Ford and General motors alliance/merger discussion.

[ridgerunnerinwv]

I read today on yahoo news there had been a discussion of an alliance/merger between Ford and GM but the chances are slim it would happen,it is an interesting thought to what the outcome would be like.

 

[Redneck_Randy]

OH Brother. LOL What are they going to call the company "Forvrolet"

 

[MikePA]

...it is an interesting thought to what the outcome would be like.

What do you get when a company losing gobs of money merges with another company losing gobs of money? A big company losing megagobs of money.

 

[ridgerunnerinwv]

What do you get when a company losing gobs of money merges with another company losing gobs of money? A big company losing megagobs of money.

Your reply made me think of what a stock analyst said when Sears and
K-mart merged . Now you have 1 bad company instead of 2 bad companies. That was year ago or longer when I heard him say that. With that said the doors are still open at K-mart and Sears,for how long I do not know. The only thing I ever go to Sears for lately is to replace a broken Craftsman ratchet, I just have not had a reason to go for any other time.

 

[randy41]

actually sears has some pretty good sales on some things...like electronics and appliances and tires.

 

[livincountry]

Ford and GM have lots of problems: Cars that don't satisy what customers want, unions that have a strangle hold on the future, legacy costs that force low margins on all but the high end vehicles. I agree, two companies with troubles create one big (for a short time) company with more troubles. The Powerstoke has a good mechanical design but the electrical side of it is causing all kinds of trouble. Ford put their own electrical on a Navistar block and they have no ideas what to do. Now putting Duramax in a Ford....there's an idea....and the Allison tranny...best thing GM has done in years!

 

[George2615]

There was talk of the merger in my local paper today. Ford admitted too many layers of management have built up over the companies 103 years and must be streamlined resulting in the loss of 30,000 hourly and the equivalent of 14,000 salaried jobs as well as closing 16 plants. I think GM has the similar problems. GM says an outright merger is unlikely but may start more joint efforts similar to their current work on developing a 6 speed auto trans. Truck sales have been hurting with fuel (gas and diesel) prices skyrocketing. but hybrids don't haul the countries materials. IMO they have made a lot of improvements in the last 20 or so years in truck fuel economy and engines seem to go many more miles than those of 30 years ago.

As to a Ford /GM merger name I'll have to think on it for a while. That would be like merging UPS and Fed Ex and having the new company named FedUps.

 

[IH3444]

What is Toyota doing so right, that they can out sell Ford, and GM in the United States? Management? Engineering? Product lines? Quality? Employee and customer relations? All the above? Certainly can't be over paid CEOs! GM and Ford have cornered the market on that one. Unions have out lived their usefullness at these two US companies, and have run GM almost into bankrupcty. GM sold more cars in China last year, than in the United States. Hope they both get back onto their feet and start producing a high quality product such as Toyota, and Honda build.

 

[HGM]

Ford and GM have lots of problems: Cars that don't satisy what customers want, unions that have a strangle hold on the future, legacy costs that force low margins on all but the high end vehicles. I agree, two companies with troubles create one big (for a short time) company with more troubles. The Powerstoke has a good mechanical design but the electrical side of it is causing all kinds of trouble. Ford put their own electrical on a Navistar block and they have no ideas what to do. Now putting Duramax in a Ford....there's an idea....and the Allison tranny...best thing GM has done in years!

Kinda...... Poor marketing on the products dont tell customers that the products exist and customer perception that Toyota/Honda make flawless cars(pure BS) has helped the American automakers toward their troubles..Toyota/Honda have been living on their(and the Americans) reputation from the 70's and 80's, while the Americans have been fighting it... There are several American made vehicles that would satisfy what they customer wanted if they were aware of them or wanted to give them a chance...

As for the Powerstroke, you may want to get a few opinions from educated Ford and Navistar techs on this one...Electronics are only a small part of the picture....

 

[livincountry]

As for the Powerstroke, you may want to get a few opinions from educated Ford and Navistar techs on this one...Electronics are only a small part of the picture....

Not sure of your experience but with over 80 F350-F550 chassis in our fleet and Ford reps with no solutions to the problems Navistar chassis don't have with the same blocks.... that's been our experience. Care to elaborate?