Explorer, Capri, Puma). The brands/Nameplate dictate the investment, more than the need.  Instead of the product being differentiated by value, content, performance, and quality, its marketing is first, and the product second.  This makes sense when shareholders punish management for taking risks. A company that takes no risk, nor holds a course, cannot grow.  VS Instead of investing in People, factories, technologies, and products, we see fewer products on older platforms, with longer refresh intervals.  You have to admire other automakers like Toyota and GM, who developed a Strategy and stuck with it.  GM with Ultium Focused on the Building Blocks of EVs: In-house drivetrains, inverters, battery architecture, shared with 16 different vehicles Ultium - Wikipedia Toyota's Conservative EV rollout led to the Worst EV on the market.  2023 Bz4x The Toyota bZ4X Is Flopping for More Reasons Than Just Its Name They heard the feedback and worked to improve the product 2026 Toyota bZ Review: New, Improved, and Finally Competitive The contrast is that Ford has, on multiple occasions, dumped products that were poorly received or had issues, rather than repairing them. Ford would rather sell a known problem (Powershift!) or dump a product that was popular but had sourcing challenges (Transit Connect, Lightning, Focus) than fix the problem. I don't believe Toyota or GM would have allowed their segment-leading product to die so easily.   

I think the board takes their lead from Bill Ford, he has a big say in the decisions made at Ford motor because he represents the family and the controlling stock votes.  

Duh- make that 59 minutes.  Still pretty amazing

You guys are a bunch of party poopers 😂. We aren’t GM executives here trying to earn a buck for our stockholders. We are automotive fans who want to see cool designs.