Found On Road Dead
That’s the old joke for what “F.O.R.D.” stands for, and given the continuing catastrophe of their sales slump and their mismanagement, it may soon come all too true for the company itself.
As MSNBC.com reports today, Ford lost $12.7 billion last year. That’s almost as much I spent last year filling up my Ford.
What could Ford do about this before it is, indeed, Found On Road Dead?
For starters, it could stop LYING to its customers. As regular readers of this blog know, I just leased a new Mustang convertible. I’ve had it about three weeks and I have to tell you, I absolutely love it. It’s a load of fun to drive, it represents a significant upgrade in every way from the former model (and I’ve had three of those former models), and every morning when I drop my daughter off at school, it wows all the 10-year-old boys out front. (If you can’t wow the all-important pre-teen market in any way, you have zero cool, and I’m trying to hang onto what little I’ve got.) But here’s the one — the one! — thing about the car:
So far, it’s getting 14.7 miles to the gallon.
That’s not only insulting and unconscionable — to me and to the planet — it represents a LIE that I bought. I say that because Ford advertises MPG on this car as 19 for City and 24 for Highway. If Los Angeles isn’t a City with Highways, I don’t know where we’d find one. If anything, my mileage should be in the middle at 21 or 22 MPG, not a full 25% lower than their lowest estimate.
The Ford Bold Moves campaign was all about being upfront with where the company has gone wrong and what it’s doing to fix that.
Misrepresenting its gas mileage makes roadkill of the entire message.
January 25th, 2007 at 7:34 pm
Ford can not be blamed entirely for the misleading gas mileage sticker. The federal government and it’s agencies have been using unrealistic tests for many years to determine gas mileage on all vehicles. When I have gone car shopping I usually figure the mpg estimate is off by at least five mpg.
One car company will not post the actual mpg a car will get when no other is doing the same thing. They will continue to lie to the consumer as long as we allow the government to set unrealistic tests.
Paul
January 25th, 2007 at 9:37 pm
If Ford wants “Bold Moves,” here are three good ones:
1. Accurately represent your gas mileage.
2. Stop colluding with GM in pressuring the government to lie about your actual MPG and to keep mileage and emission standards down.
3. Innovate and at least make an effort to reach the mileage standards set by the Japanese — and, now, the CHINESE!
Want to sell more cars? Have a better product and be straight-up about it.
January 30th, 2007 at 3:29 pm
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March 28th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
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