Saturday January 21, 2006

Ford's fight for survival

peakoil.com -> money.cnn.com :

When Ford Motor announces its North American restructuring plan, the headlines will be about the number of plants closed - as many as ten - and the number of people who will lose their jobs - up to 30,000 over the next five years - if published reports are correct. But the layoffs and the plant closings are just the beginning of a needed overhaul at Ford. Ford needed to get smaller yesterday. It has been losing market share for ten years, and sales of some of its most popular vehicles from the past like Taurus and Explorer have slumped so alarmingly they will probably never recover.

Observers will be looking hardest for some sense of plan, direction and persistence from Chairman and CEO Bill Ford. The company has seemed almost rudderless over the past five years with numerous management changes - Field's job seems to turn over on an annual basis - and a sense that even lumbering old General Motors was moving more smartly and aggressively in the marketplace. Earlier in January, Bill Ford declared that it was time for Ford to stabilize its market share after its long decline.

My Web 2.0 : american auto-makers
Google Base : american auto-makers

(2006-01-21 17:18:52 SGT) [Biz] Permalink

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