Ford Motors quarterly profits hit a six-year high

[Silas (son of Silas)]

Things looking up?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8646941.stm

[CCM]

maybe...


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100421/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gm_loans

[Fordman]

I can comment here as I am a Ford Motor Employee of the Dearborn, MI (US) Truck Plant, formerly of the Batavia, OH (US) & Sharonville, OH (US) Transmission Plants. I am an hourly employee and yes a PROUD UAW member and wouldnt have it any other way!

First, I have to say thanks to those that believed in FoMoCo in the last 5 years as it just wasnt the last 2-3 that the auto companies have suffered.

Second, I have to hand it to the engineers and design teams. In the early 2000's they designed ugly cars (Ford 500-Mercury Montego) that didnt sell. The truck were selling, but started to become stale in design and efficiency. The SUV's were selling but the Explorer was in every 3rd driveway and the buying public wanted something different.

The Escape was/is an instant compact-SUV hit. That was the engineer/design hit number 1

The Mustang was ultimate muscle car fans dream with the 2005 body style design. Instant hit!

The F-150 new body style with the new ECO-boost engines are again the top selling truck!

The Edge was a break away from the minivan and people seem to prefer it to the minivan as GM has stopped seeling minivans as well, (Outlook, Enclave, Acadia). the Edge is a hit with Mom's and the older set that loves to travel.

The Focus is a hit with the sub-compact crowd.

And one of the surpises is the Transit-Connect work truck-van. That little-big thing is a hit as it is very fuel efficient and those that have them love them as you can get those all-over vehicle stickers and just plaster your company ID all over it without breaking the bank!

Now on to those that build the vehicles. If we didnt follow certain quality guidelines, we'd all be in the unemployment lines. Gone are the days of show up, walk to the line and try for the first 2 hours of not doing anything. You dont work, you dont get paid, YOU GO HOME! You have to work and meet or beat cycle time. If you dont meet or beat cycle time, you get a boss, UAW rep and skilled trades at your work station to see what the issue is. If it it something mechanical, skilled trades fixes it. If it is you, then you either udjust your work habits/ethics or go home!

Bottom line is, when the company makes money, I MAKE MONEY! 

 

Fordman

[Fordman]

The Mustang was ultimate muscle car fans dream with the 2005 body style design. Instant hit!

Man, you can say that again.  My friend's got an 08 GT I get to zip around in Houston and that is a damned fun car to drive.  Makes a lot of noise in 3rd, too. 

Barking tires in third or just letting the white-knuckled prius driver know your about ready to smoke 'em?

 

Fordman

[HaRuMaN]

My only complaint about the modern mustangs is that there are too many of them.  You see them everywhere.

[Kevin Mullins]

or just letting the white-knuckled prius driver know your about ready to smoke 'em?

Quite frankly, that statement strikes me as unimpressive.
I certainly wouldn't make a "performance" remark and use a "Prius" as a comparison.

Don't get me wrong.... I am a LONG time Ford fanatic.
But I also know of many older model cars that would still get up an run with a newer GT.
(of course also depends on if you're talking off the line zippy, or long run haulin' balls)

[Epyx]

The Mustang was ultimate muscle car fans dream with the 2005 body style design. Instant hit!

I'll see your Mustang and raise you a 300zx Twin turbo circa 1993...was and always will be my dream sports car. One day I will have one...

[Silas (son of Silas)]

I prefer my rides to be much older and much slower, but I guess I'm just a bit of an old fart at heart ;-)

[CheffoJeffo]

I'll see your Mustang and raise you a 300zx Twin turbo circa 1993...was and always will be my dream sports car. One day I will have one...

My old man has a 300zTT and left it with me for a couple of weeks last summer ... all I've got to say is yow----smurfing----za!

[Epyx]

Ya im over revving the engine too...guess Ive been lucky but Ive had my license for 22 years now and never a speeding ticket.

I just remember being 21 at the time and my rich bosses son had a 300zx tt and it felt like sitting in a Star Wars cockpit and the handling was out of this world...here in Vancouver, BC there are still quite a few on the road, I see them all the time.

Not an expensive car but given I drive a family SUV it would be hard to justify the need to have one lol.

[Fordman]

My brother has a 1988 300zx Turbo Shiro Special for sale in the Cincinnati, OH area. He has it listed on craigslist. He'd take $4,000 (US) for it!

http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/cto/1685775589.html

Its #837 out of 1100 made. check out this registry for them:

http://www.thezregistry.com/cgi-bin/ssregistry.pl

 

Fordman

[ark_ader]

I want to get a truck and this time I want it to be a Ford.  Do Ford still make the Ranger, and if they don't do they make a truck that is like the Chevy 1500 Silverado but in a V6?

Do Fords have the same trannie problems found in Chevys after 100K miles?

[Fordman]

Quite frankly, that statement strikes me as unimpressive.
I certainly wouldn't make a "performance" remark and use a "Prius" as a comparison.

The prius drivers I've seen are white knuckled to the steering wheel and eyes staring straight ahead of them, they're afraid to drive more than 55mph (US)!

I'll take the Mustang over the prius any day. Mustangs arnt to drive the family in. They're not intended to! Its made for the 35yr old male and older riding with his wife/girlfriend or to be a chick magnet! (in all fairness, the Mustang is the attention getter, not the grocery go-getter!)

btw, what are the Hybrid drivers going to do with that battery when it dies? To be fair, the Escape and Fusion hybrids have toyota hybrid systems and Ive been asking the same question of those as well!

Fordman

[Fordman]

I want to get a truck and this time I want it to be a Ford.  Do Ford still make the Ranger, and if they don't do they make a truck that is like the Chevy 1500 Silverado but in a V6?

Do Fords have the same trannie problems found in Chevys after 100K miles?

ark_ader, PM me. I'll get you an X-Plan Pin. Yes, they still make the Ranger. Its made in St. Paul Minnesota. No trans problems that Im aware of but you never know as each powertrain is somewhat different when built.

Fordman

[Donkey_Kong]

Fordman, I would have never guessed you worked for Ford. 


I was born and raised on Chevy, but I recently took a Ford Ranger off an in laws hands. It is a '95 with 260,000+ miles on it, and the motor couldn't have sounded much different the day it left the factory. It's amazing. I might just have to actually buy an F150 or something. Oh, plus I have a '97 Lincoln Continental, that things fun.

[Howard_Casto]

I will just say that although I have only bought american my entire life, any company that isn't willing to embrace alternative fuels is doomed to bankruptcy within the next 20 years.  Without some full-on electirc models and/or hydrogen cars in the next few years ford is doomed as is virtually everyone else. 

[HaRuMaN]

http://www.zercustoms.com/news/Electric-Ford-Focus-in-2012.html

[TOK]

I want to get a truck and this time I want it to be a Ford.  Do Ford still make the Ranger, and if they don't do they make a truck that is like the Chevy 1500 Silverado but in a V6?

Do Fords have the same trannie problems found in Chevys after 100K miles?

Get a stripped F150 if you want a Ford. The Ranger hasn't been substantially updated since the late 90's, and it wasn't the best truck back then.

Seriously, I like Ford (I have an E250 that has been a champ), but Ford isn't even trying to compete in the mini truck market. Anything else -Tacoma, Frontier, even the sad sack Dakota and wacky inline 5 Colorado smoke it.

[SavannahLion]

btw, what are the Hybrid drivers going to do with that battery when it dies? To be fair, the Escape and Fusion hybrids have toyota hybrid systems and Ive been asking the same question of those as well!

Probably get screwed with some hefty recycling fees like we get screwed with that stupid "charge" for electronics recycling which is really just a thinly disguised tax. So the car owner probably has to pay a pile for new batteries and another pile of cash to get rid of the old ones.

Supposedly, it all gets, "recycled". For Lead Acid, I've seen numbers like 98% of all lead batteries in the U.S. (I've seen that number applied to lead anything as well. The missing two percent is probably lost metals like in paint and other products.)

I've never seen any good numbers for any other type of batteries though.

Hybrid owners and electric car owners are a funny bunch. I've read on one forum where someone was overly concerned over the potential production of ozone the electric motors create. Geez.