Ford Says It's Ready for Truck Fight

[doh]

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/061114/ford_...ight.html?.v=1


Ford Says It's Ready for Truck Fight
Tuesday November 14, 5:14 pm ET
By Tom Krisher, AP Business Writer
Even With Older F-150, Ford Says It's Ready to Take on Truck Competition


DETROIT (AP) -- Ask those who guard Ford Motor Co.'s corporate jewel, the pickup truck, and they say to a person that the struggling company has no intention of relinquishing its No. 1 spot.
But Ford's F-series trucks are under an attack seldom seen in the company's 103-year history, mainly from domestic rival General Motors Corp. and Japanese nemesis Toyota Motor Corp.


GM's all-new Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups started arriving in showrooms last month. Toyota, which has been pummeling its domestic counterparts with cars for several years but hasn't made much headway in trucks, this week started building a new full-sized Tundra pickup at a plant in Texas.

Both companies want to supplant the Ford F-150 as the top-selling vehicle in America, and some industry analysts predict they'll spend millions to do it. Ford, on the other hand, will spend millions to make sure they don't.

"This is really going to be an interesting couple of years," said Jim Sanfilippo, senior industry analyst for Bloomfield Hills-based Automotive Marketing Consultants Inc. "The reason the F-150 is put as the one under attack is because it's the biggest dog perenially."

At Dearborn-based Ford, the stakes have never been higher. The company so far this year has sold 762,050 F-series pickups, accounting for 32.6 percent of its sales.

But pickup, sport utility and other truck sales are down for the year as many buyers switch to more fuel-efficient vehicles with car underpinnings. During the first three quarters, Ford lost roughly $7 billion, and the company predicts red ink until 2009.

It intends to close 16 plants and is offering buyouts and early retirement packages to all 75,000 of its U.S. hourly workers as demand for its products shrinks.

"Obviously everyone knows the importance of the F-Series to the Ford Motor Co.," said Pat Schiavone, the company's truck design director who like others in charge of trucks, feels pressure to maintain the lead.

But company leaders, he said, know that the truck team has been successful in the past.

"Instead of questioning us, they support us, and that ends up showing up in the product," he said.

Still, there are those GM folks on the other side of town who make pretty good trucks, too, and they've got brand-new ones to compete with a 3-year-old F-150. Toyota, meanwhile, has figured out that building the trucks in the heart of pickup country, San Antonio, Texas, should help lure more buyers when the new Tundra makes its way to dealers early next year.

Walter McManus, an analyst at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, said he has driven the new GM trucks, and they are loaded with technology including V-8 engines that cut to four cylinders whenever possible to become more fuel efficient.

Ford, he said, is behind GM and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group on fuel efficiency because it doesn't have the variable-cylinder engines. Toyota won't say if it has the technology in the new Tundra.

McManus said gas mileage is a factor in pickup-buying decisions, especially with those who aren't buying trucks strictly for work.

"If you get down to a choice between the Ford and the Tundra or a Chevrolet Silverado, fuel economy difference can be important," McManus said.

Ford officials say that in real-world driving conditions, the GM trucks don't have a fuel efficiency advantage because so many people use trucks for towing.

From Ford's perspective, the competitors' trucks are just now catching up to the F-150, and the company plans to tweak its flagship vehicle by adding features between now and 2008, when a new version comes out.

"They'll catch up to where I am if I stand still, but we're not going to stand still," said Pete Reyes, chief engineer of the redesigned F-Series Super Duty trucks that debut early next year. The heavier-duty work trucks account for 40 percent of F-Series sales

[Psionic Wibbly]

Brave words! spoken while facing down the barrel of a gun.

Good luck to them!

[XCR440SP]

Originally Posted by Psionic Wibbly

Brave words! spoken while facing down the barrel of a gun.

Good luck to them!

I'd guess that they're pretty safe from GM right now. The new Silverado is a nice truck and an improvement over the old, but doesn't dominate the market. I really think GM blew it on this one, unless they have a huge amount of changes planned for 08 (They better add Floor shift option!)

Toyota remains to be seen, but I think they've got a long road ahead before they'll be a serious contender for top truck sales volume.

The big issue for ALL players is that this increased competion is likely to reduce profits due to increased product investment and/or decreased purchase prices to be competitive.

[poncho1982]

Originally Posted by XCR440SP

I'd guess that they're pretty safe from GM right now. The new Silverado is a nice truck and an improvement over the old, but doesn't dominate the market. I really think GM blew it on this one, unless they have a huge amount of changes planned for 08 (They better add Floor shift option!)

Toyota remains to be seen, but I think they've got a long road ahead before they'll be a serious contender for top truck sales volume.

The big issue for ALL players is that this increased competion is likely to reduce profits due to increased product investment and/or decreased purchase prices to be competitive.

In your opinion. I for one believe that the new Silverado will be a HUGE home run.

[jon21]

Man...new truck consumers going to be very happy.

[MN12Fan]

Originally Posted by Psionic Wibbly

Brave words! spoken while facing down the barrel of a gun.

Good luck to them!

Ford has every right to. As a leader in the segment there shouldn't be any reason why they should be doubted, especially since Ford doesn't have many places where they can screw up and get away with it these days. Ford's competition is very real but I think the company has what it will take to maintain its edge. I just wish their plans were a little better known and so we could have a better mental image of what to expect. I suppose things are obscure on purpose so as to prevent competitors from adjusting their strategies. Still, it seems like there are some things to look forward to, especially in the powertrain department where Ford tends to be lacking: a new 6.2L V8 as well as a potential 5.8L sibling (perhaps others), a diesel option of some sort, and a new 6-speed automatic (already in Ford's inventory with the Explorer/Mountaineer).

[asim]

We'll see, we'll see. Let the whole lineup come out and let sales to start to pick up. We'll also see how much damage the Tundra does to the market too...

[DanCBJMS1988]

Ford will be okay. Now, if they can bring their Thai-market Ranger here.

[01cavalier]

Ford doesn't have to worry about losing sales, the F-150 will continue to do well, just like the Silverado. I think that's a given. Toyota will have a hard time breaking farther into the truck market, though they will sell plenty at first. I wonder if it will go like the Titan.

[superstreet]

this will be intersting

[redimpss5]

What fight? They claim to sell the most trucks, but they have never added GMC and Chevrolet as one truck! So maybe thats why they claim they need to fight.

[Watchitsell]

My buddy sent me a video of him sitting in a new Silverado with the ash tray flopping around and would not close. GM has really pissed me off within the past few months and thats the kind of stuff that is turning people to the foreign market. Two GM die hard friends just got a couple of Titans and one is waiting for the Tundra. We are the guys who would get a new silverado every year and I am almost threw with them. I took my Cadillac cts v in for the rear got all four of my floor mats stolen and a laugh from the dealer saying they will not fix it. Hey I signed a document stating that anything stolen out of my car while at the dealer is not on them. I guess we are suppost to take our floor mats out before we leave the dealer. What do you guys think about this? I was a die hard GM fan but now I am thinking twice before I get a new vehicle.

[JDHogfisher]

Why does a crappy dealer make you think that GM has bad vehicles.. Was the truck your buddy was sitting in a real production vehicle??? GO to the Yota dealer and see if something like this happens. If so are you going to Nissan then. Its a brand new truck so there could be a few little things here and there that happen. How bout when u buy that tundra and theres a recall??What do you do then?? People are so quick to jump ship because of perception..Look at the facts and see the truth!!!!

HOgg

[Slideways]

Originally Posted by XCR440SP

I'd guess that they're pretty safe from GM right now. The new Silverado is a nice truck and an improvement over the old, but doesn't dominate the market. I really think GM blew it on this one, unless they have a huge amount of changes planned for 08 (They better add Floor shift option!)

(Disclaimer: This is my opinion only, I have driven all vehicles named below and do not with to infringe upon anyone's right to think differently. This is just an opinion.)

Console shifters look cool, but they take up a ton of room in the F-150, Titan, and the new Tundra. Who needs sequential shifting in a truck? Very few sequential shifters are instantaneous like the manufacturer would like you to believe. Toyota, Jeep, whatever, I have yet to drive an automatic that shifts when you tell it to besides the Porsche. As for its competition, there are very few battles that the F-150 wins when compared to a Titan, much less the GMT-900s. Ford crippled itself by capping displacement at 5.4L. That is not enough engine for such a heavy truck. Nissan's 5.6L, Dodge's 5.7L, and GM's 6.0L might not get the best gas mileage when towing (as Ford claims), but which engine would you rather have pulling your trailer? I doubt many unbiased consumers would choose the 5.4L for a towing situation.

[ZvetteGuy]

Originally Posted by Watchitsell

My buddy sent me a video of him sitting in a new Silverado with the ash tray flopping around and would not close. GM has really pissed me off within the past few months and thats the kind of stuff that is turning people to the foreign market. Two GM die hard friends just got a couple of Titans and one is waiting for the Tundra. We are the guys who would get a new silverado every year and I am almost threw with them. I took my Cadillac cts v in for the rear got all four of my floor mats stolen and a laugh from the dealer saying they will not fix it. Hey I signed a document stating that anything stolen out of my car while at the dealer is not on them. I guess we are suppost to take our floor mats out before we leave the dealer. What do you guys think about this? I was a die hard GM fan but now I am thinking twice before I get a new vehicle.

Well... cry me a river... if you consider yourself a die-hard fan... then you have serious issues... you're not a die-hard... you're just a poser... trying to diss our beloved GM. Yeah, they may have their issues... but, Nissan, Ford, Toyota, Dodge... they all have their problems... it's not a perfect world and therefore... you're not going to have perfect trucks, cars, suv's... etc... so, chin up and deal with it...