Ford Should Only Build Mustangs and SUVs Instead of Getting Bailed Out or Filing Bankruptcy

Ford is still getting it wrong.  They are moving away from SUVs and muscle cars and focusing on fuel efficient small cars.  Ford has five brands under its umbrella: Ford, Mercury, Lincoln, Mazda, and Volvo.  Here is a look at all the models the company currently carries.  Of course, this is about to change after federal regulators get their meat hooks into the company.

There are 43 different car models (not including hybrids and other off shoots) in the Ford family of cars.  I have to admit that there are several cars on this list that I have never even heard of before.  I could not even figure out how to categorize the Ford Flex. 

Competitive Advantage.  A company has a competitive advantage over its competition when it can deliver goods at a lower cost or has a benefit or product that no other competitor can match.  For example, Wal-Mart’s cost competitive advantage.  Practically no other company can deliver the products it sells for a lower price.  Other companies succeed by having a differentiation focus that sets them apart from their competition.  Companies who have a specific niche of the market only offer a narrow product and tend to do quite well.  America’s competitive advantage has shifted over the past century from a textile and agrarian based culture to one of high technology and computers.

Ford and the other two auto makers have lost their way.  They have not kept up with the changing wants and needs of the American consumer.  Looking at the list of the 43 models that Ford produces, it is obvious that the company does not know what its competitive advantage is. 

Ford is the best company in the world at making muscle cars, pickup trucks, and SUVs.  But, the company has started to slowly move away from its bread and butter vehicle models over the past few years thanks to the federal government’s intervention.  If Ford wants to survive over the next year, it needs to forget about making sedans, minivans, coupes, grandma cars, etc. and get back to what it knows. 

Ford’s product stable should look something like this….

Stop making cars no one wants!  Ford should have killed the Mercury line years ago.  Stop pandering to the government, the environmentalists, and the unions if it is running your business into the ground.  Pick one alternative fuel source for the next century, be the industry leader in it, and drive the change yourself! 

I know that it is unpopular when I say to keep making gas guzzlers, but America must make a choice.  Do you want an environmentally friendly bankrupt company?  Or, a viable company focused on making a profit, providing jobs for the millions of people who depend on it, and making cars and trucks that they are good at making, that people want to buy.  Why should workers who are not working this month receive 80% of their salaries?  Isn’t the whole idea of a work stoppage to save money?  Most of Americans who do not go to work, do not get paid.  No wonder Ford and the other two are losing money back the trainloads. 

Bring back the company that our grandparents grew up with and were proud of.

Tagged as: Bailout