TechmanBD

Ford Seeks to Trim Number of Dealers
Tuesday August 15, 4:48 pm ET
By Tom Krisher, Associated Press Writer
Ford Plans to Trim Number of Dealers Amid Falling Sales, Market Share


DETROIT (AP) -- Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday it plans to trim the number of dealerships it has in 18 metropolitan areas across the country, blaming sliding car and truck sales for the decision.
Most of the metro areas are east of the Mississippi River, but the company would not identify exactly what markets would be targeted. Dealers were told of the effort at the company's annual dealership meetings, which wrapped up last week in Las Vegas.


"If you think about where we were in terms of sales and market share and where we are, you quickly realize that in certain markets, we have more dealers than our market share can support profitably over time," said company spokesman Jim Cain.

Ford has about 4,300 Ford and Lincoln-Mercury dealerships nationwide, and dealer profits have declined an average of 10 percent in the first half of 2006, the company has said.

Its market share has declined from around 26 percent in the early 1990s to 17 percent at the end of July.

Cain said Ford has no target number or timetable for the dealership reduction.

The consolidation would be done voluntarily through negotiations, with stronger dealerships buying out weaker ones, Cain said. Ford would not buy any dealerships, he said.

In some urban markets, Ford dealers compete against each other rather than other automotive brands, Cain said. Some of those dealerships aren't profitable, he said.

"In these multipoint markets, that's the toughest place to make money," Cain said. "You have many more Ford dealers competing for limited market share."

In the past, when a dealership would close, Ford would try to replace it, but now the company will review those decisions more closely, Cain said.

All Ford dealerships except for one in New York City are independently owned and franchised by the company, Cain said.

Ford shares rose 9 cents, or 1.2 percent, to close at $7.92 on the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday.

Jeremiah 29:11

These are are factory jobs being lost by Americans.....pretty sad.


Ford may cut more jobs, factories
Report: Troubled automaker considering ways to cut North American salary costs by 10 percent to 30 percent.

August 18 2006: 7:41 AM EDT
NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Ford Motor Co. is considering closing more factories and eliminating more management jobs to cut North American salary costs by another 10 percent to 30 percent, The Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site.

Citing "people familiar with the automaker's plans", the newspaper said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bill Ford Jr. is under pressure to speed up the company's restructuring plan, dubbed "The Way Forward."

That plan, unveiled in January, called for cutting Ford's North American hourly workforce by 30,000 and closing 14 plants by 2012.

The Journal said Ford executives were now considering plans to expand the Way Forward cuts, speed up the closings and scale back benefits.

It said one pressing issue for Ford (Charts) is that sales of sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks are slumping, and company officials believe demand for large and mid-size SUVs is decreasing.

Teams also are looking at savings in advertising and marketing budgets, the newspaper said, adding that Ford's board is scheduled to meet Sept. 14 to review the new plans.

The Journal said that under one scenario, the company would cut white-collar costs by 30 percent, although the final figures could be less if it can find savings elsewhere.

Ford was not immediately available for comment.

A spokeswoman declined to comment to the Journal on what she called "speculation."

TechmanBD

And all the higher ups will give themselves raises and bonuses for all this.

I also think it is crap to close stealerships just to have 1 in an area. It will turn into a monopoly for that area. Also next thing they will do is what Harley did, well at least when I lived in VA. A friend was buying a sportser and he went to a few dealers. They wouldn't sell to him because of where he lived. He had to buy from the Dealer closer to him. What a load of ????! I was thinking of modding the stang, but now I am considering trading in for a Challenger. Between this dealership thing and there is a story somewhere and have to find it, Ford was the lowest rated on Cutomer Service. You scratch your nutz in the car and they void the warranty. And if you try and mention the Magnusan(SP?) Act about modding cars, they just ignore it.

Jeremiah 29:11

I've got a solution..............just don't scratch your nutz!

LOL!

I am sorry that is just too funny. I am laughing as I am typing this.

71CHALLENGER

know what you mean,iheard a while back that the ford plant here (ST.PAUL MN ) IS CLOSING IT'S DOORS WITHIN A YEAR OR SO IT'S GOING TO PUT MANY GUYS OUT OF WORK. [:@] THEY MAKE THE FORD RANGERS HERE AND THE SALES JUST DROPPED SO DRASTICALLY THEY CAN'T KEEP IT OPEN ANY LONGER,FELL BAD FOR THE GUYS THAT WORK THERE.......... DAVE

TechmanBD

Hmmm, I would figure that is one of their bigger sellers for people who want a truck, but don't want the fullsize with the gas prices. I see new rangers all over the place here. I hope the best for those people who lose their jobs.

RLSH700

That is so stupid. Having more dealerships will allow more cars to be sold. Why doesn't Ford look at how successful Saturn was initially all over having friendly dealerships? It couldn't possibly be those cars they were selling were liked that well. People want friendly treatment and they need to improve that.