I'd like to say "oh well", but the fact is it's
going to have a bad effect on most of us in the
Detroit area. And yes, those of you in other
areas reeling from the announced cut backs.



OK, well, enough sympathy from me. That's right,
sports fans. And my family can get as pissed at
what I'm going to say, but tough shit:



THIS HAS BEEN A LONG TIME COMING. No, it's not
the fault of the consumer. No, America
didn't "let Detroit down". Bullshit. Ford did
this crap to themselves. The indecision as to
replacing the Taurus. Running the Taurus on
essentially the same platform (chassis) it was
introduced on in 1985. Badge-engineering for new
Mercury vehicles (Hey, idiots running Ford - how
come , except for the 1986-1990 Sable, most every
Mercury is nothing more than a Ford with a
different grill and taillights? Do you think
Mercury buyers are that stupid?). I don't give a
crap how expensive it is to properly
differentiate Mercury. Do the bean-counters at
Ford really think dissatisfied Mercury customers
will just buy a Ford? We want something that
DOESN'T LOOK LIKE A FLEET CAR, MORONS!! Instead,
disgruntled Mercury buyers, already a bit more
upscale and more affluent than Ford buyers, are
more likely to end up at Toyota, Honda, or
Nissan, rather than buy a Ford. Idiot decision
makers at Ford.


Ford has done a nice job of alienating it's
customer base with warmed over products, like the
last redesign of the soon to be gone Taurus, or
the conservative "we're-too-scared-to-take-
chances" styling of Five Hundred and Montego. I
love the styling of my Montego, but you can't
argue with Chrysler's sales numbers. The Chrysler
300 and Dodge Charger out sell the Five Hundred
and Montego by about two to one. Ford has more
room, better visibility and a bigger trunk, not
to mention a better all-wheel-drive system, but
STYLING is what draws people into the showrooms.


And all you Ford employee and your families, that
act like the customers owe you something, listen
up: This business has ALWAYS been built on the
business model that relies on the majority of car
buyers today trading in their car in three or
four years. That's what makes this industry tick.
That's what puts food on your plates. Trouble
free, bullet proof quality insures a high resale
value and makes it financially possible for car
customers to only finance the low depreciation of
a high quality car, whether this done through a
lease or a conventional purchase. As tough as all
these cars are being built, in the pursuit of
bettering every previous years quality, the only
way to get customers into the showroom is
STYLING, STYLING, STYLING. That's how you get
people to react with their emotions instead of
their common sense, and separate them from their
money. That's how you get people to sell a
perfectly good ride in order to buy the latest
new car. Bland styling equals bored customers,
which equals NO SALE.


Will Ford every rise above the 14 to 15% market
share they are projecting to have when they
cancel the Taurus and the Freestar next year? To
be honest, I have my doubts. The consumer has a
lot of different choices. I hope I'm wrong, but
my gut tells me otherwise.