Ford Sees Its Jan. Sales Down 20 Percent

[UpInArms]

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?Feed=AP&Date=20070131&ID=6416847

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) - Ford Motor Co. said Wednesday that it expects to post a 20 percent drop in January U.S. auto sales compared with the same month a year ago, due largely to lower sales to rental-car companies.

But the automaker said its turnaround plan is on track.

Companies report January sales on Thursday. Sales by Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. are expected to rise, but General Motors Corp. said last week that it expects its January sales to fall, also because of lower rental fleet sales.

This year, Toyota is expected to take Ford's No. 2 spot in U.S. sales after its sales surpassed Ford's in two months last year.

Toyota likely will beat Ford again in January, analysts say.

Dearborn-based Ford sold 190,574 cars and light trucks in January 2006.

While the decline in fleet sales hurts overall sales numbers, GM and Ford have said they are trying to focus on sales to more-profitable retail customers as part of their North American turnaround efforts.

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[brentspeak]

1. Bill Ford -- Henry Ford's idiot great-grandson

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. if they came up with a decent product, that would change

but the design people were replaced with CPAs and money hogs who talked to Cheney in 2001.

The only semi-successful design after the aging, aged, ancient Taurus was a effing pickmeup truck.

Everything else has been a failure. That, and their quality sucks. (personal experience). I will NEVER buy Ford again. Honda, Nissan, VW, yes, but never a Ford. That goes for GM, too.

[Donnachaidh]

3. So when should we expect them in Washington looking for a bail out and

How MANY plants do they have in Mexico NOW?

How many Americans have lost their jobs with Ford over the past decade because of outsourcing? I want to know because I don't want ONE DOLLAR of our taxes going to a company that has outsourced American jobs. Not ONE.

[durtee librul]

4. What is NOT said in your post

is how this has affected all their suppliers as well...it all trickles down.

As far as the Mexico plants go - - again, they have eroded the supplier base and moved a lot of stuff to MX and Canada...I know what I am talking about as I work for one of their competitors and even we, sadly, have been outsourcing supplier plants for years now and the quality is NOT what it once was when those same parts were made in the USA.

Sad, sad, sad.

[Dean Martin]

5. another reason for plummeting sales

More and more of us are only making $10 an hour or less and they want us to cough up 25 grand or more for vehicles.