Five_Point_OHHH
Active Member
Let's look at the US sales numbers over the last five years;
Calendar year US sales
2016 105,932
2017 81,866
2018 75,842
2019 72,489
And European sales over the same years;
Ford
Mustang
2016 15,204
2017 13,241
2018 9,851
2019 10,071
It looks like European sales are a pretty small percentage of total units sold.
So.....why is Ford continuing to worry about selling the car where they're banning ICEs? If they focused on making the car simply better, it would sell more here, and there'd be no need to worry about the Euro market.
Are Ford executives morons?
The company's stock hit a high of $42.45 a share in 1999, but is currently valued at $8.22. I think there was a time when Ford stock was a penny stock.....
Yes, they're morons. With their recent decision to stop production of passenger cars other than the Mustang, they're simply doing what other companies are doing. They don't lead, they don't innovate, they're short-sighted followers. They're best business plan right now? Get all the decision-making executives together. Brain-storm, debate, do the market research. Then, whatever the brain-trust at Ford figures out is the correct thing to do, do the exact opposite.
Screwing with the Mustang is just another example of this.
I'm not sure if I see it in the same way. Ford has struggled for some time in gaining ground back in the industry in several categories only to lose in the long run to Euro/Japan. They had a car for every consumer and became a jack of all trades kind of company and that isn't always a good thing. Combine that w high labor costs and it's not a surprise they've been bleeding money for years. It's a very common thing with the old guard of large corporations that don't adapt in time. Sometimes you need to rethink the entire business strategy, cut out all the fat and stick with what works. The F series is the best selling car in america (and has been for ages) and is in top % around the world. The mustang is history and pedigree. Consider for a minute if they just built a hand-full of models; mfg costs come down; efficiencies are increased; net profits increase (leading to more reinvestment capital and shareholder value).
Not sure about the earlier post regarding a sale to VW but that's an interesting rumor. Considering their auto portfolio however, that would be a large anti-trust review.
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