I hope you're joking about the dated belief that Fords are poorly built rot boxes. Sit behind the wheel of a new Ford and you'll find they're as well screwed together as any new VW. Ford is technically bankrupt already, but the US government won't let it fold. It's quite different to the Rover situation over here.

Though they may make very mundane (althuogh excellent) cars usually, every so often ford shows us that there are still plenty of people there who really can cut the mustard.

Because you know that it took a lot of passion to produce somthing like this... not just number crunching office gimps....

What about something more recent? That design is over 40 years old!!

to be fair if anyone thinks that Ford will come to an end then you are gullable, Ford is an intergrated part of the u.s society. billions are made of there sales and tax on those sales, over 100+ years. its like not having mcdonalds to them lol......

The new Ka is essentially a Fiat 500...cost saving + globalisation at it's most apparent me thinks! The petrol engines are even made by Fiat. It must be dire times are Ford.

I think the European arm will be getting a long better than the US. After all the Focus and Mondeo are best sellers and they've had fantastic successes like the original KA. It was such a breath of fresh air when it was new, then went on to sell 1.4 million units!

Though they may make very mundane (althuogh excellent) cars usually, every so often ford shows us that there are still plenty of people there who really can cut the mustard.

Because you know that it took a lot of passion to produce somthing like this... not just number crunching office gimps....

What about something more recent? That design is over 40 years old!!

so is the porsche 911

The difference being the Porsche 911 is...

a) Actually really good

and because of this it is now

b) Really profitable

WTF??? i hope they dont go under as i work for ford!!!!! i'm a trainee mechanic, and just started my second year.

we have been really quiet with the amont of work coming in, we were stood about at 2pm the other doning nothing!

Ford US and Ford UK are two completely different companies. Ford US has been going under for the last few years whereas Ford UK have suddenly gone from being known as cars that will rot within a few years to the best driving cars on todays roads. Read any magazine article that has a new Ford Focus/Mondeo/S-Max in it and they are raving about them! I export Fords to the British Armed Forces in Germany and they cant get enough of them. In September I exported over 70 new Fords to Germany. Then add on the other 200 that my sales branch did. Thats just one dealership! Think how many Ford dealers there are in the UK, and they are all doing similar numbers. At the end of the day a Ford is just as good quality as a VW/Audi and yet it is alot less to buy and to service.

As has already been said Ford US wont be allowed to fold as they are part of America but Ford UK wont need to fold as there sales are still going strong.

I hope you're joking about the dated belief that Fords are poorly built rot boxes. Sit behind the wheel of a new Ford and you'll find they're as well screwed together as any new VW.

i had a mk5 golf tdi with 8k on the clock as a courtesy car for a few weeks recently and i had the use of my mate focus tdi (think its about an 02 plate) just after it, and the focus drove better and felt more solid than the golf (even tho the focus was like 6 years older), it was noticeably quicker too. i'm not into new cars at all, but that focus was a pleasure to drive imo.

To be honest, I had an L-reg Escort and it was one of the best cars I've ever owned (second only to a Volvo and the Camry). I bought it on 103k, ran it to over 140k over 2 years, and here's what I ever did on it:

Brakes

Tyres

Fanbelt

Battery

Chemically treatted wheel arch rust

Wishbones - all above when I bought it, cheap

Wiring fault

Another set of wishbones

Welded exhaust.

Welded small patch on sill top

Replaced fuel tank

Changed oil, air filter and spark plugs

Think I did 30-odd thousand miles in 2 years for about 600 quid. When I sold it, it was still driving spot on, the bloke I sold it to took it to well over 150k on sheer neglect, it still drove fine, and scrapped it over needing a fusebox.

I've never had a good experience with Fords.

That's why I think we should leave the cats to predict Ford's future:

i aint heard anything -i work for fords and i hate em but it earns me my bread.Has been a lot off job cuts but not for mechanics mostly unwanted managers and admin staff. :-)

I can't see Ford from the european market going down, currently all of the US car firms are in serious financial crisis just now, so it will be interesting if Ford will cease commercially in the US and just continue in Europe.

But correct me if I'm wrong but doesn;t Ford own Volvo and Mazda, so I guess there's some financial assets there as well??

Just to clear up FORD US, GM and CHRYSLER need a £25 billion cash injection to avoid bankrupsy

FORD have sold their share in MAZDA

GM are cancelling their motorsport sponsorships until they become financially stable

CHRYSLER are giving away any used car in their dealership for $1 when you buy a new chrysler

And just to add to the debate

I had a 99 fiesta 1.4 16v and i loved it to bits, it was great. put it in a ditch on christmas day tho :(

Edited 19 November, 200817 yr by johnnyady_sv

Just to clear up FORD US, GM and CHRYSLER need a £25 billion cash injection to avoid bankrupsy

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7736301.stm

My first car was a Ford Escort,and i always liked Fiestas so i bought one. And another. And another..

I had a few,until it finally sunk in and i was cured - they were all badly-built rot boxes - they rust like 70's Fiats.

Friends' Fiestas were even worse,and the inner rear arches of a nine year old Orion i had were almost entirely made of cornflake.

When buying used cars from auction to sell on,i ended up ignoring Fords. Id never have believed that as a teen.

Where have all the late 90's Escorts gone? There were millions of them two years ago,literally. All with rotted-out rear arches.

They were good once,i remember the new '82 Escort being hailed by 'Autocar(and Motor)' as better than an Alfasud,and the small bumper ones lasted. Fords were the stars on the telly in those days,too.

But they got it all wrong in the '90s,and Ford's time has been and gone.

Jus bumpin this cos there's been quite a major development,

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7778830.stm

General Motors, Ford and Chrysler might actually be screwed, not sure what's gonna happen tbh

I can't see Ford disappearing anytime soon, especially in the US. They've got their contracts and sponsorships in motorsport to back them up, look at NASCAR, them yank's love driving around ovals lol. I can see them shutting more factories and offering better deals, such as finance, insurance etc... As for the Ford GT, I don't think it had much passion, the GT40 certainly did, it was ahead of it's time, but the GT just looks the same but with different materials. Chrysler are seriously screwed at the minute though, particularly with their 4x4s, Chevy seem to be destroying the market for offroaders, and Chrysler doesnt really have much else in particular.

If you ask me I think the American car market looks pretty damn shit. There have been some legendary American cars, the 60's and 70's Mustangs, the older Camaro's and the Corvette's... but I don't think the newer Mustangs or Corvettes have the same appeal, after all the muscle car era is long gone. Besides, who wants to drive a Ford Taurus?!

The problem is that these companies rely on american naivety.

'Oh petrol wont run out its all bullshit we can keep running our 7mpg cars'.

But... they're coming round to the idea of 50+mpg jap cars. They're coming round to the idea of good build quality and reliability!

Surely funding these companies when the american government is trying its hardest to promote green-ness is just hypocritical?

They're not,though - the US government have been resisting the persuasion by other governments to join in with the green direction.

But over here,Ford and GM have been very successful with small cars. Because millions choose to drive them.

Its entirely the fault of the american people that they choose V8s.

They're not,though - the US government have been resisting the persuasion by other governments to join in with the green direction.

But over here,Ford and GM have been very successful with small cars. Because millions choose to drive them.

Its entirely the fault of the american people that they choose V8s.

That I can agree with, as it seems more of a culture change for the Americans always used to their SUV's and big limo's, however with the price of Petrol (Gas to them) on the increase, they will eventually slowly go to more economically cars as they'll have no choice but to. However I saw on TV, that all 3 CEO's of Ford, GM, Chrysler, turned up in their private jets and one Senator said to them if they were willing to sacrifice their planes and fly back home commerically it would go a long way to securing $25Billion. Not one of them agreed....

CHRYSLER are giving away any used car in their dealership for $1 when you buy a new chrysler

So why dont people....

Buy a chrysler, sell it back 2 days later, but a new one and the one they sold for $1, then they have two brand new cars, but only paid for one?

load of bollocks general motors is a massive company

You wouldnt want to buy 1 chrysler, let alone have 2 pieces of shit!

load of bollocks general motors is a massive company

Your point being? There still in as much shit as Ford and Chrysler.