Two companies are in trouble. One, HP. One, Ford.
But look at how Ford is handing its trouble. With video. With candor. With transparency. This is investor relations for the YouTube generation. I’ve been watching Ford’s bold moves video blog and I wanted to hate it. But, it’s turning me. And, even if it doesn’t turn the market (it probably won’t, it’s not aimed at the total market, just at the investors, employees, influentials who will need to keep the faith if a company in trouble is ever going to turn around) it is definitely getting noticed and talked about inside corporate boardrooms and here in Silicon Valley.
How did HP handle it? Well, you can go over to Google News, just like I did and see. No video. No candor. No accountability. Nothing other than an official press announcement without a press conference.
Kudos to Ford. I’m rooting for you.
Oh, and my Ford Focus hit 30,000 miles without a single problem. It’s a wonderful car. Make more like that and you’ll find your troubles going away and your brand increasing in quality.
Scobleizer 
Ford also just announced a new CEO, Alan Mulally.
The naming of Alan Mulally to Ford CEO is huge, both for Ford and Boeing.
Mulally has been an integral part of the resurgence of Boeing, specifically their comercial group. There was a point about 8 years where Airbus and Boeing both made their stance on the future of air travel. Airbus announced their plans to create a new massive jumbo jet (A380) while Boeing derived the 787.
The divergence of these strategies will shape the air travel industry for years. The A380 was positioned as a hub to hub aircraft able to carry more passengers than any other commuter plane. In contrast, the 787 was designed to be airport to airport…taking people from their origin to their destination, no major hubs or connecting flights or special runways required. Well, I think we all know where this is heading and who picked the better long term strategy. Mulally was KEY to this.
He has long been overlooked for major CEO posts due to Boeings own lackluster performance. While previous CEOs arranged illegal contracts and had affairs with assitants…Mulally focused on building Boeing Commercial Airplane Group and seeing that the Dreamliner became more than just a dream. A reality.
Had this appointment happened a few years ago while other CEOs were in office for Boeing I would say Boeing would be in deep trouble. However, they tapped Jim McNerny and he will do amazing things for Boeing as well. Boeing is in good hands for sure, despite losing Mulally.
Now Ford has Mulally and Mulally has a rough road ahead (no pun intended). He’s faced with restablshing a brand and figuring out which children to keep and which to let go. Im very confident in the skills he brings with him and no doubt think Ford will recover with him at the helm.
For the naysayers who think fixing Ford is an insurmountable task, I ask you to consider this: many people thought the same thing about Boeing post 9/11…and thanks to Mulally’s leadershipe and the development of the 787 Boeing is stronger now than it has ever been in it’s history. Fixing Ford doesn’t seem so hard now…
Good luck Mr. Mulally.
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Ford also just announced a new CEO, Alan Mulally.
The naming of Alan Mulally to Ford CEO is huge, both for Ford and Boeing.
Mulally has been an integral part of the resurgence of Boeing, specifically their comercial group. There was a point about 8 years where Airbus and Boeing both made their stance on the future of air travel. Airbus announced their plans to create a new massive jumbo jet (A380) while Boeing derived the 787.
The divergence of these strategies will shape the air travel industry for years. The A380 was positioned as a hub to hub aircraft able to carry more passengers than any other commuter plane. In contrast, the 787 was designed to be airport to airport…taking people from their origin to their destination, no major hubs or connecting flights or special runways required. Well, I think we all know where this is heading and who picked the better long term strategy. Mulally was KEY to this.
He has long been overlooked for major CEO posts due to Boeings own lackluster performance. While previous CEOs arranged illegal contracts and had affairs with assitants…Mulally focused on building Boeing Commercial Airplane Group and seeing that the Dreamliner became more than just a dream. A reality.
Had this appointment happened a few years ago while other CEOs were in office for Boeing I would say Boeing would be in deep trouble. However, they tapped Jim McNerny and he will do amazing things for Boeing as well. Boeing is in good hands for sure, despite losing Mulally.
Now Ford has Mulally and Mulally has a rough road ahead (no pun intended). He’s faced with restablshing a brand and figuring out which children to keep and which to let go. Im very confident in the skills he brings with him and no doubt think Ford will recover with him at the helm.
For the naysayers who think fixing Ford is an insurmountable task, I ask you to consider this: many people thought the same thing about Boeing post 9/11…and thanks to Mulally’s leadershipe and the development of the 787 Boeing is stronger now than it has ever been in it’s history. Fixing Ford doesn’t seem so hard now…
Good luck Mr. Mulally.
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Uh…
Ford – Operating Income – Last 4 Quarters: -$4 billion
HPQ – Operating Income – Last 4 Quarters: +$4.9 billion
I don’t care if Ford blogs or doesn’t blog, they need to stop losing money. Perhaps its nice to be discussed in Silicon Valley salons, but if I were a shareholder I’d rather have that $4 billion back.
As for comparing them with Boeing, I’d say Toyota is much more nimble competition than Airbus. Completely different industry. We’ll see about Ford, blog or no blog.
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Uh…
Ford – Operating Income – Last 4 Quarters: -$4 billion
HPQ – Operating Income – Last 4 Quarters: +$4.9 billion
I don’t care if Ford blogs or doesn’t blog, they need to stop losing money. Perhaps its nice to be discussed in Silicon Valley salons, but if I were a shareholder I’d rather have that $4 billion back.
As for comparing them with Boeing, I’d say Toyota is much more nimble competition than Airbus. Completely different industry. We’ll see about Ford, blog or no blog.
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Scooby: well, that’s what happens when you bet your business on big trucks and SUVs and gas prices go up and consumers change their behavior.
Unfortunately too many companies wait until small trends are freaking huge before they act. If I were at Ford I would have invested a lot more in small cars years ago and built a strong brand around that.
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Scooby: well, that’s what happens when you bet your business on big trucks and SUVs and gas prices go up and consumers change their behavior.
Unfortunately too many companies wait until small trends are freaking huge before they act. If I were at Ford I would have invested a lot more in small cars years ago and built a strong brand around that.
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Let’s not forget the costs and problems that Ford is suffering from due do the unions.
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Let’s not forget the costs and problems that Ford is suffering from due do the unions.
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“If I were at Ford I would have invested a lot more in small cars years ago and built a strong brand around that.”
With all due respect Robert, the consumers are not buying those vehicles. They like big, safe SUV’s, trucks and Minivans.
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“If I were at Ford I would have invested a lot more in small cars years ago and built a strong brand around that.”
With all due respect Robert, the consumers are not buying those vehicles. They like big, safe SUV’s, trucks and Minivans.
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Dave: that’s not true. Ask Toyota who sells TONS of small cars. Yeah, some big, but most small. And Toyota hit a home run with its hybrids.
The thing is you were right, if we were talking about a year ago. Today with higher gas prices people are changing their buying behavior to smaller, more fuel efficient, cars.
The other part of the market that’s doing well is the luxury market. You should come to Silicon Valley and see all the new BMW’s and Mercedes that are being driven around.
Ford isn’t positioned in that market at all. The new Mustang, for instance, sucks. (I rented one and it was horrid compared to Maryam’s new BMW).
If they can’t get cars on the market that compete well with BMW’s and other luxury brands, they will have a tough time competing.
So, to recap. They need to work on two fronts: fuel-efficient cars and luxury cars. They have trucks and SUVs fairly well nailed (although even the Escape doesn’t turn me on when compared with a Toyota RAV 4).
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Dave: that’s not true. Ask Toyota who sells TONS of small cars. Yeah, some big, but most small. And Toyota hit a home run with its hybrids.
The thing is you were right, if we were talking about a year ago. Today with higher gas prices people are changing their buying behavior to smaller, more fuel efficient, cars.
The other part of the market that’s doing well is the luxury market. You should come to Silicon Valley and see all the new BMW’s and Mercedes that are being driven around.
Ford isn’t positioned in that market at all. The new Mustang, for instance, sucks. (I rented one and it was horrid compared to Maryam’s new BMW).
If they can’t get cars on the market that compete well with BMW’s and other luxury brands, they will have a tough time competing.
So, to recap. They need to work on two fronts: fuel-efficient cars and luxury cars. They have trucks and SUVs fairly well nailed (although even the Escape doesn’t turn me on when compared with a Toyota RAV 4).
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Well the market is turning away from SUVs, which are not safer by the way. But a big part of the trouble Ford and GM are in is due to pensions. There are more former workers on pensions than current employees and their healthcare costs are draining the automakers. But of course there’s nothing wrong with how the U.S. healthcare system is structured, nope, not at all…
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Well the market is turning away from SUVs, which are not safer by the way. But a big part of the trouble Ford and GM are in is due to pensions. There are more former workers on pensions than current employees and their healthcare costs are draining the automakers. But of course there’s nothing wrong with how the U.S. healthcare system is structured, nope, not at all…
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Andy: true. SUVs are definitely not safer. Bigger does not equal safer. Just ask the Tongan Royalty who were killed in an SUV here in Silicon Valley. Story here: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2162273
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Andy: true. SUVs are definitely not safer. Bigger does not equal safer. Just ask the Tongan Royalty who were killed in an SUV here in Silicon Valley. Story here: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2162273
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Get away from the Silicon valley and you will find that SUV’s, trucks and Minivans are the norm. Can a soccer mom haul 2.2 kiddies and a bunch of stuff in a car? No freaking way.
As for the naysayers on SUV safety – they are dead wrong. Look at how many have 5-star government crash ratings as compared to cars.
The real problems with Ford is that the deals made with the unions years ago are now coming home to roost.
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Get away from the Silicon valley and you will find that SUV’s, trucks and Minivans are the norm. Can a soccer mom haul 2.2 kiddies and a bunch of stuff in a car? No freaking way.
As for the naysayers on SUV safety – they are dead wrong. Look at how many have 5-star government crash ratings as compared to cars.
The real problems with Ford is that the deals made with the unions years ago are now coming home to roost.
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Robert,
Sorry but a car would have to last a lot more than 30,000 miles without a glitch to convince me to buy one. Also I determine how I buy the car by how the service department treats me as well. For instance we have this car dealership here in Florida called Gettel Toyota. Since they have a really poor service department I am now switching to Honda. It is not treating your customers great one time but all the time and the service department can make or break a dealership in my view.
This also applies to any service whether it is on the web or otherwise. Sell me each time. It is just too easy for customers to switch to a competitor today. Those that keep up the customer service keeps me as a customer. Just my two cents.
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Robert,
Sorry but a car would have to last a lot more than 30,000 miles without a glitch to convince me to buy one. Also I determine how I buy the car by how the service department treats me as well. For instance we have this car dealership here in Florida called Gettel Toyota. Since they have a really poor service department I am now switching to Honda. It is not treating your customers great one time but all the time and the service department can make or break a dealership in my view.
This also applies to any service whether it is on the web or otherwise. Sell me each time. It is just too easy for customers to switch to a competitor today. Those that keep up the customer service keeps me as a customer. Just my two cents.
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30,000 miles is hardly the mark of a durable car. Sure, *failure* before that point is the mark of a *non* durable car, but you shouldn’t be impressed by 30,000 miles without a problem. Short of actual manufacturing defects, it takes at least 60K-100K miles before the truly durable cars seperate themselves from the pack.
I’ve had 2 cars that cleared 200,000 miles before I sold them off and one of them is still running at about 560,000 miles and is still in the family.
Of course that was a small VW diesel from 1984 that got 68mpg on the highway 20 years before the Prius, so I’m probably harder to impress with automotive results than some.
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30,000 miles is hardly the mark of a durable car. Sure, *failure* before that point is the mark of a *non* durable car, but you shouldn’t be impressed by 30,000 miles without a problem. Short of actual manufacturing defects, it takes at least 60K-100K miles before the truly durable cars seperate themselves from the pack.
I’ve had 2 cars that cleared 200,000 miles before I sold them off and one of them is still running at about 560,000 miles and is still in the family.
Of course that was a small VW diesel from 1984 that got 68mpg on the highway 20 years before the Prius, so I’m probably harder to impress with automotive results than some.
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This a great blog. Where else could you find an exchange of ideas on this subject? Kudos, Scoble!!! 🙂
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This a great blog. Where else could you find an exchange of ideas on this subject? Kudos, Scoble!!! 🙂
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Dave: oh, I’m not saying that SUVs haven’t sold like crazy in the past few years. Silicon Valley is full of them. But that the trend is away from big cars and trucks and toward smaller ones.
Remember, that trend only has to be very small before it causes HUGE profit changes. 1% changes in the auto industry is a HUGE amount of dollars.
J Wynia: I have a 100,000 mile warranty on this Ford so I totally expect it to get there without any troubles.
I’ve found that after 100,000 it’s a crap shoot. My Acura (1984) went to 200,000, but I know other people who had major troubles with theirs at 130,000.
I also know people who’ve had VW Passats (a very expensive car when compared to my Ford) and had problems before 30,000 miles.
But I’ll keep reporting my Ford’s health every 10,000 miles or so.
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Dave: oh, I’m not saying that SUVs haven’t sold like crazy in the past few years. Silicon Valley is full of them. But that the trend is away from big cars and trucks and toward smaller ones.
Remember, that trend only has to be very small before it causes HUGE profit changes. 1% changes in the auto industry is a HUGE amount of dollars.
J Wynia: I have a 100,000 mile warranty on this Ford so I totally expect it to get there without any troubles.
I’ve found that after 100,000 it’s a crap shoot. My Acura (1984) went to 200,000, but I know other people who had major troubles with theirs at 130,000.
I also know people who’ve had VW Passats (a very expensive car when compared to my Ford) and had problems before 30,000 miles.
But I’ll keep reporting my Ford’s health every 10,000 miles or so.
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But let’s remember that the profit margins on trucks, SUV’s and Minivans dwarf those of small cars and that impacts profits big time.
Let’s look towards cleaner diesel engines for these vehicles to hopefully turn the tide.
As for gasoline prices – there are more taxes in the price per gallon as there are net profit for the so-called “big oil” companies. Let’s call our elected officials and ask them to back off on these taxes!
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But let’s remember that the profit margins on trucks, SUV’s and Minivans dwarf those of small cars and that impacts profits big time.
Let’s look towards cleaner diesel engines for these vehicles to hopefully turn the tide.
As for gasoline prices – there are more taxes in the price per gallon as there are net profit for the so-called “big oil” companies. Let’s call our elected officials and ask them to back off on these taxes!
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I agree with your assessment of Ford’s Bold Moves. Definitely IR for the YouTube generation.
Ford has a lot of good communications people and it shows with this initiative.
Six years ago, I visited their Dearborne Intranet team.
They showed me their daily intranet “TV show” for all their ops around the world. What I saw all those years ago is impressive even by today’s standards.
With their Bold Move video blog, I especially like the inclusion of many outside voices.
As the old saying goes, it’s not what you say about yourself, but what others say about you that counts.
And look what it has you and I saying…
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I guess Im not the AVERAGE american car buyer following the trend…I just bought a new 2007 Tahoe. What did I trade in? A 2001 Chevy Malibu. Now that would be in sharp contrast to what the “rest of america” is doing.
“Ford isnt in the luxury market”? – They own Land Rover (“luxury” SUV), Jaguar, and Aston Martin.
The irrational exuberance in Silicon Valley demonstrating the “look at me” mentailty isnt representative of the entire US.
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I guess Im not the AVERAGE american car buyer following the trend…I just bought a new 2007 Tahoe. What did I trade in? A 2001 Chevy Malibu. Now that would be in sharp contrast to what the “rest of america” is doing.
“Ford isnt in the luxury market”? – They own Land Rover (“luxury” SUV), Jaguar, and Aston Martin.
The irrational exuberance in Silicon Valley demonstrating the “look at me” mentailty isnt representative of the entire US.
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I agree with your assessment of Ford’s Bold Moves. Definitely IR for the YouTube generation.
Ford has a lot of good communications people and it shows with this initiative.
Six years ago, I visited their Dearborne Intranet team.
They showed me their daily intranet “TV show” for all their ops around the world. What I saw all those years ago is impressive even by today’s standards.
With their Bold Move video blog, I especially like the inclusion of many outside voices.
As the old saying goes, it’s not what you say about yourself, but what others say about you that counts.
And look what it has you and I saying…
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Troy: it’s not, that’s true, but other parts of the nation don’t have the wealth that exists here in Silicon Valley.
Damn, I forgot just how big a company Ford is. Thanks for reminding me.
Dave: we need more incentives to get off of the foreign oil habit we’re in, not less. And lowering gas taxes/prices would just encourage people to use more of the stuff.
Ever wonder why Europeans come up with better engines? Cause their gas costs $9 a gallon.
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Troy: it’s not, that’s true, but other parts of the nation don’t have the wealth that exists here in Silicon Valley.
Damn, I forgot just how big a company Ford is. Thanks for reminding me.
Dave: we need more incentives to get off of the foreign oil habit we’re in, not less. And lowering gas taxes/prices would just encourage people to use more of the stuff.
Ever wonder why Europeans come up with better engines? Cause their gas costs $9 a gallon.
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Dave: >But let’s remember that the profit margins on trucks, SUV’s and Minivans dwarf those of small cars and that impacts profits big time
Yup, which is why Ford wasn’t first out of the gate with a hybrid. Toyota, who takes a longer term view, was and is cleaning up and making the industry react to it.
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Dave: >But let’s remember that the profit margins on trucks, SUV’s and Minivans dwarf those of small cars and that impacts profits big time
Yup, which is why Ford wasn’t first out of the gate with a hybrid. Toyota, who takes a longer term view, was and is cleaning up and making the industry react to it.
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I think there are many valid points here 2 I think are really key:
1)Pensions are killing GM & Ford
2)Unions are killing Ford * GM [and many other manufacturing industries…but Im sure I will hear an earful for this comment]
Also, GM Has Just Extended Their Warranties to 5 year, 100K miles.
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I think there are many valid points here 2 I think are really key:
1)Pensions are killing GM & Ford
2)Unions are killing Ford * GM [and many other manufacturing industries…but Im sure I will hear an earful for this comment]
Also, GM Has Just Extended Their Warranties to 5 year, 100K miles.
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Troy: and GM did that in response to blog requests.
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Troy: and GM did that in response to blog requests.
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Ford’s bold moves website and video is silly. They have turned their real and serious issues into a soap opera. It’s entertaining, sure, but it has nothing to do with running a good business. Only a marketing guy could love this fluff.
And it is ridiculous to blame the unions. Who made the deals with the unions? Oh yeah, it was Ford management. Who didn’t reserve adequately for their pension program back in the days when they were making money? Ford management. Who didn’t invest in new technologies like hybrid engines the way the real “forward” thinking companies did? Ford management. Who squeezed their suppliers so hard that they went into bankruptcy? Ford management. Who blames external factors like $3 gas for problems of their own making? Ford management.
Ford management got Ford into this mess by screwing up badly for years and years. And what is their “bold” answer? A soap opera and a pretty web site. Brilliant.
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Ford’s bold moves website and video is silly. They have turned their real and serious issues into a soap opera. It’s entertaining, sure, but it has nothing to do with running a good business. Only a marketing guy could love this fluff.
And it is ridiculous to blame the unions. Who made the deals with the unions? Oh yeah, it was Ford management. Who didn’t reserve adequately for their pension program back in the days when they were making money? Ford management. Who didn’t invest in new technologies like hybrid engines the way the real “forward” thinking companies did? Ford management. Who squeezed their suppliers so hard that they went into bankruptcy? Ford management. Who blames external factors like $3 gas for problems of their own making? Ford management.
Ford management got Ford into this mess by screwing up badly for years and years. And what is their “bold” answer? A soap opera and a pretty web site. Brilliant.
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Gobi: I agree with you that the management made some really bad choices over the last few years. But now that they are in the bad place they are I’d rather that they were transparent about it and show off how they are working to dig out of the hole they are in.
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Gobi: I agree with you that the management made some really bad choices over the last few years. But now that they are in the bad place they are I’d rather that they were transparent about it and show off how they are working to dig out of the hole they are in.
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You are correct Gobi. The top management of the past is to blame – completely and totally.
The old top management should of stood up to the corrupt and communist unions long ago. But much like fighting terrorists today, it would not of been a popular concept.
We had a Democrat/socialist run Congress at the time that would of probably socialized the US automakers in those days by calling them a monopoly. This socialist/communist/Democrat kabal brought in the union laws that made it all possible – and the DNC collects payment to this day for it.
That was the climate in those days. So the top management took the easy way out, took the profits they could get then, took their golden parachutes and skated – knowing full well the bill would come due eventually.
Much like the Clinton Administration did with the war on terrorism – do nothing and skate away. Welcome to eventually – in the automotive business and the terrorist business. Bills always come due eventually.
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You are correct Gobi. The top management of the past is to blame – completely and totally.
The old top management should of stood up to the corrupt and communist unions long ago. But much like fighting terrorists today, it would not of been a popular concept.
We had a Democrat/socialist run Congress at the time that would of probably socialized the US automakers in those days by calling them a monopoly. This socialist/communist/Democrat kabal brought in the union laws that made it all possible – and the DNC collects payment to this day for it.
That was the climate in those days. So the top management took the easy way out, took the profits they could get then, took their golden parachutes and skated – knowing full well the bill would come due eventually.
Much like the Clinton Administration did with the war on terrorism – do nothing and skate away. Welcome to eventually – in the automotive business and the terrorist business. Bills always come due eventually.
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Man, Scoble. Stick to things you know about (whatever that is). It’s definately not the auto industry. “Ford’s not in the luxury car business” BWAHAHAH! yea, right.
Not amount of blogging or transparency will solve Ford’s problem’s You need to get that type of thinking out of your head. When a company is losing billions of dollars, while blogging my look like they are trying, is had absolutely NO impact on their ability to turn around their business. At least a company the size of Ford. It might be able to turn around some small geek company in the Valley where that is the only place anyone hangs out to get information. But in a company the size of Ford or GM? You’re dreamin’.
I’m assuming Mullaly will now get rid of his Lexus? Not sure Mullaly is the right guy. Making airplanes is not the same as making cars. Very few competitors in the airline business
Ford is doing some really dumb things. Jaguar is bleeding money hourly. They should dump it. Yet they talk about getting rid of Aston Martin. That’s just stupid. Aston Martin has gone from sell 44 cars WW a few years ago to selling about 4400 a year. Hello? They should also kill of Lincoln/Mercury and Land Rover. Concentrate on Ford, Truck, Mazda, and Aston Martin. Not sure where blogging fits in to the plan, though.
Ford needs to focus (no pun intended) on the business that can make them money. Get rid of
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Man, Scoble. Stick to things you know about (whatever that is). It’s definately not the auto industry. “Ford’s not in the luxury car business” BWAHAHAH! yea, right.
Not amount of blogging or transparency will solve Ford’s problem’s You need to get that type of thinking out of your head. When a company is losing billions of dollars, while blogging my look like they are trying, is had absolutely NO impact on their ability to turn around their business. At least a company the size of Ford. It might be able to turn around some small geek company in the Valley where that is the only place anyone hangs out to get information. But in a company the size of Ford or GM? You’re dreamin’.
I’m assuming Mullaly will now get rid of his Lexus? Not sure Mullaly is the right guy. Making airplanes is not the same as making cars. Very few competitors in the airline business
Ford is doing some really dumb things. Jaguar is bleeding money hourly. They should dump it. Yet they talk about getting rid of Aston Martin. That’s just stupid. Aston Martin has gone from sell 44 cars WW a few years ago to selling about 4400 a year. Hello? They should also kill of Lincoln/Mercury and Land Rover. Concentrate on Ford, Truck, Mazda, and Aston Martin. Not sure where blogging fits in to the plan, though.
Ford needs to focus (no pun intended) on the business that can make them money. Get rid of
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@20. I call bullshit on that. If GM is being run by comments on Lutz’ blog then they are in deeper trouble than anyone could ever imagine.
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@20. I call bullshit on that. If GM is being run by comments on Lutz’ blog then they are in deeper trouble than anyone could ever imagine.
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#26: That’s what their PR is claiming. I believe them. I know of many products out there that got improved through feedback gained on blogs.
As to business, gee, it sure seems like you’re expert at running everything seeing at how many comments you leave in your blog here. Next thing you’ll tell me is how well Lucent is doing. I wonder if your boss knows you are mouthing off about how stupid I am everyday?
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#26: That’s what their PR is claiming. I believe them. I know of many products out there that got improved through feedback gained on blogs.
As to business, gee, it sure seems like you’re expert at running everything seeing at how many comments you leave in your blog here. Next thing you’ll tell me is how well Lucent is doing. I wonder if your boss knows you are mouthing off about how stupid I am everyday?
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My Ford Focus ZX3 has just under 90,000 miles on it, and the only problem I’ve had with it was a CD getting stuck in the player for about a year (it mysteriously spit out the CD a couple months ago) and some strange behaviour with the sunroof.
I couldn’t be happier with the quality I’ve gotten out of this little car.
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My Ford Focus ZX3 has just under 90,000 miles on it, and the only problem I’ve had with it was a CD getting stuck in the player for about a year (it mysteriously spit out the CD a couple months ago) and some strange behaviour with the sunroof.
I couldn’t be happier with the quality I’ve gotten out of this little car.
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Only a marketing guy could love this fluff.
Nail on head. Ford’s problems could fill a book, some song and dance blog and video, ain’t gonna make up for it, in fact it’s insulting. As for HP, just the usual tech company arrogance at play, yet another day in the Valley. Now how they handle PR, well Ford wins easy.
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Only a marketing guy could love this fluff.
Nail on head. Ford’s problems could fill a book, some song and dance blog and video, ain’t gonna make up for it, in fact it’s insulting. As for HP, just the usual tech company arrogance at play, yet another day in the Valley. Now how they handle PR, well Ford wins easy.
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Ford’s in deep crap with cars. The focus is a pretty nice car, but has been around for quite a while now. The Mustang is an unqualified hit. The new Fusion/Milan/Zephyr are OK at best. They’re based on the aging Mazda 6 platform. The Ford 500 and corresponding LM car is grossly underpowered for a car of its size. Here’s a stat: as recently as2 months ago the best selling car that Ford has was the Taurus. Now the Taurus isn’t offered at dealerships. It’s still being made and offered as a fleet vehicle. So, highly unprofitable fleet sales of a 20+ year old car lead their car sales.
the guy from Boeing seems qualified, but Ford needs car product badly if they’re going to make it.
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Ford’s in deep crap with cars. The focus is a pretty nice car, but has been around for quite a while now. The Mustang is an unqualified hit. The new Fusion/Milan/Zephyr are OK at best. They’re based on the aging Mazda 6 platform. The Ford 500 and corresponding LM car is grossly underpowered for a car of its size. Here’s a stat: as recently as2 months ago the best selling car that Ford has was the Taurus. Now the Taurus isn’t offered at dealerships. It’s still being made and offered as a fleet vehicle. So, highly unprofitable fleet sales of a 20+ year old car lead their car sales.
the guy from Boeing seems qualified, but Ford needs car product badly if they’re going to make it.
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Blurry lines….
(1) Where is the line between “transparency” and “spin”?
(2) If being transparent causes self-inflicted damage – will Ford (or Microsoft) do it?
(3) Is achieving “attention” a la the MS Live PR ramp up being “transparent” or simply trying to influence the public?
(4) Is announcing (yet another) delay of Vista… couched after announcing how good things are going… considered transparent, spin, influence, or just business as usual?
Robert, I’m addressing my questions in the context of actions Microsoft has done over the last 12 months. But my REAL point is this – you could ask the SAME questions of Ford.
A corporate blog isn’t evidence of being “transparent”. It merely says that Ford has found another avenue to get THEIR side of the story out. No more, no less.
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Blurry lines….
(1) Where is the line between “transparency” and “spin”?
(2) If being transparent causes self-inflicted damage – will Ford (or Microsoft) do it?
(3) Is achieving “attention” a la the MS Live PR ramp up being “transparent” or simply trying to influence the public?
(4) Is announcing (yet another) delay of Vista… couched after announcing how good things are going… considered transparent, spin, influence, or just business as usual?
Robert, I’m addressing my questions in the context of actions Microsoft has done over the last 12 months. But my REAL point is this – you could ask the SAME questions of Ford.
A corporate blog isn’t evidence of being “transparent”. It merely says that Ford has found another avenue to get THEIR side of the story out. No more, no less.
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Ford ask for comments – $5 a week for 12 weeks – I signed up. Thanks Robert!
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Ford ask for comments – $5 a week for 12 weeks – I signed up. Thanks Robert!
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I started watching the Bold Moves blog when it was first mentioned here. They had a survey signup – $5 a week for 12 weeks. Thanks Robert!
My Ford truck is 22 years old and has 160,000 miles.
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I started watching the Bold Moves blog when it was first mentioned here. They had a survey signup – $5 a week for 12 weeks. Thanks Robert!
My Ford truck is 22 years old and has 160,000 miles.
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Ford owns Volvo too
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Ford owns Volvo too
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Ford USA may be in trouble, so I guess it is bad news for Ford Global, but as far as I can tell Ford in other places in the world is doing great guns.
Ford Australia for example are selling Falcons and Territories like they are going out of fashion. http://www.ford.com.au – of couse such as small market as Australasia can’t turn the whole operation around, but Ford USA could learn a thing or three from their antipodean cousins.
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Ford USA may be in trouble, so I guess it is bad news for Ford Global, but as far as I can tell Ford in other places in the world is doing great guns.
Ford Australia for example are selling Falcons and Territories like they are going out of fashion. http://www.ford.com.au – of couse such as small market as Australasia can’t turn the whole operation around, but Ford USA could learn a thing or three from their antipodean cousins.
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@27 I don’t deny that some products get improved by comments left on blogs. But I’m not sure Wall Street would take much comfort in knwoing that GM is lettting blog commments determine their strategy.
What the hell does Lucent have to do with the conversation” You wouldn’t subtly be tyring to expose information that some would expect to be private, are you? You once complained about ad homimen arguments when you tried to declare by fiat what a blog is. Looks to me like you are the king of ad hominem attacks.
As for pointing out your analytical failings…excuse me for point out the obvious. Seriously, to believe that blogging will even have a minor impact on a company like Ford or GM’s the long term success is naive, and like Chris said, almost insulting.
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@27 I don’t deny that some products get improved by comments left on blogs. But I’m not sure Wall Street would take much comfort in knwoing that GM is lettting blog commments determine their strategy.
What the hell does Lucent have to do with the conversation” You wouldn’t subtly be tyring to expose information that some would expect to be private, are you? You once complained about ad homimen arguments when you tried to declare by fiat what a blog is. Looks to me like you are the king of ad hominem attacks.
As for pointing out your analytical failings…excuse me for point out the obvious. Seriously, to believe that blogging will even have a minor impact on a company like Ford or GM’s the long term success is naive, and like Chris said, almost insulting.
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as for the frequency of comments.. what can I say? The ORGINAL BBC verision of The Office is no longer in production, so this is blog is the next best thing for that type of entertainment. I really do wonder at times if this is a parody of what a blog should be.
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as for the frequency of comments.. what can I say? The ORGINAL BBC verision of The Office is no longer in production, so this is blog is the next best thing for that type of entertainment. I really do wonder at times if this is a parody of what a blog should be.
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Let’s look at some history here. In the 1970’s gas prices went up 300% because of the oil embargo. Ford was in the same postion then. Gas guzzling Mustangs, Cougars, LTD’s ect. They had to get into the small car market. Pinto’s, Mstang II’s yea,weknow they were junk but they sold them by the truck load and they came back. Now who remembers Chrysler’s bail out not once,but TWICE by Uncle Sam in the form of loan guarentees.
Now if you think for one second that a sitting US Prsident of either party is going to let the number two US auto maker go under on his watch,it ain’t gonna happen. Buy this stock and buy as much as you can. I bought Chrysler in 1991 at $10/share 2 years later it was at $60. when no one wants something on Wall St. and all the experts are telling you to sell or stay away you can make a lot of money doing the opposite. Look at Merck 2 years ago vioxx was the end of them.stock goes down to $20 now it’s at $42 what changed? Don’t right Ford off yet.
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Let’s look at some history here. In the 1970’s gas prices went up 300% because of the oil embargo. Ford was in the same postion then. Gas guzzling Mustangs, Cougars, LTD’s ect. They had to get into the small car market. Pinto’s, Mstang II’s yea,weknow they were junk but they sold them by the truck load and they came back. Now who remembers Chrysler’s bail out not once,but TWICE by Uncle Sam in the form of loan guarentees.
Now if you think for one second that a sitting US Prsident of either party is going to let the number two US auto maker go under on his watch,it ain’t gonna happen. Buy this stock and buy as much as you can. I bought Chrysler in 1991 at $10/share 2 years later it was at $60. when no one wants something on Wall St. and all the experts are telling you to sell or stay away you can make a lot of money doing the opposite. Look at Merck 2 years ago vioxx was the end of them.stock goes down to $20 now it’s at $42 what changed? Don’t right Ford off yet.
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Sure Ford’s expenses are high and that the unions are a drain but the bottom line is that their products are not very good. If they sold enough cars maybe things wouldn’t be so bad. Most customers I think are shopping around for a best deal, and Japanese cars have a lot to offer in terms of quality, reliability and efficiency.
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Sure Ford’s expenses are high and that the unions are a drain but the bottom line is that their products are not very good. If they sold enough cars maybe things wouldn’t be so bad. Most customers I think are shopping around for a best deal, and Japanese cars have a lot to offer in terms of quality, reliability and efficiency.
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