Ford Predicts 35 Percent Drop In Sales

Ford Motor Co expects industry-wide December U.S. auto sales to drop by some 35 percent from a year earlier with no sign of a turnaround in the first quarter of this year.

Ford, the No. 2 U.S. automaker, expects that full-year sales of light vehicles in the world's largest market will drop to near 13.2 million for 2008, down from near 16.2 million in 2007, Ford's chief sales analyst George Pipas said on Friday.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[progressivegreg]

Maybe it's just me, but, I was reading a commentary in the paper the other day that I totally agreed with. The auto companies don't build cars we get excited about anymore. Buying a car these days is like buying an appliance...there is no passion. No one writes songs about their cars anymore, there is no "she's so fine my 409" no "little deuce coupe" Who writes about "my little Accord is not a Ford" or come along with me Lucille in my merry Ford 500. See, no passion, just an overpriced appliance.

[drkazmd65]

"Ford Motor Co expects industry-wide December U.S. auto sales to drop by some 35 percent from a year earlier with no sign of a turnaround in the first quarter of this year."

And more news,... just in,...

The sky will remain blue on sunny days and the grass on my lawn will return to a more green color as the spring equinox approaches,...

[dukeitout]

Your headline is one year late. Where were you when we needed you.

[michmudder]

Judging by some of these comments, the Huffingtonpost headline ("Ford Predicts 35 Percent Drop In Sales") is misleading. Ford predicts industry-wide sales to drop 35 percent.

[NWBrunette]

Wow, they're really going out on a limb with that prediction. Don't suppose they might take a look at making smaller, fuel efficient cars... Nah!

[michmudder]

Actually Ford is converting truck plants to build smaller, fuel efficient cars.

[benren]

They already do. The Ford Fiesta ECOnetic diesel gets 65 mpg. It's just that Ford isn't selling it here.

See: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_37/b4099060491065.htm?chan=autos_autos+--+lifestyle+subindex+page_top+stories

[BobTrader67]

They need to start from scratch. Why not try and build the "American" BMW 3 series, relatively small, fast, sporty, high quality car, with some bells and whistles nobody else has? They haven't built an original car in a long time. And the retro era was pathetic, it was like Hollywood with the remakes, please. Check out this site for Traders http://www.freetradingquiz.com

[Paul]

Americans can no longer afford to buy cars for the price that keeps the Big 3 profitable.

We need mass transit. Why should I have to go into debt to own a car just for basic transportation?

[NWBrunette]

You are so right about that.

[CaptainHowdy]

WOW!

I wonder how they figured this one out?

They must have such smart people at Ford!!!

[sonoffestus]

I bet it took some MBA type to figure this one out.

[larry278]

You mean that maybe there isn't a Ford in the USA's future. Perhaps we won't be able to see the USA in our Chevrolets either. It looks like the big 3 won't be able to dodge change, bailout or no bailout.
A Lexus is a comfortable car but I still like a Volvo. What will police departments use for cruisers if none of the big 3 build a 'full sized', V8? Will they import Holdens from Australia? Will Bently or Rolls Royce turn out lower priced models for the US police market? The sight of a police Honda at a local Dunkin Donuts will be strange, at 1st.

[michmudder]

If you read the article carefully, you'll see that Ford predicts ***industry-wide*** sales to decline. Ford's market share has actually increased the last two months and is expected to increase again this month. Its Volvo brand is struggling however. Like Mazda, Volvo vehicles' quality doesn't quite match Ford's three American brands.

[BOBONDE]

Yes i will continue to do the patriotic thing and buy only cars from the big 3 and not ones where the profits go overseas, but i will admit when chev dropped the metro back around 2001 I knew they would have problems in the future, they need more small cars not less, ford only has the focus and GM only has the aveo and chrysler has no small cars, the neon used to be good but they made it bigger, and now people are going back to trucks and SUV'S again, last year the top seller was the ford F-150 and second was the chev silverado pickup!

[drymartini1]

rest of us will buy imports that last longer than 150 K miles unlike crappy products of GM/F

[michmudder]

From Consumer Reports web site:
Almost all Ford models are now average or better, with the exception of some that are truck-based. Excluding those, Ford's reliability is now on par with good Japanese automakers.

[lmvd3]

Doh!