Ford Shuts Down Chicago Plant Temporarily As Demand Lags

CBS 2:

Ford has temporarily shut down its plant at 126th Street and Torrence Avenue on the city's Far South Side. The Torrence Avenue plant and numerous other Ford plants will sit idle for the next three weeks, as demand for cars and sport-utility vehicles continues to lag.

Read the whole story: CBS 2

Comments

[marknpgh289]

This isn't a surprise to anyone who folows Ford. The Chicago plant builds the current Taurus and Mercury Sable. They are very nice cars but both will be gone shortly. The Sable has been cancelled as Mercury switches over to smaller european derived products and Ford has a New Taurus that will be the best in class. Ford is insuring that the dealers won't be stuck with a glut of the cancelled models competing against the new car.

They did the same thing last year in advance of the introduction of the ;09 F-150 and even delayed the launch of the new truck to give dealers more time to clear out the older trucks without having to"fire sale" them. Matching supply to demand is just smart business.

[iamvalid]

Sorry, but my Ford is a royal POS.

[Czoe]

Not mine.

[darnsannity]

Can anyone list the cars that the Republicans drive around the town ?

[RoseMerry]

Listening to the President today, I do not believe that I hear him mention the name Ford a single time.

They must be doing something right.

Hard times for all.

[CR46]

Ford has not received any bailout funds from the government.

[RayinStL]

I hate to say this, but to see the American car companies go down the drain is horrible. The problem - I have a foreign car and have had NO problems. My last American car (2000 model) almost bankrupted me!!! Once the warranty was up, it fell apart. By 40,000 miles, I needed a new transmission, fuel pump, power steering went out, heater stopped working, etc. Yeah, it was probably a lemon, but my foreign cars have lasted me well over 100,000 miles without problems. How could this all be avoided. IF GM, Chrysler, Ford would have offered 10/100,000mile powertrain 5yr/50,000 bumper to bumper like Hyundai (Chrysler's current warranties have so many exceptions to their 10/100,000 mile warranty that it's nothing but a sales technique that many Americans have seen right through), I would have tried again. To pay a car payment AND pay to get it fixed was the most depressing time of my life. America - STAND by your cars and I will try again. If the workmanship and reliability is top notch, then include a long warranty and watch the sales increase. They refuse so here they stand. Sorry, but I'm talking from experience. I love Chrysler cars, but I didn't want to stand by the road - I wanted to drive it.

[DFL]

I've always had american made and american brand cars and with good care and not driving them hard, i have never had horror stories like these other people claim to have, and I still refuse to buy any car where the profits go overseas.

[trinity]

I bet the "I love America" Senators from the south (with their pockets full of money from Toyota, Honda, Mercedes, and BMW) are all smiles these days.

[darnsannity]

MARCH 30, 2009
On Monday’s Mark Levin Show: What part of the Constitution allows Obama to fire or force out a CEO, as in the case of General Motors? Would the Founding Fathers have endorsed this do you think? If there are no legal limits placed on people, then they have no reason to act right. We have a President and Congress that abuses its’ power, and it’s anything can go. Finally, when Obama goes to people for advice that have no idea or experience in what they’re supposed to fix, what kind of solution is that?

[NotProvenGuilty]

Are you suggesting Obama broke the law? Which one? Actually, it was political pressure, legitimately exerted from a major stakeholder (us). And if you've followed GM these past years, it should be obvious that Wagoner was not a success. He absolutely deserved to go. I don't know what's wrong with GM's board that they didn't do it sooner. The only question is, will the right person be installed?

[Solja]

His authority came from the billions of tax payer money GM got as a bail out. We cannot give them money and have no say in what they do, just like the AIG CEO was fired when he first went to the government. We own 80% of that company and Liddy was put in as the CEO by the Fed. Gov't.

Now PAY ATTENTION!

[darnsannity]

To all Republican /Conservative talk show jockeys....could you please explain to the American people why McCain failed to be elected as POTUS.

Why don't Rush,Sean,Laura,Michael and other right nutt jobs run for office rather than criticizing Obama for whatever he does ? What is that they are trying to achieve screaming thru Radio and Tv and other medias ?,,,,,,

[neem]

If Obama throws money at the auto industry, this will give extremists like Rush Limbaugh something LEGITIMATE to criticize Obama about. Hannity and Limbaugh will be thrilled to be able to point out, over and over again, what a total black hole GM, Ford and Chrysler have become. If Obama tries to save Detroit, this will be like Bush trying to save Iraq. The President may really, really believe he has enough money and power to make a change. But things like Iraq or GM don't change. There are some things you just have to walk away from. I"m all for helping the auto workers, who did not cause Detroit's mess. But the Detroit auto companies have been basket cases for about 30 years now. The country can't afford to keep them going.

[IamPhenom]

Saving the US auto industry should be seen from a strategic perspective as well as an economic one. During World War 2, when massive amounts of tanks were needed, the US converted many auto factories to building tanks.

What happens strategically if we no longer have this manufacturing base available? It's similar to not having strategic oil reserves. The time it would require to build new factories instead of converting existing ones would be enormous. It would take time to train the workers as well if they have no experience building vehicles.

Of course, we don't have a major world war coming anytime soon, but it can't be completely ruled out with the on-going expansion of the Chinese and Russian militaries. The industrial base which gave us an enormous strategic advantage in World War 2 and other wars has slowly disappeared.

The problem Obama is facing is that the government can only bail-out so many industries, and fixing the banking crisis immediately is even more crtical to our future.

[jerrypl]

Should anybody be surprised? The recession is a big one. Working people have no money to spend on such things as cars and trucks. The rich have taken all the wealth away from working Americans, and they still want more of so they can buy their BMWs and such. Obama has no vision of a New Deal for working America. He continues to bend for the financial crime syndicate members while placing huge demands against small fish, single CEOs running failed auto companies.

http://eye-on-washington.blogspot.com

[Airmail56]

I picked up a program '08 Focus for my Daughter and it's great. Paid $13K, fully loaded with Sunroof, Blutooth and leather. Less than 23K miles and it gets 34+ mpg. Ford is doing the smart thing not taking the money and cutting back excess production. That's what Toyota did.

[IamPhenom]

Ford is still asking for plenty of government help, despite their public stance rejecting a full bailout.

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/ford-bailout-free-but-still-begging/

As for cutting production, it's hardly a novel idea. Every auto manufacturer has cut production because of decreased demand.

[Airmail56]

You want to give the false impression that they took American tax money? The operations you site are in Canda and Germany. I stand by my praise of Ford for building good cars, running their business in an efficient way, and not asking me to bail them out.

[PaloAltoPunk]

The "Truth" About Cars is the anything but.

[MizLiz]

Sure, demand is lagging...and it's not just because of tight credit. The cars they're making now aren't as good (for the price) as the ones they were making 3 years ago. Example: I have a 2005 Ford Focus. It's loaded, everything but the kitchen sink...cost me $20,000. I went to the Portland Auto Show to check out the NEW 2009 Focus....horrible. Cheesy, chintzy, with not any of the cool stuff I have...same price, though. I will not be getting a new car anytime soon.

[Wang111]

The American people trust that Barack Obama will conscientiously address car issues.

LONG LIVE PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA!

Barack Obama is a racial-minority individual and does not like racism:

(I) I do solemnly swear by Almighty God that George W. Bush committed hate crimes of epic proportions and with the stench of terrorism which I am not at liberty to mention.

(II) It is opined that Bill Clinton committed terrifying, racist, hate crimes during his presidency, and I am not free to say anything further about it.

(III) What if basically all racial-minority people would subscribe to the interpretations that George Herbert Walker Bush committed monstrous, racist, hate crimes while he was the President of the United States? It will eventually come out: it is only a matter of time.

(IV) Ronald Wilson Reagan committed horrible, racist, hate crimes during his presidency.

By Andrew Yu-Jen Wang, J.D. Candidate
B.S., With Highest Honor, 1996
Messiah College, PA
Lower Merion High School, PA, 1993

(I can type 90 WPM, and there are thousands of copies on the Internet (as of March 29, 2009) indicating the content of (I), (II), (III), and (IV). And there are thousands of copies in very many countries around the world.)
_______________
‘If only there could be a ban against invention that bottled up memory like scent & it never faded & it never got stale.’ Off the top of my head, it came from my Lower Merion High School yearbook.

[zinc11]

Interesting you say that. I drive a Toyota, which I love. I just had it in for its regular servicing. In the meantime I rented a car. A Pontiac Grand Prix, brand new. Black on black, hot looking car. Lots of power, some bells and whistles, no electronic key (which I thought odd). Now the downside: it was like driving in a plastic bathtub. Plastic everything. Lots of squeaks and lurches. Tap the brakes and you'd get whiplash. Acceleration jumpy, not smooth in the least. Sight lines, awful. I really wanted a great experience of an American-made car. I wanted the Pontiac to be as good as my Toyota, but it fell flat. I would never buy that Grand Prix.

While I absolutely want the US car industry to survive, I want them to start selling quality-made vehicles. I've had them - several Chryslers, a Ford, 3 Chevrolets, a Buick - but all in the way past. They were quality cars. The new stuff feels cheap and "made of cheap plastic." On the other hand, I've also had a Nissan Altima, Nissan Maxima, Acura TL, Kia, and a Fiat. (Absolutely loved the Fiat!) Every single foreign car was quality-made. Inside and out. With very few service visits, except for scheduled maintenance and the usual wear and tear. Until US cars are of the same high quality, why would I buy one?

[NotProvenGuilty]

Hey, Ford's far from perfect, but this post is highly misleading. I, too, drove NOTHING but Japanese imports until recently. Toyotas, Nissans, Hondas, and Subarus. Then I bought a Focus. It more than compared to those cars in EVERY way, and was quieter and more fun to drive (perhaps the Subaru was a bit nicer, but it was also a larger segment).

The 2009 Focus the previous writer describes is a placeholder until the European-based Focus is rolled out next year. As such, it is a "tarted up" older model, and I agree it is a disappointment. But Ford has other, newer, product, which is just as good as the imports -- Taurus X, Flex, F-150, Fusion, Escape, MKS, and the European-based Fiesta and afforementioned Focus coming soon. Again, not perfect, but there is some highly respectable product and pipeline there. I now drive a Taurus X and it stacks up excellently against the Outback.