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Archive for the ‘Ford Motor’ Category

As everyone knows Ford is one of the leading card manufacturers in the world. They have designed and sold so many trucks, sport-utility vehicles and cars which have been sold all over the world. When compared to other car manufacturers, most of the customers had good impression about Ford.

However in 2007 everything changed when almost 5.5 million cars were recalled by Ford. There were many cars which had already experienced problems and the engine getting fire because of this cruise control. Mexico and Europe alone had sold over 200,000 vehicles. Ford was left with no option other than to take back all the vehicles. At the same time they were also running short of the spare parts for their vehicles.

Europe and Canada have been the places where Ford gets maximum revenue. However, after this recall incident it had left a bad impression among the customers. Even though it’s an advanced world with latest technologies survey shows that the newly designed cars are weak and light when compared to old cars. There are people who are willing to pay many millions to get car of their choice. Each and every car company has to make sure their product is thoroughly checked before getting into market. They will leave dissatisfied customers if the product experiences any malfunction.

When Ford motor started experiencing issues with their cruise control in 2007, they decided to recall all vehicles which they had designed from 1994-2002, with cruise control. Ford F-150’s, Ford Expeditions, Lincoln Navigators and Ford Broncos were some of the affected models.

The Ford Motor Co. earlier sold the Aston Martin, its British luxury sports car unit, to a group of private investors. Sources familiar to the deal said the consideration is about $925 million.

People familiar to the deal said the purchaser is led by David Richards, an auto racing entrepreneur and also the founder of Prodrive Ltd. The latter also runs the Aston Martin racing program. The sources added that Richards will be supported by Kuwait’s Investment Dar Co.

Ford sold the Aston Martin brand to raise money to defray restructuring expenses. But it will retain a small stake in the brand. When asked about the sale, a Ford spokesman declined to comment last Sunday.

The automaker bought the majority stake in Aston Martin in 1987. The rest of the stake is purchased in 1994. Last year, Ford posted the biggest annual loss in its 103-year history amounting to $12.7 billion. In view thereof, the automaker closed factories and slashed tens of thousands of jobs as part of the restructure plan.

But the strategies are deemed wanting hence the automaker considered other options available and one of it is selling the Aston Martin brand. “It will give them some more needed capital to fund their restructuring,” auto analyst Brad Rubin of BNP Paribas said last Sunday of the Aston Martin sale, “but it really isn’t that much money.”

The Aston Martin is made equally-famous as agent 007, a.k.a. James Bond, has featured and used the brand’s vehicles in some of his movies. The brand is part of Ford’s Premier Automotive Group which also covers Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo Cars. These brands are famous for the luxury, performance and safety. Jaguar, to boost its design philosophy introduced new lineup to wipe away the boxy image of the automaker. Land Rover, on the other hand, is enhancing its off-road performance. Volvo has achieved an ideal standard in auto safety. Even a simple auto part like the Volvo distributor cap is designed with topmost safety offering in mind.

Among the Premier Automotive Group units, the greatest contributor of losses is Jaguar with $327 million recorded sales decline in 2006. The automaker does not usually divulge any financial information regarding the individual units of the Premier Automotive Group nonetheless the company said Aston Martin is quite profitable.

Aston Martin, headquartered in Gaydon, England, produces about 5,000 cars annually. Each car costs more than $100,000. Considering the standards set by Ford, Aston Martin is not sharing its engineering and auto parts with the rest of Ford brands. Even when the automaker endeavors to make its operations global, the company is preserving the philosophy and standards of Aston Martin.

According to an executive presentation, analysts in the industry said they would prefer that Ford sell the Jaguar brand, which lost more than $700 million last year. The report also predicted that the brand would lose $550 million this year and $300 million in 2008.

 United Auto Workers Union and Ford Motor Company

The recent rejection by the United Auto Workers Union of concessions proposed by Ford Motor Company raises major concerns about the future of not only Ford and the United Auto Workers Union but the future of auto production in the United States. In any protracted battle the United Auto Workers Union would surely win. But at what cost? The U.A.W. is and always has been in a symbiotic relationship with Ford. Ford providing the “juice” that keeps the union alive and the union providing the labor to produce the product that serves everyone’s needs. The U.A.W rank and file has recently demonstrated that it has the common sense to understand when that all important symbiotic relationship is in jeopardy, as witnessed by their recent concessions to Ford that have included frozen wages, year-end bonuses eliminated, and changes to retiree benefits.

 

 U.A.W union and Ford Motor Company Management

By agreeing to recent wage and benefit concessions the U.A.W rank and file has allowed Ford, their life line, to remain the only major auto producer of the big three to retain a completive stance while their counter parts at G.M. and Chrysler collapsed in such a shocking and embarrassing way that no other U.S. industry has since the departure of the United States steel industry in the 60’s. Ford has come out on top, at least to this point, by engaging not only their union’s hearts and minds but the American peoples as well. As perceived by the populace at large, here is the one surviving American made industrial giant who has managed to survive the near world wide industrial collapse and be the last one standing on its own two feet. Here is our champion that has produced a legendary truck line product and been the only player ever innovative enough to stand up to and challenge the onslaught of over seas products ( think Ford Fusion and Ford Focus). If the American people can’t have their one surviving champion represent them then who can we count on, the AIG’s and Lehman Brothers?

 

 Ford, U.A.W and the American People

In a often time impossibly confusing and contradictory spaghetti bowl of rules and regulations that chokes the life flowing “juice” to not only Ford but the rank and file as well the  U.A.W leadership must adopt a more conciliatory stance towards Fords goals of being the preeminent American auto producer. As we stated earlier it is well know that the U.A.W and its 41,000 union members can outlast Ford in any protracted battle but only as the ultimate and last self serving suicidal act in their arsenal. Ford Motor Company management needs to be innovative and persistent in searching out new ways to cut cost while improving its relationship with the work force that has allowed it to be the last one standing. The only alternative is a dark and brooding landscape where Chapter 11 rules as king with Ford reorganizing and parts and products that are  produced here go outside U.S borders while U.A.W’s once proud and productive workforce of  41,000  see all their jobs migrate overseas.

Ford management, U.A.W. management , now is your chance to show the American people, indeed the world what  made this country great.

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