[Syclone478]

https://wolfstreet.com/2020/02/06/ford-better-figure-out-how-to-sell-vehicles-and-i-mean-globally-pronto-before-its-too-late/

Ford Better Figure Out How to Sell Vehicles, And I Mean Globally & Pronto, Before it’s Too Late
Ever since it got sidetracked by its “Smart Mobility” dream and blew billions on it, sales in its biggest markets have spiraled down. Not just in the US and China. Here are the ugly charts by market.

In a moment, we’ll venture into the bitter reality and ugly charts of how the number of vehicles Ford sells in the US, China, Europe, Canada, Australia, South America, Russia, Turkey, and other markets has been dropping – or plunging – year after year to where its global sales are now down 19% from the peak in 2016, as Ford disclosed when it filed its Annual Report (Form 10-K) with the SEC on Wednesday.

But before we get there, here are some dead giveaways, some unintentionally funny, of how Ford got sidetracked by strategic misadventures into this whole realm of what it calls “Smart Mobility,” and how it got tangled up in its dreams, and thereby lost its way as a nuts-and-bolts automaker that should be focused on designing, manufacturing, marketing, and selling motor vehicles that consumers want. Instead, Ford tried to be something else.

Here is a quick rundown of select “Smart Mobility” misadventures during the period over which Ford’s vehicle sales have plunged by 19%:

The article then lists nine notable missteps since late 2016; then it discusses and illustrates Ford's sales for eight global regions, over the last ten years.

 

[samesun]

Re: Ford Global Sales 'Plunge' 19% YOY

Best comment...”Still undeterred by reality, Ford Smart Mobility acquired San Francisco dockless electric-scooter-sharing startup Spin.“

Good read. I remember that a few years back, a wingnut Ford Fanatic called this Smart Mobility plan brilliant. I called it nonsense. Seems I was right

 

[jpd80]

Lots of new products finally beginning to arrive later this year as Bronco arrives
and Ford's two Mexican plants come on line with a bunch of new products
Explorer and Aviator get to work and Expedition / Navigator gain momentum.
Ford Super Duty with 7.3 will be a huge success giving buyers what they've wanted.

 

[ksr]

Maybe they should not have bailed out on cars in the US.

 

[jpd80]

Maybe they should not have bailed out on cars in the US.

GM pulled the trigger on cars and car plants quicker than Ford did, it just had Mexican production to cover the drop in car sales

 

[ksr]

And regardless of what GM is doing, I still think Ford shouldn't bail out on cars (nor should GM).

 

[jzchev28]

Lots of new products finally beginning to arrive later this year as Bronco arrives
and Ford's two Mexican plants come on line with a bunch of new products
Explorer and Aviator get to work and Expedition / Navigator gain momentum.
Ford Super Duty with 7.3 will be a huge success giving buyers what they've wanted.

Ford hasn't had a very good track record with new product lately, let's hope they've got a handle on it moving forward.

 

[roadkillz]

Ford has made a lot of miss steps, though from my experience Ford is well known for making mostly sub par and mediocre vehicles with every once in a while an exceptional vehicle is made. Though I would say that in the last roughly 5 years Ford has made a good amount of solid products they just still have too many misses. I really like the Ford Focus RS however it seems that they have engine issues, for a hot hatch I think it is a solid car (really Ford had good hot hatches) knee capped with an engine issue. Over all I am not liking the current Mustang however I did like the S197 Mustang as the new car is just huge with the possibility for it to become more boat like. Sure they have the GT350 has a cool sounding engine really one of the best sounding production V-8 notes and the GT500 has a massive amount of power and really accelerates fast and hooks up good thanks to its DCT and tuning. However other then those two vehicles there isn't a single modern Ford that I actually want (this includes the Ford GT). I go to Fords site and they have 3 cars on their car list the Fiesta, Fusion, and Mustang then a bunch of vehicles for baby boomers who have a hard time getting in and out of vehicles now. I go to trucks and ok there is another Ford vehicle that I am interested in and it is the Ranger. Though if I were buying a truck I think I would want a diesel engine in it, which I don't think you can get in the Ranger yet.

I just feel that we are at an odd point where baby boomers are going to start buying fewer and fewer cars yet the next generation isn't going to have as much money as them so the car makers are going to have to in like 10 years get rid of the $100,000 pickup trucks and make vehicles that younger people can afford and want.