Ford Motor Company today reported that it lost a record breaking…
TWELVE POINT SEVEN.
BILLION.
DOLLARS.
All this in the course of a year. That’s like losing the complete domestic economic output of Jamaica. So lets see…in 2006 Ford loses $12.7 Billion. In 2005, GM lost $10.6 Billion. This year, Toyota is almost unanimously expected to take the No. 1 auto maker spot in the world.
Ask not for whom the bell tolls.
These guys just don’t get how to build a competitive automobile. Lord knows they have the technology to one up the Japanese on fuel consumption and they sit on it. Next year toyota is coming out with a hybrid tundra and every other car it makes. Fords f150 death along with said SUVs will be their end….And yet…bush spews on during his s.o.u. address about curbing gasoline use and hence emissions, offering no incentive, and expecting the market to turn it around. The thing is the market in america has shown it is failing. It’s great that I can have an iPhone…maybe we need Steve Jobs to work on an iCar.
I agree about the iCar…well, actually, I agree with the idea of having tech people approach car design/manufacture as if it was a gadget.Just go to <a href="http://www.teslamotors.com“ rel=”nofollow”>Tesla Motors to see what I’m talking about. Started by a guy in Silicon Valley who loved cars, but wanted an environmentally sound solution. All electric, 0-60mph in LESS THAN FOUR SECONDS, and currently has a 250 mile range. The first run sold out before production even began.Yes, you have to plug it in to recharge. Yes, it’s currently only a sports car. Yes, it’s $100,000. But dang, it’s the FIRST GENERATION version.I think what Tesla Motors has is a fresh perspective, and I look forward to seeing what they have in store for the future – a passenger car? Better range? Shorter recharge times? Who knows.