Why Ford is doing better then GM

[nthfinity]

First...
bad news:
the Explorer isnt selling nearly as much as they are hoping... and internals say its because most of the product evolution was spent developing a better, and more advanced interior, where it still looks the same on the exterior.
the good news:
the Ford Fusion is selling quite well.
the better news:
the Lincoln Zepher (same platform) is recieving more then 300% over expected orders... way more then offsetting the current drops in the Explorer.

[nthfinity]

its definately the toughest its ever been for the US domestic market.

there are also rumours of Toyota putting a stake in Ford... but im not so sure thats even close to accurate... GM and Toyota have always had closer ties; and its been a long standing rumour.

[RC45]

But the Fusion, Zephyr and explorer aren't muslce cars... and with a weakling V6 Mustang, anf over weoght GT Mustang and an overpriced underselling Ford GT it sorta looks like GM has ford beat with 3 flavours of Corvette and the GTO... ;)

[AlienDB7]

The problem for Ford seems to be reliability (and the image of)... GM seems to be improving considerably in the reliability department recently and is doing quite well on the JD Power initial and long-term surveys.

After driven the new "revised" Focus, I'm not sure if Ford is going the right direction. The interior is dull and ugly compared to the old one... and the look is no where as attractive as the old one. Disregarding the badge and origin, if I'm in the market for an econobox these days, I would probably go for one of the daewoo-built chevys. If the koreans can get the Italian studios to design cars for them, why cant Ford or GM do that?

On the other hand, Ford did a great job with Mazda (3/6), Volvo (S40!) and Jag (X-type). Seeing lots of them on the road these days.

[graywolf624]

Actually from a financial stand point ford is and has been for longer in more hot water then gm.

Neither of them have much to do with the car sales.. though you mention the fusion and completely forget the abortion known as the 500 I must point out..

The reality is the issues are related to pension, health care, and overpaid union workers.