Tructor

Ford Sales: Dropping by Half

Ford has an opportunity to emerge from this depression in better shape, and with a more coherent product line-up than GM, assuming GM's huge gamble on the Chevy Volt will not be its salvation.
The immense "haircut" that consumers have undergone in their financial ability and in their delusions has made them more aware of value and durability in autos. Ford's reliability is far better than GM's, rivaling Toyota's, and, Ford parts and maintenance costs are lower than Toyota's (ever paid for a Toyota timing belt replacement?). Today's Ford vehicles easily provide 150,000-200,000 miles of service. Only GM's C-series trucks rivals that in American auto. The days of cars as fashion or ego statements have disappeared with lease financing. Ford dumped Jaguar just in time. When Ford sells Volvo, having absorbed the value there, and continues delivering solid products like Fusion, Grand Marquis, F-Series, Ford will prosper as consumers seek Volvo-like value cars. A bold move into natural gas engines for the Crown Vic and Town Car commercial-municipal vehicle lines would be a plus. Chrysler is gone. Fiat or Peugeot could re-enter the US market with a fire-sale buy of Jeep and Chrysler's mini-vans, leaving the truck market to Ford, GM and Toyota. Let capitalism's "creative destruction" occur.