lawndart

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money...nk/1136528002/

Ford seemed strong after the financial crisis. I wonder what happened. This explains cutting cars from the model lineup.

GMC to Ford

For the average truck owner, this potentially means more warranty claim denials. It happened in the late 1980s and early 2000s and manufacturers spent years trying to recover from negative customer opinions and reviews.

RL1990

Ford's product lineup is pretty old and they've dropped instead of expanding their hybrid technology. The trade war is going to hit them hard on aluminum and steel costs. They don't have a good operation in China which is the fastest growing auto market in the world. And they have a big operation in the UK which is dying because of Brexit. It's a perfect storm of bad moves, some of which Ford can't control.

And if I was investing I would buy Ford stock on the cheap and wait for it to build back up.

SoPoSassquatch

The F150 is still a license to print money, the plants are being retooled for electric/driverless models, and trade wars and Brexit are short term bumps to deal with.

They're not a sexy investment like Tesla, but at least they make a profit.

ghunt81

I bought a few shares of Ford in my Fidelity account back in 2014 when they seemed to be doing well and all I've done is lost money.

Stu Cazzo

At Ford quality is no longer job 1
I doubt I would buy another F150 given the timing chains my eco eats. And dealing with Ford and most issues ends with a headache.

If Ford would step up - come up with fixes to the many deficiencies in these trucks I think you would see more support for the brand.

Unfortunately what we get from Ford is deny deny deny, ignore and hope the customer just goes away and lives with no RWD, or accepts his truck needs a timing chain every 18 months, or that his rear window explodes or the many other persistent problems.

bassJAM

I remember considering buying Ford stock back in 02-03ish when it dropped below $10. I'm glad I didn't, Ford had one good run in the late 90's but other than that I don't think it's ever been a good investment.

Stu Cazzo

Just as an example...

5345 posts in one thread alone on Cooled Seat issues
2243 posts on ecoboost noise at start up with over a half million views

Just saying...there are problems.

icantdrive55

Yeah. At one point during the 2007-2008 bank crisis, Ford stock touched $1.60 or thereabout. Thought seriously about picking up some then but was very leery because of the bankruptcy declarations of GM and Chrysler (now FCAU). Fast forward to the last several years and I picked up some Ford when it dipped into the $10-11 range after reaching a high of $16ish. With the stock now back in the $9-10 range, I'm sitting on a few thousand dollar loss...OOOPS. Not the end of the world, but not happy about it either. The trade policies of Trump--tariffs on Chinese and Euro goods/steel/aluminum--certainly didn't help Ford, but the numbers still look fairly decent: P/E under 6, EPS steady and sustainable, not an outrageous debt level, and dividend paying over 6%. That's not a horrible balance sheet, but I may take some LTCG losses and trim back my holdings until the trend is upwards...

lawndart

No worries everyone, the ROI on the F-150 diesel will send profits soaring.