![[Valid Atom 1.0]](valid-atom.png "Validate my Atom 1.0 feed")
AUTOS' OPINIONS
* USA - Ford On Fumes - Bill Ford Jr. is running out of ideas. Or so it seems.
USA - Forbes, by Joann Muller -8 Aug, 2006: -- The great-grandson of Henry Ford is chairman, chief executive, president and chief operating officer of Ford Motor... But no matter how many titles the 48-year-old family scion holds, he can't seem to halt his company's rapid decline. So this week, he hired a strategic adviser who once handled Ford's investment banking needs at Goldman Sachs to help him figure out what to do... Kenneth H.M. Leet will explore "a broad range of strategic alternatives," the company said in a statement. Most analysts expect that to include the possible sale of some of Ford's underperforming brands, especially its troubled Jaguar unit, and perhaps a partial spinoff of its highly profitable Ford Motor Credit...
* USA - Costs Aren't The Real Problem
USA - Forbes, by Jerry Flint -8 Aug, 2006: -- General Motors and Ford Motor are focusing the turnaround plans on cutting costs. Here is some news: The biggest problem is not costs. Yes, medical costs, pension costs, the costs of closing plants and then paying people for not working (the Jobs Bank) are an issue... Nevertheless, there is nothing wrong with GM and Ford that another million sales a year for each of them would not cure... Am I living in a fantasy world? Not at all. Both companies had those extra million sales only a few years ago. Winning back those units, by the way, would raise GM and Ford's market share about 6 percentage points each, up from 24.3% of the current market for GM and 18.4% for Ford... One thing is clear: GM and Ford did not lose a million annual sales apiece because their costs were too high. Those sales were lost because the product, particularly the passenger cars, did not hit enough high spots. Until recently, Detroit's light trucks were quite successful...
* USA - Ford in Wonderland
USA - Forbes, by Jerry Flint -10 Aug, 2006: -- Ford Motor is in trouble, and a turnaround is nowhere in sight. Now, we hear rumors that the company may be trying to sell Jaguar or Land Rover, or make Land Rover the sweetener in a two-for-one package. Some others say that since Ford is thinking about breaking up its empire, that Volvo might also be a candidate for divestiture... "Curiouser and curiouser," as Alice said when she got to Wonderland... One catalyst for these stories: Ford's hiring of investment banker Kenneth Leet, an 18-year veteran of Goldman Sachs, as a consultant. We know what those people do. They look for deals. And Ford wants to stop the financial drain, no doubt about that... Leets might have the right credentials, but I'm skeptical about the possibility of Ford unloading assets. Let's start with Jaguar...
posted by Unknown @ 12:00 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home