"No Money From Ford" (merged x3)

[Chris - Melb]

Even though Ford a selling less Falcons, they still make up a large proportion of Ford's local sales.

Also, I'm sure Ford realises that there are people that will support the Falcon V8 Supercar teams and then go out and buy something from the Ford products range, whether it be a Falcon or a Focus.

There is more to marketing than direct sales.

Otherwise, you'd better go tell Toyota [the biggest, most successful manufacturer in the world] that they should not be in NASCAR!

The passion, goodwill and consumer loyalty that Ford has built up due to motorsport involvement over decades is the only thing between them becoming another "Nissan", an also-ran on the Australian motoring landscape.

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by Oldtony

The point of discussion here Moutainstar is not Ford's survival, but the fact that they are restructuring thier future to be more oriented to the types of cars they build in Europe or the development of hybrids, and that applies to both the US and Australian markets.
V8SC and NASCAR are hardly the right propuct promotion platforms for that sort of product.

Actually they are. Motor Racing is sport and entertainment. People participate in entertainment and sport(whatever form that may be, spectator, participant, etc) as a means to escape from the daily grind. If motor racing mirrors daily life, then it loses it's value to all involved. I think if people wanted to see duplicates of what they drive on a daily basis, club racing and production car racing would be overwhelmed with sponsors and spectators. Alas it is not.

Why do people go to movies? Why do people go on vacation? Why do people go to a V8 Supercar race?

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by Chris - Melb

Even though Ford a selling less Falcons, they still make up a large proportion of Ford's local sales.

Also, I'm sure Ford realises that there are people that will support the Falcon V8 Supercar teams and then go out and buy something from the Ford products range, whether it be a Falcon or a Focus.

There is more to marketing than direct sales.

Otherwise, you'd better go tell Toyota [the biggest, most successful manufacturer in the world] that they should not be in NASCAR!

The passion, goodwill and consumer loyalty that Ford has built up due to motorsport involvement over decades is the only thing between them becoming another "Nissan", an also-ran on the Australian motoring landscape.

All good points.

If nobody wanted a V8, Australian Muscle Car magazine would a little 2 page flyer instead of the brick it is when it lands in my mailbox.

Plenty of people out there are still going to want a big car whether in 10 years that is a hybrid, autogas or ethanol or algae fuel or biodiesel or even still petrol powered(after the next oil crash, "it's different this time", right...). Plenty of people have large families or trailers or boats to tow. No little ford fiesta! is going to do that or do it well anyways.

And you have to consider the people that are younger, the next generation of buyers. When I'm 20 or 30 I may buy a ford focus, but I'll likely aspire to something bigger and better when I'm 40 or 50. The success of FPV and HSV prove that point.

[cavvy]

Originally Posted by mountainstar

I follow the situation quite closely and Ford and GM I think are in fairly good shape for the future with a lot of exciting cars just coming out or due soon. A lot of changes and writedowns they have needed to make they've done.

Also Ford made a significant profit in Ford Europe and Ford South America in the 2nd Quarter. No mention of Australia.

Overall, I'm confident both will come out of this looking good. Keep in mind both have close to $30 Billion in cash each on hand.

Chrysler is the one I'm worried about. The products are pretty lame and they don't have much coming down the pike that will help. The only bright salvation right now is the new Challenger(sold out 1st run) and possibly Jeep.

The loss announced was after including whatever contribution from Europe, South America, Australia - Ford Motor Company world wide.

The cash position seems good - was the company cash flow positive?

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by cavvy

The loss announced was after including whatever contribution from Europe, South America, Australia - Ford Motor Company world wide.

The cash position seems good - was the company cash flow positive?

Here is a report that breaks it all down:

http://jalopnik.com/399169/breaking-...cles-stateside

[Bimmerhead]

An interesting story....loss from continued operations looks to be "only" around $US700M. Not an ideal result but with $US26.6B in cash and negotiable securities they're not going to be going Chapter 11 any time soon......

[kiwi butt]

What will Davey John do with the windscreen now Makita has left the team?

[Evomike]

Originally Posted by kiwi butt

What will Davey John do with the windscreen now Makita has left the team?

WRONG! Makita has not left the team, they are still a sponsor of Team Kiwi Racing for the coming season, perhaps you are confused by the departure of GM of Makita Guy Williams.

[Razor]

I wonder if teams would put the slogan "No money from Ford" on their windscreens ala WPS in 2004 at Symmons Plains before they got pulled up by "bringing the V8 sport into disrepute".

BTW, anyone got an image of the WPS cars roaring around with the slogan?