There's a lot of people predicting the demise of Ford Motor Co. While the future isn't rosy at the moment the company has a history of making through the hard times. The sale of their heavy truck division to Sterling is but one example. Now there's talk of selling Jaguar, Astin Martin, and even Lincoln Mercury. There's even talk of cutting U.S. production by 20%. Baby boomers are in part responsible for this as they would rather buy cars with Asian names than domestics. If Ford doesn't recover and goes the way of the Studebaker the automotive world will never be the same. To read more on this story go to MSNBC.
I've noticed the same thing hapening in the aftermarket industries also. When someone goes in to buy a part at a jobber they seem to push foreign parts harder. I've seen people offered original replacement parts for slightly more only the hear them say they want the cheaper part. In some aspects of our lives cheaper is better, when it comes to my old cars however I will pay the extra for the safety of my family. So when Ford goes belly up people can still go to a parts store and get their cheap parts for their funny named cars. The rest of us will be in mourning.
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It is a shame that people are so selfish that they won't buy American because of a couple extra bucks. People really need to take a stand and change their buying habits if they want any manufacturing jobs to stay in this country.
Though I guess in a way its a wash jobs wise. Because there have been lots of Toyota and Mitsubishi factories that have sprung up recently.
But to me there is still some value in buying from an American company.
Yes the unions did price themselves out of jobs. When first started there were many more workers the retirees and the system worked. With us baby boomers now up for retirement and less new employees being hired it puts companies in a bind. Insurance alone run billions a year. Maybe the answer lays with reworking the pension and insurance plans. And buying American is a fine idea that most people don't practice. They will refuse to go to Walmart but go to Kohl's or elsewhere who also sell the imported junk, because it is cheaper.
As for reliability, when I sold my last pickup (Ford) it had 450,000 miles on it and I was the only person who took a wrench to it.
You might be surprised as both have foreign drivetrains. Ford uses Madza in small cars and trucks. Some of the new cars are basically assembled here. GM also uses an imported engine, I just don't remember which one.
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