OT Humor: The Onion on Ford

[J Piroth]

This is great. The pie chart is particularly funny.

 

[Tom Schindler]

100 years ago, Ford did not have 100% of the market share. The wealthy did own cars and those manufacturers tried to strong arm Henry Ford into pricing cars so only the rich could own one. Henry knew that if you lower the cost and make less profit, more people will buy and you will sell more and end up making more money. By making more money, you can hire more people and sell more cars.



Another interesting twist is that in 2003, Ford wanted to build 100 Model A Fords to sell for $100,000.00 each. They had all 100 sold. Because they were a 2003 model, they were not allowed to sell them because they did not have ABS, Air Bags, impact crumple zones, etc.





Tom

 

[Gavin Allan]

Henry knew that if you lower the cost and make less profit, more people will buy and you will sell more and end up making more money. By making more money, you can hire more people and sell more cars

That sounds like General Motors' business plan: "Don't worry about us loosing $2000 on every car sold--we can make it up with volume".



:lol:

 

[Nelson Atwell]

Ford should manufacture those Model A's as kit cars. I don't think the same rules apply to those as completely built cars do. A Model A looks pretty easy to assemble.

 

[Bart Adkins]

My Grandfather (worked for Ford for over 40 years) Had a Model T replica car. Back in the very early 1980's. He bought it new at a dealership. It had a Pinto 4 cyl and some fiberglass body panels. My sisters and I rode in the rumble seat and he drove it in the parades and stuff in the summer. Next time I'm at my parents' house I'll look for the photos so I can scan them and post them.

 

[Tom Schindler]

Nelson,



You may be onto something there, but I do not know for sure. They did have all 100 units pre-sold too.



They were an exact model, not a replica. It had everything taken from the original molds and dies all from the original blueprints.





Tom

 

[Dreman]

That would be great if they would start doing that. How about a brand new 1957 Chevy? Or a GT500KR Shelby Mustang? Or my own personal favorite, the Plymouth Superbird?



They wouldn't sell 100,000 units a year, but they would sell a lot of them!

 

[Tom Schindler]

Unfortunatly, it is not likely to happen. Putting on the new safety gadgets and then crash testing will kill the idea.





Tom

 

[Dreman]

There was a company, maybe still in business, that was picking up old sedans that had musclecar siblings, and adding all the stuff to make it look like a musclecar, but with an off the shelf crate motor. I understand they sold a lot of them.

 

[Bart Adkins]

You can still buy new DeLoreans out of Texas...the company bought all of the aseembly inventory and will build you one for about $30k

 

[Richard Kolb]

They could "refurbish" 100 model a's by buying 100 old ones and replacing all the parts with new ones.



My father-in-law just bought a 1927 T Depot Hack and we've been going to parades with it all summer. It's a blast.

 

[blksn8k]

Shelby is still building Cobra roadsters to the 60's specs. Not exactly sure how that works but I think they are using frames and other parts that were built in the 60's but never assembled. They are known as "continuation" cars. I think the same thing applies to the "new" Deloreans. They are being built from NOS parts.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Caymen said:

100 years ago, Ford did not have 100% of the market share. The wealthy did own cars and those manufacturers tried to strong arm Henry Ford into pricing cars so only the rich could own one. Henry knew that if you lower the cost and make less profit, more people will buy and you will sell more and end up making more money. By making more money, you can hire more people and sell more cars.

You are right, Caymen, that model is a good one. Lower the prices, sell more, and don't listen to those naysayers that say "You can't do that because it will cut into our profits!"



Yes, good old Henry saw that lower prices, selling more, ultimately leads to defining then dominating the marketplace as hundreds of car makers went down to a handful in less than 20 years. He realized that selling higher priced goods to a few wasn't a strategic sales model.



Can we think of any other companies that have done that same thing the past twenty years? Any other companies that have, due to their lower prices and higher volumes of sales have displaced those that had a model with fewer customers and higher prices?



Since the model is such a good one, I wonder if other companies have done it...companies, say...oh, I dunno, like, er....



...Wal-Mart?







TJR

 

[Tom Schindler]

Actually, those cars are not by a auto manufacturer. They fall under different rules because of it. You could build and sell cars without any safety equipment if you keep the sales numbers low. Ford Motor Company does not get those exemptions.





Tom

 

[WXMotorSports DecalsPartsAccs]

Costco...3-4 % profit on everything.

 

[Tom Schindler]

Wal-Mart seaks out a ways to destroy the competition. The buy their good from China and sells it cheap.



Henry Ford said that when times are tough, the last thing you do is get rid of people. When you eliminate jobs, you eliminate your customers. Wal-Mart does not provide the numbers of jobs they could provide if they made a small profit while employing American man and women. Instead, Wal-Mart buys stuff for pennies on the dollar and sells it for 95 cents on the dollar.



Wal-Mart is not a good example and honestly, if offensive to Henry Fords business plan.





Tom