And It Begins - Ford to Cut 10% of Workforce

[313WX]

It's hard to make sense of such a vague article. The article ends by saying that Ford's first quarter profits were down 35% from last year, but the unions also got a lot more than they did in the prior half decade. How do the union negotiated employee bonuses, wage increases, and benefits factor in for this loss in profits? The article didn't say they are reducing truck and car production. Maybe the announced employee cuts are just a bargaining chip for future union contract negotiations.

The vehicles are cutting edge, the company is still profitable, and they are making quite sizeable reinvestments into the company. Not an indication of a troubled company.

Compare the competition to an aluminum bodied F150 with a V6 twin turbo ecoboost, 8 speed transmission, 10,000lbs+ tow rating with all kinds of new computer technology. Base model F150 ecoboosts are flying off the dealership. If you want a whole bunch of options that doubles the price, not many want it and they're sitting around dealers lots making it look like sales are poor. Why is it whenever they announce a sale, you never see a base model F150 V6 ecoboost on the dealer's lot of 40 pickups?

As far as the vehicles being cutting edge, that means nothing if enough customers aren't buying them [[for whatever reasons).

Concerning the rest of your post, we're clearly at the start of a downturn, one that could be fairly severe if the trend in subprime auto loans, interest rates and oil prices is any sign. What's been going on the past couple of years [[as far as profitability and bonuses) shouldn't be used to extrapolate what is projected over the next couple of years.