Sell Ford, Because Of Chairman Ford

I am hard pressed to find a company chairman who is a progressive socialist whose company stock warrants a bet. Bill Ford, the Chairman of Ford (F) appears to be genuflecting towards Big Government and the left fringe by calling for a hefty tax on gasoline to push Americans into what the government thinks they should own - and Big Government knows best, according to Bill Ford.

Mr. Ford stated this week that taxes to push up the cost of $2.00 gasoline by 70% were needed to change Americans’ car buying habits and usher in a new generation of fuel efficient vehicles.

“We clearly need (the tax)- whether it’s a gasoline tax or cap and trade, it’s something we do need because with gasoline at $2.00 (a gallon),customer behavior is not driving the direction that the government would like”, he said. Asked how high the gasoline price should be set, Ford stated:”I don’t know what the magic number is, somewhere around $3.50. We’ve seen behavior go back now that it’s around $2.00. We don’t want that, we don’t think society wants that. We think price certainly is a better way to go.” Ford is a declared environmentalist.

Perhaps like his great-grandfather, who was a raging anti-Semite and had profitable dealings with Hitler, Bill Ford carries a diabolical gene that permits profit while “gassing” others.

Of course, there may be a perfectly rationale reason why Bill Ford wants to force prices higher. Ford and all other American auto makers have never made worthwhile profits on small, cheap cars. Perhaps Ford wants to force the sale of cheaply made cars at a premium price to justify his investment in green technology. This would be a good thing for the Ford Motor Company.

My belief is that Ford is,in reality, sticking it to the less than blue-blood class by driving down the resale of their present vehicle, raising the cost of business across the board and thus diminishing the standard of consumption and living standards of those making modest wages. In other words, Ford wins selling new too-small and “coffin” ready cars at a higher price.The blue collar customer who has been Ford’s lifeblood since the early 20th century loses, and loses big.

Bill Ford’s mindset is narrow, unsustainable and not in the best interest of the Ford Motor Company. He should resign.His grandfather’s company needs to hold true towards providing solid transport from trucks to autos through producing products that people want to buy - not what Big Government thinks they should buy through economic coercion. If green cars are a part of the mix to be sold at a good profit margin, fine.

Shame on you, Bill Ford, and shame on those who prefer socialism and high taxation as a way to dictate philosophy. It has never worked, thus the Ford Motor Company will ultimately not work. Sell the stock, or gift it to the Sierra Club.

F stock has made a nice run up recently and will likely avoid the fate of General Motors (GM) and Chrysler. I’ll call it a dead cat bounce, with the company not being able to compete with others down the road unless a new Chairman is of a different ilk.

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Comment by Arnold T

2009-04-30 19:10:34

Your Right-Wing Extremists views are a joke. The other two US car companies that were run by free-market type Republican executives and governing boards are going bankrupt. And your complaining about Ford management and the one US auto company that is NOT going bankrupt? How nutty are you???? And you wonder why we call you people Right-Wingnuts.

Look in a mirror once in awhile. You will see the problem. People like you ran the failed banks and failed auto companies. Greed and total self-centered selfishness called ‘unregulated pursuit of free-market speculation’ got us here. And in case your wondering where here is, it is the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression.

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Comment by Hametown

2009-04-30 21:53:25

The distinguished poster missed the entire point of the article. That is, focusing on a small segment of a broad market and then penalizing through government taxes the customers you wish to entice - whom may have been loyal to your brand for decades- is a poor business practice that in other like-type instances has failed.

Right, left or center, an obsessive Chairman focused on a small tapestry of the market they serve is usually born out to be bad for the enterprise - and oft times a fool.

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