Ford may announce plans to retool truck plants for small cars this week
While General Motors recently announced plans to shutter four factories that had been building pickup trucks and SUVs, Ford may announce as soon as this week plans to shift some of its own truck plants to building smaller cars. Ford already decided that a Mexican plant that currently builds F-series pickups will be the source of the new Fiesta mini-car in early 2010. The second quarter results call on Thursday may bring more information on other truck plants that will build the next generation Focus and Mondeo. Now that the US dollar is so weak against other currencies, it no longer makes much sense to import small cars from other countries. The combination of more refined cars and the increase in fuel prices has also driven up demand for smaller cars to the point where they can actually be sold profitably in this country.
[Source: Wall Street Journal]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jeffzekas 12:22PM (7/21/2008)
Please, God, tell me that the Big Four FINALLY get it! "It's the economy, stupid", as the man once said. Okay, now if GM will just get their act together, and start bringing in the Beat-- or maybe producing a domestic small car (and not another Vega!), then we can show the whole world that American is not incapable of running an automotive business.
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Dave 1:58PM (7/21/2008)
Hopefully they change the name of the Fiesta while their at it! I can't wait until ALL the manufacturers are making small cars, there will be so much competition that the consumer will have many choices at low prices.
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Jankdc 4:09PM (7/21/2008)
I've been saying (seriously) that they should call it the Pinto. Yea it was a maligned vehicle, but everyone had one. The fiesta wasn't as maligned but how many people do you know owned one?
Ignatius 2:23PM (7/21/2008)
Now if they had started doing this ten years ago, we'd have electric cars all over the place.
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Paul Sallmen 5:58PM (7/21/2008)
Jankdc said. "I've been saying (seriously) that they should call it the Pinto."
I disagree. The Fiesta is a fun-sounding name. Keep it. Personally I often prefer the European/Japanese names of cars. For the Pinto, although the later ones were fine, I'm sure they still evoke memories of exploding gas tanks when rear ended.
Besides, I think most people buying the Fiesta will be younger, so most of them will have been born after the last Pinto was made c. 1980. In all, young buyers will have little connection to the old Pinto. Only baby boomers will, and I doubt they'll be the main demographic buying this car.
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Whopper 10:47AM (7/22/2008)
I know I'm tilting at windmills, but I sure am tired of hearing about exploding Pintos. Years after the law suits settled down and people took an unemotional look at the car some interesting points came to light. For example, the Vega, AMC Gremlin, VW Beetle and Toyota Corolla built in those years had similar numbers of rear end collision induced fires. The Datsun series of cars actually had a higher rate of such fires.
While Ford was accused of setting a $ value on human life, it was actually responding to a report required by NHTSA and it was NHTSA who set the $ value, not Ford. And the statement oft repeated that Ford would "accept 2000 deaths as cost of doing business" was not made by any Ford employee or written in any Ford document. It was actually a statement of outrage made by a newscaster as his interpretation of Ford's attitude.
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