Ford Strives to Meet Hybrid Demand - GreenHybrid

bwilson4web · #1 (**permalink**) 08-16-2007, 12:15 AM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...081502169.html

Quote:

Originally Posted by Washington_Post

By Sholnn Freeman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 16, 2007; Page D03

The popularity of the Ford Escape hybrid has taken the automaker by surprise and left its potential customers howling that the gas-electric sport-utility vehicle is not widely available.

Car buyers say they cannot find the vehicles on dealers' lots, in dealer inventory systems online or just about anywhere else they look.
. . .

What a nice problem to have.

Bob Wilson

WaltPA · #2 (**permalink**) 08-16-2007, 05:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bwilson4web

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What a nice problem to have.

I think it is a rather bad problem to have, for a company that is struggling like Ford is.

Yea, if Ford was having record profits, not being able to sell even more vehicles might be OK. However, Ford needs every sale it can get, and not being able to deliver is not being able to make a sale.

Sorry, but if this means that Alan Mulally needs to go work the assembly line himself, then that is what he should be doing. If Alan Mulally needs to fly to Japan, and personally beg for more batteries, than he should not leave Japan until he has them.

kdhspyder · #3 (**permalink**) 08-16-2007, 08:00 AM

From the article...

Quote:

Ford says the lack of supply was not the result of any problems in its production system.
Traction for the Escape hybrid could come as welcome news to Ford, which has been mired in a financial crisis since the collapse of the large SUV market. Initial development of the hybrid Escape was championed inside the automaker by Ford Chairman William Ford Jr., who has pushed the company into the gas-electric market.

This is directly Bill Ford's fault. Ford was right behind Toyota initially and then he backed away from hybrids about 18 mo's ago. Then he left the mess to Mulally to fix.

bwilson4web · #4 (**permalink**) 08-16-2007, 08:46 AM

My take on it is having a 'hot selling' vehicle is better than having just a large inventory of unsalable vehicles. At least with a 'hot' vehicle, you have a club to give your design and manufacturing engineering management a 'clue by four.' If they want to get that Ford pension and bonus, they need to catch up with the customers or find new jobs.

Personally, I was appalled when the head of the Ford Escape hybrid program left Ford just as the product hit the show rooms. I was hoping it was "burn out" but feared it was something else.

Bob Wilson

FastMover · #5 (**permalink**) 08-16-2007, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bwilson4web

Personally, I was appalled when the head of the Ford Escape hybrid program left Ford just as the product hit the show rooms. I was hoping it was "burn out" but feared it was something else.
Bob Wilson

Likewise. I thought at the time that it sent the wrong message and feared it would hurt FEH sales. I is very gratifying to see that I was wrong -- it is not customer demand, but Ford's short sightness that is hurting FEH sales.

Perhaps, if the message is seeping under the door at Ford a little, the others will start to understand the idea that even if a market exists, it can only be realized by making the product thet it wants.

US auto makers, insight (no oun intended) --Nah, what was I thinking.....

WaltPA · #6 (**permalink**) 08-16-2007, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bwilson4web

Personally, I was appalled when the head of the Ford Escape hybrid program left Ford just as the product hit the show rooms. I was hoping it was "burn out" but feared it was something else.

I thought her leaving coincided with Bill Ford announcing that future hybrid development was dead. Ford was going in another direction (E85??).

stevejust · #7 (**permalink**) 08-21-2007, 08:27 PM

I'm so confused by this post. I remember Bill Ford used to drive an electric Ranger to work. I thought he was very green, and very frustrated that the board kept pushing for Explorers and Expeditions when he wanted hybrids but was constantly told that's not what the shareholders wanted. Now he's blamed for not doing enough? I'm so confused.

AshenGrey · #8 (**permalink**) 08-22-2007, 03:20 AM

Yeah, Ford blew it. Considering how long the FEH has been on the market, it's a disgrace that it is still the ONLY hybrid Ford makes. What happened to their ideas concerning a Fusion hybrid? Why didn't they ever develop the Reflex sports car hybrid? And considering that the Prius and HCH are the best-selling hybrids, why didn't ford develop something for that segment?

Oh yeah... That's right... Hybrids are a fad and no one cares about fuel efficiency. Let's make loads of e85 guzzler-hulks and then blame it on unions when the company loses $12 billion.

08FEH · #9 (**permalink**) 08-22-2007, 02:37 PM

LOL Ashen,

I find your post abit uneducated and bordering on arrogant as the manufacturer of your vehicle has dropped two hybrids from it's line up!

But hey, keep on bashing the manufacturer of cars that is in the same country in which you live. It shows your character!

AshenGrey · #10 (**permalink**) 08-22-2007, 03:17 PM

Personally, I'd rather exchange ideas instead of insults. The Insight and the HAH were not commercial successes, but at least Honda took a risk and tried something new. Ford didn't.

Unlike Ford, Honda and Toyota are building factories in the United States and thus will offer good jobs to quite a few American workers. Honda's goal is to have 80% of their cars soild in America to be built in America. How is that Unamerican?

By contrast, the Big Three have been firing American workers by the tens of thousands. Basically, the overpaid execs have punished the workers for the bad decisions made by management.