Car Companies

[tokensafari]

Below is a complete listing of car manufacturers around the world. Forgive me if i left any out. I took the ones like Oldsmobile, Plymouth, and Eagle out, due to the fact they are no longer made.

Acura
Alfa Romeo
Aston Martin
Audi
Bentley
Bmw
Bugatti
Buick
Cadillac
Chevrolet
Citroen
Daihatsu
DaimlerChrysler
Dodge
EV1
Ferrari
Fiat
Ford
General Motors
Gmc
Holden Special Vehicles
Holden
Honda
Hummer
Hyundai
Infiniti
Invicta
Isuzu
Jaguar
Jeep
Karmann
Kia
Lamborghini
Lancia
Land Rover
Lexus
Lincoln
Lotus
Maserati
Mazda
Mercury
MG-Rover
Mini
Mitsubishi
Morgan Motors
Nissan
Opel
Peugeot
Pontiac
Porsche
PSA Peugeot Citroen
Renault
Rover
Saab
Saleen
Saturn
SEAT
Skoda
Smart
Subaru
Suzuki
Toyota
TVR
Vauxhall
Visteon
Volkswagen
Volvo

[HoJofan206]

The current re-vamping of the Murcury lineup might just be Ford's last attempt to do something with the company.

[HoJofan206]

Oops, I mis-spelled Mercury in my last post!!  :P

[Zayre88]

In Canada they stopped selling Mercury cars a few years ago !!

[HoJofan206]

Ford Motor Company has put quite a bit of money into the Mercury name here for the 2005 model year.  I wouls suspect that if the name doesnt start selling more vehicles that it might go away all together and you will see the Lincoln lineup grow a bit.  Just my opinion.

[tokensafari]

Think of it this way... the only brand Ford Motor Company is selling  are Fords!

Lincoln: plagued with outdated models, very little press/hype, and increased competition from GM and foriegn comapanies, lincoln is slowly going down hill.

Mercury: Doesn't have that pizazz to it anymore. Once known for its power and luxury is has declined for some time now due to budget cuts and hasn't really brought much attention to itself with its models. The one thing that did Murcury in was getting rid of the Cougar.

Mazda: Seems to be doing well... but not Great! With increased competition from foreign auto makers, success will be a hard battle for Mazda in the coming years. There model line up has improved dramitically over the past couple of years, but consistency is key here. If Ford Motor Company can compete with Toyota, Honda, and Nissan then Mazda is the key, if executed correctly.

Volvo: The only thing really selling is their SUVs. Volvo has never been an exciting brand and i really don't know how they have survived. Their focus has changed, competing more with Lexus, BMW, and Mercedes, Volvo has a hard line to follow. I think eventually this brand will be fased out more and more as they lose ground to BMW, Mercedes, and Lexus.

Jaguar: A joke, strictly a joke. Ford hasn't done anything to really improve the Jaguar image. They simply can't compete with other luxury models. Sure, they are nice cars, but they're simply boring, people want luxury and excitement, and Jaguar's image isn't exciting folks. Why? It's Ford's fault for not doing more with the brand.

Land Rover: One word - Hummer

Aston Martin: Critics despise the cars, bad publicity, and high sticker prices shot this brand down the hole.

In conclusion... Ford is to blame for most of lost market share. Ford decided to copy GM with their employee pricing program, i mean, how fake and crappy of Ford. I don't respect the company one bit, because they have simply copied the gimmicks and haven't tried hard enough to establish their brands for the exception of Ford. I do give them major  props on the Mustang, but other than that... bleh...

[HoJofan206]

You make some very valid points against Ford Motor Company, but I think GM (if possible) has made even worse decisions over the past 20 years.

[Zayre88]

I agree, GM also made bad decisions.  I would say that i'm a GM fan but i hate them too.

Bad decisions, slow evolving designs, reliability, too many brands..

My father always bought GM cars so did his father.  My grandfather worked at the Chevrolet dealership founded by his brother.  GM often has great cars but after all these years of mismanagement, and lost market share, it's clear that "America's heartbeat isn't Chevrolet" anymore...

[tokensafari]

So called "American Companies" are losing, and it's not just because of increased competition like they claim. Because they've made very bad decisions. Back in the 80's when foriegn auot makers started coming by the droves to American Ford, GM, and Chrysler thought they were too big and powerful to worry about such small competitors and up until 2001 they started to realize that. BUt then it was too late. They all thought they could pull off giving us the same models year after year without much of a change and people would go for it. That is until Toyota, Honda, Nissan, and many others started giving us new concepts that appealed to the American Market. So, really the only ones the can blame are themselves.

I mean, look who the big three are now.... Toyota, GM, and Ford. When used to it was Ford, GM, and Chrysler and the only competition they had was with each other! All of them got bigheads and really didn't consider the little japanese auto makers to be a threat. Then when they realized they were, they made a bunch of bad decisions all at once trying to recover and it ended up making situations worse!

[Zayre88]

One thing they often did was to launch an "Import fighter" car !

I think the Cavalier was rated as an Import fighter and the Saturn division too.

They often said that "this new car targets Accord and Camry owners"...

Why would people buy another car if their import works fine?

[tokensafari]

Dodge's Import fighter would be a neon, but the funny thing is, it's fighting imports but it's manufactured in cooperation withmitsubishi.

Ford's would be the focus

Chevy's would be the cobalt and the aveo

[HoJofan206]

Non of the "Big 3" U.S. automaker's offer any sedan that can complete with the quality of the Honda Accord or Toyota Camry.  The Nissan Altima is even a better car than any of the U.S. companies offereings........

[Mobil]

I know this forum is old. But how are Lincoln's models outdated? Why do designs need to evolve? Sounds like planned obsolescence to me.