How Ford Lost The #2 Spot to Toyota
We fired up the email this morning, per our usual, only to read lots of people asking why we hadn’t posted about Toyota overtaking Ford for the No. 2 automaker in the U.S in 2007. Frankly, we had thought that had already happened. Just kidding. Still, we didn’t digest all the numbers until now and there are some interesting things to note.
Toyota Division — Toyota-branded vehicles only; no Lexus or Scion — sold 2,291,648 total vehicles in 2007, the company’s best number ever.
Ford Division — Ford-branded vehicles only; no Lincoln or Mercury — sold 2,101,244 total vehicles, down 13.6 % from 2006’s figure of 2,433,086.
Conclusion 1: Yes, Toyota is now the No. 1 nameplate. GM as a company is still really No. 1, but its Chevrolet nameplate is the No. 2 brand now, with 2,265,641 vehicles sold in 2007. That’s down 6.2% from 2,415,428 in 2006. GM as a company — including Cadillac, Hummer, and so on — is still tops with 3,833,611, versus Toyota Motor Company at 2,620,825 and Ford Motor Company at 2,572,599. The new Chrysler group — Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep — was down 3% to 2,076,650.
Conclusion 2: The Ford brand didn’t do that poorly if you take into account old models that were discontinued in 2007.
The Freestar minivan alone accounted for a loss of 47,735 vehicles in 2007 sales. It will be replaced by the Flex crossover in 2009. The Ford Five Hundred accounted for a loss of roughly 17,040 vehicles, when you account for its discontinuation and the addition of the new Taurus, which replaced it a few months later. The Freestyle accounted for a loss of 16,492 during its few months out of commission before the Taurus X replaced it. The gas-guzzling Excursion’s minimal sales of 965 surely won’t be missed. The total of those discontinued vehicle sales is 82,232, which you could subtract from the 190,404 shortfall vs. Toyota, a number large enough to make an obvious dent. That’s not Ford’s only problem, though.
Conclusion 3: Big sellers for Ford saw big declines and most are in need of replacing or updating.
The F Series alone was down 105,450 in 2007. That’s a huge number and would help bridge that gap with Toyota (which added an all-new Tundra last year, by the way). The Mustang, Econoline and Ranger also saw significant losses in 2007.
Conclusion 4: Lincoln sales are gaining, but Mercury sales are dropping, and Ford needs to address Mercury’s failure soon. There are no new Mercury models in the pipeline … at all. And with most Lincoln and Mercury dealers already consolidating with Ford stores, there’s no need for two upmarket nameplates.
The Silver Lining: Ford will introduce an all-new F-150 in two weeks at the Detroit auto show. Even in a declining segment that should boost sales a bit. Also, the Mustang will get an update in 2009.
In 2008 the Flex crossover will go on sale, potentially offsetting the loss of the Freestar. The last all-new Ford crossover, the Edge, has done extremely well for the company. Its 130,125 in sales in 2007, its first year, easily offset the 41,412 drop in Explorer sales to 137,817 in 2007. Ford also says it cut down fleet sales — which don’t turn as much profit — by 18% in 2007.
What does all this mean? When you look at the pure numbers, not all is gloom and doom for Ford and other American brands, no matter what our email might tell us.
Previous
Subscribe to our feed
Email us your tips!
So those numbers are only in the US?
I am still confused with the meaning of those numbers. Total sales: That means from the day they opened business or just 2007 alone? If only 2007 alone, the number looks kind of high to me, so does that include new and used cars sales?
The fact that Mercury has absolutely no new models in it's lineup, is not good news for Mercury. Even Oldsmobile had a new car coming out when it was killed off by General Motors. Someone on this site has suggested before that Ford could do what General Motors is doing with Saturn. It would be an excellent way to bring over the European focus, the Mondeo, and other great, fun to drive European Fords. It might not bring in a lot of sales right away, but I would think all the sales and profit would help right now.
And it seems the market has shifted from the Ranger (still no reason to let the Ranger languish with no redesign in more than 10 years) to larger, more midsize small pickups. And Ford does have the midsize Sport Trac, but that is nothing special in its class. Maybe Ford could do something similiar to what Nissan did with the Xterra/Pathfinder. Make the Ranger more butch, basic, inexpensive and off road worthy. While the Sport Trac is more like the Ridgeline on a unibody chassis, that rides better, can do some light off roading, and sells for more money.
The fact that Mercury has absolutely no new models in it's lineup, is not good news for Mercury. Even Oldsmobile had a new car coming out when it was killed off by General Motors. Someone on this site has suggested before that Ford could do what General Motors is doing with Saturn. It would be an excellent way to bring over the European focus, the Mondeo, and other great, fun to drive European Fords. It might not bring in a lot of sales right away, but I would think all the sales and profit would help right now.
And it seems the market has shifted from the Ranger (still no reason to let the Ranger languish with no redesign in more than 10 years) to larger, more midsize small pickups. And Ford does have the midsize Sport Trac, but that is nothing special in its class. Maybe Ford could do something similiar to what Nissan did with the Xterra/Pathfinder. Make the Ranger more butch, basic, inexpensive and off road worthy. While the Sport Trac is more like the Ridgeline on a unibody chassis, that rides better, can do some light off roading, and sells for more money.
J,
That's just in the U.S. for the entire calendar year of 2007 JUST new cars.
That's a lot of cars I agree!
Liger,
I think your idea is perfect for Mercury. Because everyone had been complaining what Ford offers here in the US, but journalists are saying if they offer the Euro version, the price will be much higher. Then why not just slap the Mercury badge on them as a higher market model? But will Ford listen?
Dave,
I guess there are fleet sales counted in the total number, right? Or else it would be too crazy to be true. With Toyota, Ford, Chrysler, and GM accounted for more than 10 million new cars sales.
When you consider there are like 16-17 million new cars sold in the US each year, those numbers aren't so hard to believe.
So I guess the question is, is Ford still faltering, or have they just shifted gears? Losing market share isn't a bad thing if you're revamping your company and reworking your product line. I'm just still looking to see what it is the Alan Mullaly has planned for that company.
Ford gets the picture but they arent as far along as GM on the product side. THey are cuttng rental sales and they have a new F150 and Flex on the way as well as a revised Fusion and Mustang in 2009 and new small cars by 2010. Toyota can enjoy their current position but the competition is only going to get tougher. GM and Honda will be attacking the hybrid market over the next two years and the Tundra will be facing a tough new F150 and Ram next year. I cant see Toyota gaining share or sales in 2008.
I thought Honda sucked at the hybrid market. Didn't they just pull the plugs on the Accord Hybrid? And the Insight 2 years ago? And the new Accord won't be offered a hybrid but possibly a diesel.
Well of course Toyota branded vehicles would sell more than Ford or Chevrolet. Toyota branded products span much more of the industry than do those of Ford and Chevy. Ford has Mercury and itself to cover the "every man's car" that is comparable to Toyota, and GM has Chevy, Pontiac and GMC to cover this part of the industry.
Mercury should be axed, in my opinion. But, I'm not the person who is responsible for the bottom line at Ford/Mercury. If I was, I would take a pay cut.
John,
I cannot completely agree on your comment.
Let's see, maybe I should list the Toyota Lineup first.
Yaris, Corolla, Matrix, Camry, Prius, Avalon are cars.
RAV4, FJ Cruiser, Sienna, Highlander, 4Runner, Sequoia, Land Cruiser are SUV/Vans.
Tacoma and Tundra are trucks.
Chevy has Aveo, Cobalt, HHR, Malibu, Impala, and Corvette for cars.
Equinox, TrailBlazer, Tahoe and Suburban for SUV and Crossover.
Colorado, Silverado and Avalanche for Trucks.
Uplander and Express are Vans.
So what do we have here?
Aveo vs Yaris, Cobalt vs Corolla, HHR vs Matrix, Malibu vs Camry, Malibu Hybrid vs Prius, Impala vs Avalon.
Equinox vs RAV4, Tahoe vs Sequoia, Uplander vs Sienna.
Colorado vs Tacoma and Silverado vs Tundra.
Who were left out in the game? FJ Cruiser, 4Runner, Highlander and Land Cruiser on Toyota's side. And Corvette, TrailBlazer, Suburban, Avalanche and Express are left out on Chevy's side.
See, both has competition and both have something that the other does not have.
------------------------------------------------
Let's see Ford's lineup.
Focus, Fusion, Taurus, Mustang makes the cars.
Escape, Edge, Taurus X, Sport Trac, Explorer, Expedition makes the SUV/Crossover.
Ranger and F-150 are the trucks and the E-Series as vans.
Then the game will become like this:
Focus vs Corolla, Fusion vs Camry, Taurus vs Avalon.
Escape vs RAV4, Edge (or Taurus X) vs Highlander, Explorer vs Sequoia (or 4Runner), Expedition vs Land Cruiser.
Ranger (or Sport Trac) vs Tacoma, and F-150 vs Tundra.
Again, some vehicles were left out of play from both sides.
Yaris, Matrix, Prius, Mustang.
FJ Cruiser and Sienna were left out.
So I don't really think that Toyota is covering all the markets when they don't even have a single sports car to compete with Mustang or Corvette.
Chevy and Ford are covering a better market without its product overlapping themselves. Just look at FJ Cruiser and 4Runner.
Time to kill Ranger (thats going to happen anyway) and come out with an all new Bronco that thru interchangeable roofs(like Wrangler) can become a pickup,SUV,or convertible.Hummer is working on a Wrangler copy,time Ford "ponies" up or else.
This article did a nice job of breaking down Toyota v. Ford. I had two previous Fords, a Windstar and a Taurus and both had failed transmissions before 75k. That turned me onto Honda (Accord, Oddessy) which I cannot ever imagine leaving, but if I did, surely either Toyota or the more upscale Acura/Lexus line would be on my short-list.
Let's face it, GM-Ford-Chrysler sell inferior products and do not have a culture of being product/customer centric. The only reason I can see someone buying a GM-Ford-Chrysler product is due to the price...but as usual you get what you pay for. That's why Toyota's and Honda's are worth every additional penny it costs you over a Detroit vehicle. As the Fram commercial stated, "You can either pay me now, or you can pay him later."
I bet if you included all of the product line brand names, but stripped out the number of vehicles sold to rental fleets, Toyota would crush Ford. If you want to see the difference between Toyota and Ford/GM, look at the generation number for hybrids. Toyota is on something like their sixth generation whereas Ford/GM still have little to nothing to show for.
I think Toyota is in business to build the best cars and trucks while Ford/GM are still run by bean counters.
I actually would like to see some rental and fleet sales included in these statistics. Honda is the only non luxury brand that doesn't sell to fleet. It seems like the toyota owners haven't been seeing all of the little green "e's" for enterprise or "T's" for Toyota rental on the road. I also went to hertz.com while planning my next vacation and they offer almost every toyota car and some of the SUV's. I'm not picking on toyota, but the rental comment is ridiculous as they sell just as many cars to fleet as anybody.
Sulli,
I fly 150,000 miles every year and know the rental car market inside and out. Toyota sells no where near the same amount to rentals as Hyundai, Ford, GM, and Chrysler do. In fact Toyota specifically caps their sales to the rental companies as does Honda. Yes, Honda does sell into the rental fleet as it's a good way of getting people exposed to their products.
To state that Toyota sells as much to rental fleets as the others and that Honda sells none is nothing short of an ignorant post that is 100% incorrect. You should get your facts straight before you post.
Sulli if Honda does not sell to fleets like Hertz then how did I end up with a new 2007 Accord last week when I rented from Hertz in San Francisco?
Sulli, here's what you are ridiculous wrong on rental fleet. Rental car companies are out there to make $$$. To make $$$ the cost must be low. Imports are more $$$ than domestics; so it makes utterly no sense to carry a fleet of imports (mostly) and just a few domestics.
Moreover, if you look at these 2 categories:
Federal gov't only goes with DOMESTICS made (other than for environment, a.k.a. Hybrid vehicles). Same go for States and most Local gov'ts.
Rental agencies: Hertz - mostly Ford vehicles; Budget - mostly Ford vehicles; Avis - mostly GM; National - mostly GM; Alamo - mostly GM; Dollar - Chrysler; Thrifty - Chrysler. Now bear in mind that the above carries MOSTLY domestic vehicles, and you are most likely to find import name plates at the airport locations, with the exception (very rare) at collision centers/locations. Enterprise is the only company that carries import name plate in a bulker quantity than the others, but it still has domestics as the majority of its fleet. Why? Cheaper cost on domestics! Thus, even though Enterprise has just purchased/merged with National & Alamo, it's easy to see that domestics name plates are still the majority of the players here.
P.S. For you findings on Toyota @ Hertz - yes, Hertz does carry Toyotas, Nissans, Hyundais, Kias, etc. But this is just its "selecton" of vehicles. You should have seen, or are you trying to "avoid" the fact that most of the time Hertz will state "Camry or EQUIVALENT CLASS of vehicles?" Good luck getting one (imports) when you are actually @ Hertz! The only reason why these car rental agenices will place an "import" brand on its webpage for fleet selection is 1 thing: renters want to rent an import as they will feel that the "class" is higher (better materials + equipment, comfort level, etc. even for rentals), not just some cheap/plain level domestics available for rental that have haunted the domestics nameplate for many, many years.
Sulli just got dope-slapped big time by Amuro. I must say, based on my experience Amuro's post is right on the money.
It'll be interesting to see which auto company is the next to take over Ford. With sales off 13% in one year, it shouldn't be long.
All of you, rather than spouting your annectdotal evidence as gospel truth, why don't you look around for some hard facts? Maybe even with sources? *GASP!* Sorry, I guess this is the internet, no place for that.
Let's start here:
http://www.fleet-central.com/af/t_resources.cfm?action=af_stat
Or here:
http://forums.motortrend.com/70/6344622/the-general-forum/the-real-sales-figures-for-2007-minus-fleetreveale/index.html
Then a quick article on how they're changing:
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/editorials/the-big-25s-fleet-sales-fiasco/
Apologies in advance if the writing in any of these articles is offensive or stupid, I just scan for the numbers.
So, as we can see, Amuro is right, but sulli isn't being "ridiculous". Yes, there are still mostly domestics that serve as rental cars, but imports, including Toyota, are increasing alot. Even Honda does sell to fleet (though only about 1% of sales).
"Sulli just got dope-slapped big time by Amuro"- I completly stand by my comment .
*I never said that domestics don't have rentals.
* Paul- I don't own a Honda, but I have visited a honda dealership and was told be a salesperson that they don't sell to fleets. I guess he wasn't as informed as you. I don't really care either way.
*Fleet is not just rental cars. There are company cars, all the white Prius's employed by the government, etc.
*Learn to read, I never said that every car at Hertz is a toyota, I said that they offer almost every toyota. I didn't audit their inventory, nor did I make something up, I stated fact, go look at their website.
And I STILL would like to see actual figures on rentals.
Thanks for the links Dan.
The fact is that no one has the inside scoop on the financials of these companies outside of the executive staff who runs them. This whole import vs. domestic argument makes my ass tired. Every time "Cars" posts an article that remotely alludes to domestics are better than the imports (or vice versa), this bitching begins. Perhaps it behooves some companies to have high fleet sales to please their shareholders. Last time I checked, with the exception of Chrysler, all of the companies are publicly traded. And, in Chyrsler's case, they still have a profit motive. This "My dad can beat up your dad" talk is rediculous, at best. Shut up and provide some insight on the vehicles' pros and cons.
I'm pretty sure Ford and Chevy (and Chrysler, with the Charger) can attribute many of their fleet sales to city police departments. Some of you act as though they should pass up the opportunity. I'd rather not be pulled over by a Toyota Camry or Honda Accord for doing 75 in a 55. And, I guarantee you...the police officer who pulls me over would rather be driving a Crown Victoria than a Nissan Altima. So, don't limit your fleet sales argument to rental car companies.
I got a dumb question: How many percentage of Toyota's stock is being held by non-Japanese? I remember when my buddy did his research paper, the number was terribly low. And from what I know about how the Japanese business works, they will not focus as much on shareholders as their market share.
I briefly scanned the article and posts, because I'm a little short on time.
I'm not very optimistic about Ford's future. In the past Ford's bread and butter were trucks and SUVs, but that market is iffy at best.
From my understanding the new F-150 is just a refreshening, with a few tweaks here and a few tweaks there, and it's not going to be an all-new truck. I don't think that bodes well for Ford's future and balance sheet. Lately, F-150 sales are way off. It was once a sales success, but that's pretty much history. I don't think a refreshening is going to add too much excitement here. I've never been excited about this current F-150. It's much too big and unattractive.
Maybe a Boeing plane guy can turn a car company around. Maybe he has a few smarts car guys don't have. Let's hope so.
Car-wise, I don't see where the Taurus is going to be selling like gangbusters. Reviving a car that was a styling disaster is a tough act.
I haven't read articles by Jerry Flint, a good auto journalist, for a while but the last one I read wasn't overly optimistic about Ford's future.
Mercury seems to be a lost cause. I really wish the Ford Ranger was still alive and not Mercury. Ford Ranger buyers are much younger, which isn't the case for Mercury. Reviving a car brand that attracts an older age group is a tough act, too. Baby boomers are getting older, so maybe it's doable. I do like the new Sable, so that's a step in the right direction.
It's hard to recover from past CEO blunders. Nasser is gone and so is Ford. Roger smith was a disaster for GM and it's been difficult.
"I'd rather not be pulled over by a Toyota Camry or Honda Accord for doing 75 in a 55. And, I guarantee you...the police officer who pulls me over would rather be driving a Crown Victoria than a Nissan Altima."
I beg to differ, bowrider. It will be SO COOL - well, kinda when you think 'bou it, but not really so in reality, of 'coz - to be pulled over by a Bimmer M5 or Mercedes AMG (in Europe), or even one of those Italian super cars in Italy, or a Skyline GT-R (in Japan). Besides, the days of being pulled over by a C.V. are numbered - there's no more C.V. to be made! Funny thing is that, if I'm not mistaken, the cars that you've mentioned - Altima, Accord, Camry - has pretty much the same power as the "old" C.V., and possibly more! The safety features and technologies offered in the A-A-C, however, are far better than what the C.V. has. The main reason why Cops still preferred CV over the other ones is 1 thg - CV built on Body On Frame, so it can ram others without the hood buckles or crumple (which are there for safety reasons), resulting in the vehicle non-operable. With today's safety requirements, the CV can no longer survive in the market (as new vehicle)
Wrong. GM's Chevrolet is still #1 because Toy did in fact include their Scion numbers in their results.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080103/AUTO01/801030318/1148
Toy has a history of not reporting their numbers correctly (or at least not separately). For example, they always include Matrix sales as part of the Corolla and do not break them up.
Anyway, of course, Scion should not be included in Toy's sales results. That would be like Pontiac sales being included in Chevy sales.
Lastly, this blog is hinging on being pretty biased. Ford's vehicles are as much undesirable as Toy's. Ford's are crappy while Toy's are boring and not very reliable lately (also crappy). Ford lost its crown because of 2 main reasons: Their discontinued models (Crown Vic, old Taurus) made them lose a lot of sales. Second, the fleet reductions ate away at their sales numbers as well.
Commodore, you just demonstrated your bias towards domestics. Is bias what you accused this site of leaning towards latey? I'm not the bias police or anything but, c'mon. If you're gonna accuse then don't do what you're accusing others of.
Toyota has accomplished something here. Their numbers are where they are because people are obviously buying them. If they were unreliable and ugly, they wouldn't sell.
GM is still on top of the volume game (I love the Silverado!) but, they need to keep on thier toes or they could very well loose that position.
I can dig your argument, Blank. But your body on frame argument is invalid. The Impala has a unibody construction and their "police sales" are running high. And, I'm not sure why you are referring to German made vehicles. The C.V. will continue to be sold as a Fleet vehicle, just as the Malibu Classic and the Lumina. But, perhaps even longer.
Let me know if I am misunderstanding your point.
Bowrider...
Several years ago, BMW offered some 5 series...or I don't remember if that's M5, to the police dept. of 1 of the states. You can probably google that news. The police dept. turned it down, citing the exact reason why they decided not to pick the Bimmers. As for the German/Japanese vehicles, I'm just saying how "cool" it would've been to be caught...ok, if I saw a car chase on TV, that is...by one of those vehicles.
As for Impala, again, google is your best buddy there, and see why MOST of the police fleet are still C.V., and not Impala or Charger. Edmunds did a very thorough discussion on this a few years back. Since C.V. prod has now been stopped, many police dept. are scrambling to see which car is the best to replace the C.V. Unibody design gives u better control and performance, but if you are involved in a crash, essentially the whole section of that impact zone is gone. With B.O.F. all u have to do is to replace that piece of sheet metal (kinda like snap-on). Not so for Unibody.
Troy,
Nice to chat again. To be fair, he wasn't being biased, you're just jumping the gun.
''Ford's are crappy while Toy's are boring and not very reliable lately (also crappy).''
Thats a hit for both Domestic and Import.
And I'm glad you love the Silverado, it is truely a class leader.
Thanks
Dan the Man
If Commodore's comment is not biased, please call the appropriate name of each manufacturer, not TOY. Unless he/she calls Ford another name that we all know it is famous for at the same time.
I don't think ford will ever regain its #2 spot, and (I read an article about this in a non car mag) I don't think that is the goal anymore. A company can still make money with a lower volume. So, if (when) Toyota surpasses GM in sales, what does it really mean to anyone? I know, obviously, that they will be taking sales from other makers, but how does this effect the consumer?
We are going WAY OT here, buy hello, Sulli..
" So, if (when) Toyota surpasses GM in sales, what does it really mean to anyone?"
Didn't u read the news? That has already happened early this year! Well, to be exact, the worldwide sales of Toyota has surpassed GM. GM's still has the #1 US sales status.
In my humble opinion the question is not being number one, but the most profitable...
And by the way, the bigger Toyota is becoming the more recalls they are having.
Dan,
Again, nice to chat again. It appears there was some bias (towards GM) as others too saw it in the post. You must have those selective reading blinders on again. Yes the Silverado is a class leader, in "it's" class. Of course, this depends on who compared it against the Tundra.
Frankly Ford seems to be in a LOT of trouble when they mortgaged the plants.
I like Mercury, I've owned 2. But they've never been anything more than Fords with better designers. But in fairness I've bought them both used, taking advantage of the monumental depreciation they are stuck with.
So first off I'd axe Mercury within a 2 year period (It'd probably take that long to consolodate the dealerships.)
Send some of their product up-stairs to Lincoln and some down to Ford.
The Fusion is a great car, its time to start plaining the next gen NOW! Not wait until 2012 to reskin it. The new Focus is what it is, so we're stuck with it for now. But the Next Gen should be based on the Euro platform, and should be made available with a FULL RANGE of trim. If people want a US Focus style rental special, fine. But if people are willing to pay more for a fully decked out Euro-spec ST. It should be made available, and not "Go buy the same car from Mazda or Volvo"
Mustang needs a independant rear suspension. The next Mustang should take a good hard look at what BMW is doing with their 3 and 1 series. Well except for the styling,,,, and the price. But there's no reason why we still have to accept 1960's suspension set ups.
Ranger needs a replacement, somehow. Perhaps a hybrid of Explorer platforms or RWD sedans. Or maybe a Freestyle with an open back end? Sure it only sells to fleets but it's still a valuable market.
In fact I don't know why we need both the Freestyle AND the Escape. Pick one and toss the other. Also the R&D for a hybrid option for the Freestyle would carry over to the Taurus, so it's a good investment.
New F-series and Expedition on the same platform. I guess we could use a new Navigator too, although I've never understood it. I guess it's profitable.
New Crown Vic, Town car, and LINCOLN Marquis. on the same platform. Crown Vics for cops and cabs, but for the 1st time we need a V-6 option. Maybe a turbo v-6 with cylinder deactivation? Or even a diesel option. Marquis will move to Lincoln and will be a "simple" luxury car: Nice interior & exterior, but limited electrickery. The T/C will be Ford's "Maybach" (but cheaper of course) it will be a lengthend wheelbase with more rear seat room, and ALL the bells and whistles.
So there's my plan, is Dearborn hiring still?
Troy,
I believe that the Tundra just kicked Silverado's behind in Motor Trend's Truck of the Year. (Even though I don't quite agree with its COTY)
Infosaur,
If they are willing to take those comments, they wouldn't be so ----ed up right now, right?
Good point J. Out of curiosity, when the Silverado won Truck of the Year, what other Trucks was is competing against in 2007?
Nothing personal, but Ford deserves to get what it's gotten. The Ranger was the number 1 compact truck at one point. I owned one, but years later it's still on the same platform. Europe gets the new Focus and we get the old car with some new electronics (sync). Ford is an American company and they have better cars in Europe. We get the leftovers. Just like GM, they put all their finances in big profits with trucks and they're paying for it now. At least GM is building better cars now. The next crunch will come when people dump CUVs when gas crosses $5-$6/gallon and people want a good car.
Troy,
The contenders included: Silverado HD, F-Series Super Duty, Sierra HD, and the Tundra.
The Silverado HD were the 2500HD Z71 LT and 3500HD LT DRW.
The F-Series were the F-250 4x4 FX4 and F-450 4x4 King Ranch.
The Sierra were 2500 HD SLT and 3500 HD SLT.
The Tundra were 4x2 Doublecab 4.7L and 4x4 Crewmax 5.7L Limited.
So basically, there were only 3 contenders with different configurations, and we know which 3 are we referring to.
Casey,
I doubt that people will dump their CUV as long as they keep on being overweight or think that they NEED a bigger vehicle.
(I've seen a classmate over 300lbs forcing her Cavalier)
I don't understand you yankees. Why does your gov't insist on having america build content in vehicles? How many of your TV or computers or .... are made in the good old US of A?
Troy,
You were addressing Commodore. Please pay attention to the flow of the conversation and quit embarrasing yourself.
Thanks,
Dan the Man
cmore,
I got to agree with you on that one. Especially whenever I see those people who have a bumper sticker that reads: Out of a job yet? Keep buying foreign!
Geez, those people must have nothing made out of the USA, including but not limited to: Nike shoes, Microsoft mouse and keyboard, Motorola cell phones.
BTW, the name brands that I just mentioned are all US brand names.
cmore,
I got to agree with you on that one. Especially whenever I see those people who have a bumper sticker that reads: Out of a job yet? Keep buying foreign!
Geez, those people must have nothing made out of the USA, including but not limited to: Nike shoes, Microsoft mouse and keyboard, Motorola cell phones.
BTW, the name brands that I just mentioned are all US brand names.
Those aren't necessarly High Ticket prices, so they don't have a full effect on a market as much as a new vehicle.
Thanks
Dan the Man
Oh Dan The Man, I guess you aren't really THE MAN based on your last comment.
The ticket price has essentially NOTHING to do with the effect! Do you know that the world's LARGEST corporation is actually Walmart and NOT GM. Yet, I wonder how much is for the avg ticketed item price @ Walmart vs that from GMs...
Don't make a fool of yourself, dude :)
I can see the whole issue of the yankee love affair with foreign goods putting the whole world economy into a tailspin. Unfortunately the world economy still depends on you yankees as consumers even though this dependence is diminishing over the years as other countries economies grow such as China, India, Brazil ..... However with out you willing to support your own economy by buying domestic rather than cheaper foreign you are ignorantly throwing gas on glowing embers. Of course Ford or GM have trouble matching Japan. Say what you want but the Toyota cost of production is less than US. Check out what Toyota pays its factory workers compared to GM. What are their benefits? By not supporting your workforce thru purchasing your product you are weakening your own purchasing power. This by driving the wages down thru labour concessions (ie. recent auto union negs.). You yankees claim to be so patriotic. Have a look at where those little flags you wave are made. Talk about hypocrits. Looks to an outside observer that yous are more patriotic to your wallets than your own country. Personally I don't care how you choose to support your economy or yourselves other than right hnow it affects more than just the good old U.S. of A.
Dan,
I admire your strong personality and I apologize for getting on your bad side in previous blog topics. I will refrain from speaking negatively towards you if you will please afford me the same courtesy.
Dan,
Maybe I am not too clear on my point.
Assuming I bought let's say a Corolla instead of maybe a Cobalt? After financing it, I ended up paying about 18K in 5 years. I am pretty darn sure that in those 5 years, I would be spending MUCH more than 18K on everything else that are made out of the US. And the 18K does not all go out of the country, at lease I am sure the salesman/saleswoman gets a share.
Plus, there are still some folks out there can't afford a car, but they could still spend their disposable income on foreign products including for example, a game system, a cell phone, a T-shirt. In fact, just checked my old Motorola phone, it says Made in CHINA! My Nintendo DS was made in CHINA! And the T-shirt that I am wearing right now is also made in CHINA!!
BTW, just for comparison, the Corolla gets 28/37, while the Cobalt gets 24/33. I don't know about you, but I think Japan is a friendlier country with us than Saudi Arabia and the Middle East.
Exactly when did I mention that GM was more powerful than walmart...hrm...guess I didn't.
I was just stating that comparing Nintendo DS and a $20K car isn't in the same ballpark...so profit margins are different.
Walmart does not contain 100% foreign products, there are in fact USA made products.
So "Amuro Ray" try rereading my comment before being a jackass, especially from someone that doesn't sound really native..
I need to make a correction
Walmart does not contain 100% foreign made products, there are many USA made products as well.
Hey, Infosaur
I think that the Freestyle (Taurus X) is different from the Excape, but on the other hand, the Edge...
the Edge is Fusion (and by extension Mazda 6) based. It's also redundant.
And I type "Freestyle" because "Taurus X" sounds stupid. And when I say Freestyle everyone knows what I'm talking about.
Also the Explorer was just announced to go uni-body. So that's what, four crossovers in the same price bracket now?
Escape, Edge, Freestyle, & Explorer
If Ford does understand, it wouldn't be in such mess now.
Chevy is the #1 brand (2,250,352 light vehicles sold) for 2007 in the US, if you subtract Scion sales from Toyota. That makes Toyota #2 (2,161,467 light vehicles sold). And fleet sales do count.
The number quoted for Toyota Division (2,291,648) counts Scion becuse Toyota considers the Scion nameplate (which sold 130,181 vehicles) part of the Toyota Division. The proof is in Toyota's website. Adding up the unit sales of all the non-Scion models gets the number I quoted above. Also, the Chevy figure quoted by this site above includes the sales of its big rigs. So, shedding off those 15,000 or so heavy vehicles gets the light vehicle numbers for Chevy (just to make it fair), and that makes Chevrolet still the #1 nameplate in the US, from January 2007 to December 2007. Ford is #3 at 2,087,048 "light" vehicles, followed by Honda, Dodge, Nissan, Chrysler, GMC, Jeep, Hyundai, Pontiac, Lexus, Kia, Mazda, BMW, and so on.
Toyota/Lexus/Scion & Honda trump Ford, GM, & Chrysler any day, period. I wouldn't wish a domestic car on my own worst enemy and I'm speaking from personal experience. My 2005 Corolla (currently at 124,000 miles) has only had oil changes for the last 4 years and not one issue. I've even pushed that car 20k miles between oil changes once and not one clank or knocking noise still ran like new (I won't do it again though, I was being extremely lazy). I will get the radiator and transmission flushed soon though, gotta take care of my baby.
So, where is the new article about Ford RETAKING THE #2 SPOT FROM TOYOTA??? Ford outsold Toyota in the U.S. in April, 2009, as Toyota sales plunged 42%. Prius sales were off an amazing 62%! Ford sales were energized by the new Fusion, which set a new single month sales record.