10-02-07: Mother said there would be days like these. Surely many at the Glass House are thinking the sentiment. Although they have been thinking it for a long time. Over the past year Ford has taken great strides, spent a lot of marketing money, and cranked out news bits to convince all of us that they are on a big time turnaround. Unfortunately, September 2007 was not the kind of month that backs up the hype.
In September Ford sales month over month were down a whopping 24%. Their car lines separated out were down a disappointing 45%. While some of the losses are proudly attributed to the fact that Ford broke the addictive habit of fire selling cars to the fleets of the world (read rental car companies), one has to start to question the wisdom of such a pious posturing of better habits. At least the rental car companies paid the bills and put the new metal in car buyer's hands to try out.
Of course today Ford as usual put a good and upbeat spinner on the most devastating months in recent memory stating, “ Demand continues to grow for Ford Motor Company’s all-new and redesigned crossover vehicles, even as overall sales declined in September.” It's kind of like saying, "Even though our house is burning to the ground, the heat warms our hands in the cold bitter night."
Unfortunately the small amount of good news that the Fusion and Edge are doing well is far overshadowed by the fact the rest of Ford’s product line has been forsaken by the majority of US car buyers for other brands offering sexier and more appealing cars. But even the Ford favorites are flailing. The perennial Mustang sales are off a disappointing 28%. Long time greats such as the Explorer and Ranger are off 32% and 43%.
Even the “all new” Taurus which is none other than a warmed over Ford Five Hundred is barely performing in the shadow of its former self. The New Taurus only eaked out a measly 3562 units compared to the 22,811 Old Taurus sales last September. And that car was the definition of flaccid rental car grade.
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Ford reported that in September the new Ford Edge sales were 11,632, achieving its highest retail sales month to date. The Edge while on the positive is no barn burning success like Ford really needs. The exterior and interior design is a throwback to the plucky 1980’s and is far older in style than even the 4 year old Nissan Murano on which it was benchmarked.
It is worth noting that the sales for the all new Ford Edge barely beat the long-in-tooth Ford Explorer which moved 10,690 units. Is there a reason Ford keeps the Explorer around when nobody wants small truck based SUV's anymore? The thing costs as much as an Expedition and doesn't really get better gas mileage at all. What is the point?
While Ford has seen a profit killing black month in September, other automakers are increasing their sales. Honda is up a reported 9% and GM is reporting a 1% gain for the month. So, one cant point to the overall economy and say that everyone is down. People are buying cars, just not Fords. In fact, the trend afoot is that people in general are shucking their big Expeditions, Explorers, F-150's and buying Hondas, Hyundais, and Kias.
To be honest and frank, Ford’s problem is that their product lineup overall continues to suck wind. And this observation is coming from the mind of a life long Ford owner and enthusiast. Except for the couple new products that are on the increase, the rest of the entire product line is old, stale and nobody wants it.
The Focus has been uncompetitive from day one. For years now it has been responded to by most car buyers with a hearty, "um, like whatever". Worse yet, the all new rehashed 2008 model is a complete joke. They should have replaced it with the Euro version as everyone with a brain has said for years now. But instead they squandered cash on the old one in vain, putting lipstick on a pig.
The all new Taurus still has the olden-days boring body that has made the Five Hundred a slow seller. The Taurus X is a barely warmed over Freestyle which again nobody wanted before it was redesigned. These cars aren't going to help the company either.
So where are all the new products that Ford has been promising? They are indeed in the works but they are taking far to long to get them to the market. Ford needs to speed up new products and just get rid of the dead weight because it is dragging down the momentum that even the new cars are bringing to the table.
Granted, this is not a new notion. Every body knows the song. It's just getting real old.
