venomus07GT500 Posted July 18, 2007 Report Share Posted July 18, 2007 DOES ANYONE KNOW FOR SURE IF THESE CARS ARE A 2 YR RUN OR ARE THEY NOW MAKING IT FOR 3 YEARS>? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
66GT HIPO Posted July 18, 2007 Report Share Posted July 18, 2007 DOES ANYONE KNOW FOR SURE IF THESE CARS ARE A 2 YR RUN OR ARE THEY NOW MAKING IT FOR 3 YEARS>? Ford said that build was for two years only, but there are a lot of rumors of a 3rd year build so i guess we just wait and see. 66hipo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arizonabud Posted July 18, 2007 Report Share Posted July 18, 2007 DOES ANYONE KNOW FOR SURE IF THESE CARS ARE A 2 YR RUN OR ARE THEY NOW MAKING IT FOR 3 YEARS>? Only Ford knows. With the poor performance in sales that Ford has had in the past several months, and the gt500 isn't the top money maker in sales, what they may say and what happens to the gt500 production could be put on the back burner at anytime. I would suspect that if sales for next couple of quarters dosen't pick up on their regular auto and truck line, they may be cutting back on the non-profitable models such as the gt500. There just isn't that big a demand for out cars out there now and in the future with the push on more fuel efficient vehicles. My advice is get one while you can, cause they may not contiue. Ford is in business to make a profit and they will cut if necessary. AZbud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phr3121 Posted July 18, 2007 Report Share Posted July 18, 2007 If it is any consolation, or sign of things to come, I know of an older gentleman here in town who is a very rich oilman who bought 18 of these cars and has them all in storage. Maybe he knows something we don't! He keeps a lot of other great cars (foreign) in storage as well. I feel the value of a 2007/2008 Ford Shelby GT500 is going to go through the roof in a few years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phr3121 Posted July 18, 2007 Report Share Posted July 18, 2007 With the poor performance in sales that Ford has had in the past several months, and the gt500 isn't the top money maker in sales, what they may say and what happens to the gt500 production could be put on the back burner at anytime. I would suspect that if sales for next couple of quarters dosen't pick up on their regular auto and truck line, they may be cutting back on the non-profitable models such as the gt500. Sure, with a $10,000 to $20,000 sticker mark-up how many people are truly willing to pay it? I know this "crazy" mark-up has given Ford a bad name in the last 6 months..... Plus, this car was not being sold by any dealership in Oklahoma! Why is that? I had to purchase mine in Illinois. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fastbackman Posted July 18, 2007 Report Share Posted July 18, 2007 They've been sold in Oklahoma. I'm from OK and I know of one or two in Muskogee and one in Tahlequah, another one in Broken Arrow at Jim Nelson Ford and there is currently one available posted on this site in western OK. It is a white/red stripe package for $7500 over. I bought mine out of state, not because I couldn't find them in OK, but because I couldn't find a deal in Oklahoma. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckstang Posted July 18, 2007 Report Share Posted July 18, 2007 Carol only signed a 2 year agreement for now, without his agreement there can not legally be an 09 GT500, Ford does not own the rights. Carol will sign though if Ford wants him to, it all depends on how the car is selling by end of 08, I doubt there will be an 09, they would most likely have to offer big rebates because by that time the new Camaro with a blown 6.2 will be out as well as the Challenger and new Z06SS with 650hp, not to mention the 08 viper with 600hp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr ford Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 Carol only signed a 2 year agreement for now, without his agreement there can not legally be an 09 GT500, Ford does not own the rights.Carol will sign though if Ford wants him to, it all depends on how the car is selling by end of 08, I doubt there will be an 09, they would most likely have to offer big rebates because by that time the new Camaro with a blown 6.2 will be out as well as the Challenger and new Z06SS with 650hp, not to mention the 08 viper with 600hp. Maybe if the dealers didn't screw the enthusiast base that have supported mustang high performance cars to the point of looking at other brands, they wouldn't have a problem with sales... But this all goes along with Fords new way of marketing, create a shortage of cars and it will add value (ie:demand for the hot product = higher prices). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbobbeg Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 Plus, this car was not being sold by any dealership in Oklahoma! Why is that?I had to purchase mine in Illinois. How funny, I live in NM and had to go to OK for my car! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShelbyDude Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 Sure, with a $10,000 to $20,000 sticker mark-up how many people are truly willing to pay it?I know this "crazy" mark-up has given Ford a bad name in the last 6 months..... Plus, this car was not being sold by any dealership in Oklahoma! Why is that? I had to purchase mine in Illinois. There are currently 20 2007 GT500's showing in OK. 16 Coupes and 4 Convertibles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
venomus07GT500 Posted July 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 If it is any consolation, or sign of things to come, I know of an older gentleman here in town who is a very rich oilman who bought 18 of these cars and has them all in storage. Maybe he knows something we don't! He keeps a lot of other great cars (foreign) in storage as well. I feel the value of a 2007/2008 Ford Shelby GT500 is going to go through the roof in a few years. I have 2 myself selling one and keeping one, freaking out about a 3rd year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Under10 Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 I have 2 myself selling one and keeping one, freaking out about a 3rd year Which one are you selling? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phr3121 Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 Carol will sign though if Ford wants him to, it all depends on how the car is selling by end of 08, I doubt there will be an 09, they would most likely have to offer big rebates because by that time the new Camaro with a blown 6.2 will be out as well as the Challenger and new Z06SS with 650hp, not to mention the 08 viper with 600hp. Ouch! That is a scary thought....does this mean that by 2009 the "07 Shelby GT500 will be eating dust at the local track by Camaros, Challengers, Corvettes, and Vipers! Say it isn't so. Better enjoy things while we can..... There are currently 20 2007 GT500's showing in OK. 16 Coupes and 4 Convertibles Ok, where are all these cars being sold in Oklahoma? When I did my search back in May of this year I could not find any dealerships in the state that had them. I'm talking dealerships and coupes only! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sprint200 Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 Ouch! That is a scary thought....does this mean that by 2009 the "07 Shelby GT500 will be eating dust at the local track by Camaros, Challengers, Corvettes, and Vipers! Say it isn't so. Better enjoy things while we can.....Ok, where are all these cars being sold in Oklahoma? When I did my search back in May of this year I could not find any dealerships in the state that had them. I'm talking dealerships and coupes only! Well let's see here. I bought mine from Diffee in El Reno who also just sold a second allocation last month. Another member here bought his at Reynolds Ford in Norman. Another got his from Hinton Oklahoma. Joe Cooper had at least 6 allocations but wanted unreal ADM's for them....shall I go on? I know Elk City sold 2 at very reasonable prices through advertising on this site.....etc. etc. etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sprint200 Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 Well let's see here. I bought mine from Diffee in El Reno who also just sold a second allocation last month. Another member here bought his at Reynolds Ford in Norman. Another got his from Hinton Oklahoma. Joe Cooper had at least 6 allocations but wanted unreal ADM's for them....shall I go on? I know Elk City sold 2 at very reasonable prices through advertising on this site.....etc. etc. etc. Oh yeah and Vance in Guthrie sold theirs to a guy from Phoenix..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShelbyDude Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 Ouch! That is a scary thought....does this mean that by 2009 the "07 Shelby GT500 will be eating dust at the local track by Camaros, Challengers, Corvettes, and Vipers! Say it isn't so. Better enjoy things while we can.....Ok, where are all these cars being sold in Oklahoma? When I did my search back in May of this year I could not find any dealerships in the state that had them. I'm talking dealerships and coupes only! That is because most of these didn't arrive at the dealer until June and July. There are 73 dealers and 16 of those dealers show a coupe in stock. Sallisaw Ford Inc 2300 South Kerr Blvd. Hwy 59 South Sallisaw OK Red Coupe Delivered 6/1/07 Joe Cooper Ford of Tulsa 3400 South Sheridan Tulsa OK Black Coupe Delivered 5/10/07 Taylor Ford Inc. 105 North Price Chandler OK White Coupe 3/31/07 Seminole Ford - Mercury, Inc 2222 North Milt Phillips Avenue Seminole OK Black Coupe Delivered 4/26/07 Stevens Ford 3101 West Garriott Road Enid OK Red Coupe 5/31/07 Stuteville Ford-Mercury, LLC 1601 S. Mississippi Street Atoka OK Black Coupe Delivered 4/18/07 Joe Cooper Ford Inc 6601 S.E. 29th Midwest City OK Red Coupe Delivered 6/13/07 Bob Howard Downtown Ford 200 West Reno Avenue Oklahoma City OK Vista Blue Coupe (The FASTEST COLOR!) 7/10/07 Bob Moore Ford 728 East I 240 Service Drive Oklahoma City OK Red Coupe 7/2/07 Marc Heitz Ford 2805 North 9th Street Purcell OK Black Coupe 7/9/07 Diffee Ford Lincoln - Mercury Inc. 1681 East I-40 El Reno OK Red Coupe Delivered 6/12/07 Pauls Valley Ford Lincoln Mercury 2103 W. Grant Ave. Pauls Valley OK White Coupe Delivered 6/6/07 Red River Ford Lincoln Mercury 402 Westside Drive Durant OK Red Coupe Delivered 6/4/07 Billingsley Ford Of Lawton 8209 NW Quanah Parker Trailway Lawton OK Black Coupe Delivered 7/11/07 Barber - Dyson Ford Lincoln - Mercury 501 East Highway 66 Elk City OK White Coupe Delivered 5/15/07 Wilmes Ford Lincoln Mercury Automall Falcon Rd. At Grady St. Altus OK Black Coupe Delivered 6/5/07 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phr3121 Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 Well let's see here. I bought mine from Diffee in El Reno who also just sold a second allocation last month. Another member here bought his at Reynolds Ford in Norman. Another got his from Hinton Oklahoma. Joe Cooper had at least 6 allocations but wanted unreal ADM's for them....shall I go on? I know Elk City sold 2 at very reasonable prices through advertising on this site.....etc. etc. etc. Thanks Sprint but there is no way Joe Cooper Ford here in Tulsa was selling a 2007 Ford Shelby GT500 back in May of this year because I whent there! Yes, they had two Shelby GTs, one 427 Roush (Stage 3), and two S281 Saleens.....but no Shelby GT500! When you do a state search on the web for this car some dealers are saying they have the 2007 Ford Shelby GT500 when in fact they only have the 2007 Ford Shelby GT. Some of the dealers don't even know the difference! I'm new here, where on this site does it show vehicles being sold in OK? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sprint200 Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 My bad. I thought Diffee had sold the red one already...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShelbyDude Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 My bad. I thought Diffee had sold the red one already...... They may have sold it and it hasn't been removed from the locator yet. Ford is always behind on this and sometimes vehicles that were sold can still show up weeks after. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sprint200 Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 Thanks Sprint but there is no way Joe Cooper Ford here in Tulsa was selling a 2007 Ford Shelby GT500 back in May of this year because I whent there! Yes, they had two Shelby GTs, one 427 Roush (Stage 3), and two S281 Saleens.....but no Shelby GT500! When you do a state search on the web for this car some dealers are saying they have the 2007 Ford Shelby GT500 when in fact they only have the 2007 Ford Shelby GT. Some of the dealers don't even know the difference! I'm new here, where on this site does it show vehicles being sold in OK? Shelbydude is a dealer and has access to that data base. He's a good guy and a great resource to the board. Joe Cooper has 3 dealerships in the state carrying the GT500. I'm sure they had a "share of nation" allocation left back then. Maybe just not at the Tulsa store. They told me that they were willing to move them from one location to another for enough But I will never buy from them ever! I found a dealer that had not sold their allocation and made a reasonable deal before it was ever ordered.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phr3121 Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 Thanks Sprint but there is no way Joe Cooper Ford here in Tulsa was selling a 2007 Ford Shelby GT500 back in May of this year because I whent there! Yes, they had two Shelby GTs, one 427 Roush (Stage 3), and two S281 Saleens.....but no Shelby GT500! Since I brought up the issue of the 427 Roush and S281 Saleen, how do you folks think these two cars compare to the Ford Shelby GT500? Some of you guys (and girls) have been with Ford for many years, I have only joined the team recently from Chevrolet and Volkswagen. Please educate me..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
68fastback Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 Carol only signed a 2 year agreement for now, without his agreement there can not legally be an 09 GT500, Ford does not own the rights.Carol will sign though if Ford wants him to, it all depends on how the car is selling by end of 08, I doubt there will be an 09, they would most likely have to offer big rebates because by that time the new Camaro with a blown 6.2 will be out as well as the Challenger and new Z06SS with 650hp, not to mention the 08 viper with 600hp. Chuck, just curious why you would think Ford would box themselves in with a contract limiting themselves to two years? I honestly don't know if there will be an '09, but at $250/unit, 10K units is $2.5M easy cash ...for licensing your name! ...even if the initial contract was for only two years. Certainly, Ford could make the GT500 as an SVT Cobra too -- no licensing required ...not that I think there's any problem there betw SA/Ford, but nothing to prevent Ford from making the car until the cows turn blue if they like, imo. As far as a blown 6.2 Camaro.. do you think that will be in the first year of production and from the factory? I've not heard anything on to suggest it's part of the Camaro plan right now, tho it could be. The new 'vette and Viper are at very different price points so I don't see how they even figure into the equation any more than an 800HP GR-1 would. ;-) ---- Also, someone mentioned that Ford loses money on the GT500. I seriously doubt that. All Ford vehicles are priced according to cost, overhead and profit based on Ford's pricing guidelines. The guys who set pricing could care less if it has 500HP -- it's a car. Ask Alloy Dave if Cummins prices their engines at a loss because they feel the customer might really like the engine <lol> If the GT500 was not priced to make money, the pricing, practices and general Counsel would all barf on the plan. If the GT500's plan wasn't profitable (even before the first one was even contracted for parts with vendors or tooled-for -- let alone selling-out as it is) it would not have been produced. It is just not realistically possible to have a car selling out and not making it's profit numbers. Just my .02 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe G Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 Dan, as usual, rocks! :bowdown: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Under10 Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 I'm new here, where on this site does it show vehicles being sold in OK? You gotta be ShelbyDude...or someone else on the inside of the Ford family BTW, thanks for being so open with the info ShelbyDude!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLU_WHT Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 ---- Also, someone mentioned that Ford loses money on the GT500. I seriously doubt that. All Ford vehicles are priced according to cost, overhead and profit based on Ford's pricing guidelines. The guys who set pricing could care less if it has 500HP -- it's a car. Ask Alloy Dave if Cummins prices their engines at a loss because they feel the customer might really like the engine <lol> If the GT500 was not priced to make money, the pricing, practices and general Counsel would all barf on the plan. If the GT500's plan wasn't profitable (even before the first one was even contracted for parts with vendors or tooled-for -- let alone selling-out as it is) it would not have been produced. It is just not realistically possible to have a car selling out and not making it's profit numbers. Just my .02 Actually Ford loses money on vehicles for various reasons. Check out this article: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/conte...htm?chan=search Here is a quote: "...Ford loses close to $3,000 every time a customer buys a Focus compact..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
68fastback Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 ---- Also, someone mentioned that Ford loses money on the GT500. I seriously doubt that. All Ford vehicles are priced according to cost, overhead and profit based on Ford's pricing guidelines. The guys who set pricing could care less if it has 500HP -- it's a car. Ask Alloy Dave if Cummins prices their engines at a loss because they feel the customer might really like the engine <lol> If the GT500 was not priced to make money, the pricing, practices and general Counsel would all barf on the plan. If the GT500's plan wasn't profitable (even before the first one was even contracted for parts with vendors or tooled-for -- let alone selling-out as it is) it would not have been produced. It is just not realistically possible to have a car selling out and not making it's profit numbers. Just my .02 Actually Ford loses money on vehicles for various reasons. Check out this article: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/conte...htm?chan=search Here is a quote: "...Ford loses close to $3,000 every time a customer buys a Focus compact..." Legislation (in the Focus case CAFE) makes companies do funny things ;-) But the GT500 is selling out and the Mustang is one of Ford's most successful cars, therefore it is virtually impossible for the GT500 to not be 'profitable,' imo. Admittedly, depending what level one chooses to abstract Ford's performance at, one could also make the [valid] case that all Fords sold in North America are unprofitable. Problem is, if [during recovery] they were to price every instance based on just profitability in the face of below-forecast sales and uncompetitive [legacy] cost-points, those vehicles would rapidly become price-non-competitive and enter a "death spiral." Instead, it makes more sense to plan their replacement and/or cost reduction staragey as non-disruptively as posible and avoid the much larger 'breakage' of a market-managed death spiral of individual brands (based on price-to-profit in the short term) -- something that remains indellible in the consumer's mind for a long time (not branding any Edsels lately). So, in the face of $12B in losses last year (which is actually a huge 'overstatement' once you suck out the one-time buy-outs/resturcturing costs -- tho real), all/most N.A. Fords may be unprofitable today, but in the context of turning around the company and against their strategic plan costs (based on their long term plan to turn the company around), they are not. Don't laugh at that tho (I know, it sounds like double-talk). If the notion of a death spiral isn't desireable (hello DCX), capital must be raised to implement the cost reduction plans (reduced costs take money to achieve) so the actual costs and volumes will allign with plan costs and volumes over the strategic plan period. By definition, all vehicles in that timeframe will be 'plan-profitable.' Whether they are actually profitable will be either an indictment or a testament to how well Ford is/isn't managed and how effectively Ford creates and executes those plans. Nothing new in this approach that IBM, Motorola and others haven't managed, albeit that cars are a bit unique and manufacturing intensive. Not easy, for sure, just nothing fundamentally new either ...and. clearly, all the best planning is useless if the products are not fundamantally desireable. Back to Mustang... given it's overall market performance and the reasonable, imo, assumption that the sizeable dealer-cost differences between the base V6, the GT and GT500 all reflect a consistent pricing philosophy, the GT500 has to be 'profitable,' imo. Btw, I've read that the Ranger is also priced at a significant loss (not unlike the Focus,) in that the base models are priced very aggressively for the benefit of dealer advertising, knowing full-well that few will actually buy the austere hard-surface-interior beenie-hub-cap edition, if for no other reason than when you go to the dealer, all the ones on the lost are fitted-up very differently -- old story. If anything, the GT500 may well be the most profitable Mustang made and may be one of the most profitable Fords sold in NA -- dunno -- than again, may be that statement, is merely "faint praise." Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alloy Dave Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 ---- Also, someone mentioned that Ford loses money on the GT500. I seriously doubt that. All Ford vehicles are priced according to cost, overhead and profit based on Ford's pricing guidelines. The guys who set pricing could care less if it has 500HP -- it's a car. Ask Alloy Dave if Cummins prices their engines at a loss because they feel the customer might really like the engine <lol> If the GT500 was not priced to make money, the pricing, practices and general Counsel would all barf on the plan. If the GT500's plan wasn't profitable (even before the first one was even contracted for parts with vendors or tooled-for -- let alone selling-out as it is) it would not have been produced. It is just not realistically possible to have a car selling out and not making it's profit numbers. Just my .02 Actually Ford loses money on vehicles for various reasons. Check out this article: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/conte...htm?chan=search Here is a quote: "...Ford loses close to $3,000 every time a customer buys a Focus compact..." Oh boy is this a tricky subject. First off, let me say that I won't mention the company I work for because I don't want to act as a representative of that company on this forum...although it's painfully obvious already. I work in finance, and have worked in product cost jobs where my entire job was to develop profitability reporting for some of our products. I can say that my company does sell some products at a loss. Reasons for this vary: 1) Perhaps the customer that buys product A at a loss also buys product B at a profit, so the net is a profit. If you stop selling them product A, they will buy both A and B from a competitor 2) Perhaps the loss position is short term. For example, many new products are sold at a loss INITIALLY. The reason is often that volumes need to ramp up before the material costs come down to make it profitable. In addition, warranty costs are typically much higher on new products, and warranty expense is a "period" cost that must be taken at the time of sale (That's right...Ford must take an expense hit WHEN IT SELLS any car in anticipation of paying warranty claims in the future). You may wonder how they know the amount to take as an expense....it's based on experience from past products and involves a lot of estimating. Think of it as a piggy bank. When they sell the car, they put money in the piggy bank (on the balance sheet as an asset), and then when the warranty work needs done they remove the money from the piggy bank. The expense is NOT charged at the time the work is done, they simply reduce the size of the asset account and the offsetting liability. 3) Sometimes there are strategic reasons for selling items at a loss. Think of Nintendo machines. Sell the machine at a slight loss, and make a ton of money on each game. In the old days this was true with manual razors. Give away the razor free to a college student, and they buy your blades for the next 5 years. 4) And here's the REALLY tricky part. The term "cost" is an accounting term that can mean many different things. There are full costs, product costs, period costs, opportunity costs, and many others. Products may be profitable on some levels and unprofitable on others. Let me give an example.... Let's say a Mazda 6 goes down the assembly line directly in front of a Mustang. Let's say the Mazda 6 requires an additional 12 seconds at station 6 to hook up a fuel tube than does a Mustang. Therefore, the ENTIRE LINE is slowed down (or "paced") by the Mazda. Now, when determining the "cost" for each car, how do you determine how much of the labor costs are assigned to each car? The workers work on both cars. Do you "burden" that 12 seconds on the Mazda? Do you decide that the additional complexity of doing this (it takes a lot of measuring to find all these minor differences) is not worth it and simply split the labor costs based on the # of cars (assuming 60% Mustangs you give them 60% of the labor costs)? There's not a single answer...it depends on how the finance group decides is the best method. Note that this only pertains to "product costs"...those costs that can be directly traced to the product (think of them as the costs accumulated at the plant). In addition to the product costs, you have a category called SAR (Selling, Administration, and Research). These are often called overhead or SGA or many other names. These are the costs of operating a company. It includes many things...for example, the CEO's salary. So...how do you decide whether a Mustang is allocated more of the CEO's cost than a Mazda 6? 5) Parts income is another area. Ford may sell a product at a loss to get parts revenue down the line. I think we all know how high the margins are on parts. Again, it's not an exact science, and for these types of reasons it's difficult for the layperson to fully appreciate whether a product makes a profit for a company. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLB8SNK Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 And this is how we get off topic! Started with a question, and went to how to run Ford!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
68fastback Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 Nice summary, Dave. I know there's much more you could have added too --- I've always been amazed at how intricate [and sometimes arbitrary] cost allocations can be, yet whatever logic is used needs to be auditable ...defendable and complete -- no easy task. So often the 'beancounters' are blamed for this or that. In truth the blame is almost always with the management team and how the information was used [or abused], i.e. short-term blind profits vs long-term strategic planning and all the shades of grey in between. Without good numbers providing the 'instrumentation,' steering the ship would be impossible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phr3121 Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 In December 2006, Ford raised its borrowing capacity to about $25 billion, placing substantially all corporate assets as collateral to secure the line of credit. Chairman Bill Ford has stated that "bankruptcy is not an option", but economists have stated that the company's impending contract renewal with the United Auto Workers in the summer of 2007 could be brutal. The UAW has vowed to attempt to retain the jobs banks, a system which retains idled workers on the payroll, rather than laying them off, in order to maintain contracted US employment levels. Ford reported a net loss of $12.7 billion during 2006, and has estimated that it will not return to profitability until 2009. Ford Motor Company's restructuring plan, made public in 2006, is known as "The Way Forward". Ford is attempting to reduce fixed capital costs while maintaining a special focus on cars and car-based crossover vehicles. Over time, it hopes to make more of its product line profitable instead of relying on a limited portion of the products for profit. Making good profits across the product line requires that the company reduce the costs of development and production, while introducing new products that connect with consumers. "The Way Forward" includes resizing the company to match current market realities, dropping some unprofitable and inefficient models, consolidating production lines, and shutting down seven vehicle assembly plants and seven parts factories. Among these are plants in St. Louis Assembly (near St. Louis), Atlanta Assembly (near Atlanta), Batavia Transmission (Batavia, Ohio), Windsor Casting (Windsor, Ontario, Canada), and Wixom Assembly (Wixom, Michigan). Up to 30,000 hourly and salaried jobs (28% of the total workforce) in North America over the next six years are expected to be eliminated, which is comparable to similar cutbacks previously announced at General Motors. These cutbacks are consistent with Ford's roughly 25% decline in U.S. automotive market share since the mid-late 1990s. Ford's realignment also included the sale of its wholly owned subsidiary, Hertz Rent-a-Car to a private equity group for $15 billion in cash and debt acquisition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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