Ford already looking to trim costs from 04 F-150...

http://www.detnews.com/2003/metro/0306/11/a01-190266.htm

Cost hurdle remains

The last hurdle for Ford will be dealing with the cost of building the F-150.

Bill Ford said Tuesday that the company considered delaying the launch to find a way to reduce production costs.

The automaker has acknowledged that the new F-150 will cost significantly more than the current model to produce -- $1,000 to $2,000 more by some estimates. Ford decided instead to launch the 2004 F-150 on time and work on cutting costs on future model years.

That will mean hammering suppliers for price reductions, reengineering some parts and making tough decisions on what features and other content in the truck stays or goes, said Roman Krygier, Ford's head of quality and manufacturing.


The new truck looks nice...but i get this funny feeling they are gonna mess something up doing this...

$1,000-$2,000 is a lot of cost to pass onto the consumer. I doubt they want all their loyal good-ol' boy F-series buyers to get sticker shock so I can't blame them for looking to trim costs. It just depends on where they plan on doing it. I'd choose to downgrade the already nice interior rather than mess with the real meat of the truck (mechanicals). Seems to me if you want as trouble-free a launch as possible that's what you'd do....

EVERY car manufacturer (including MB or Toyota/Lexus) does cost cutting on EVERY model they make after the first or second year of production. It is just a fact of the industry. They do testing on the new parts just like the originals. They "over-engineer" the parts to make sure the systems will work and launch properly, and then look for cost savings later. It is a fact of the business and I'm pretty suprised you didn't know this.

They've been working on this for at least six months. It was noted that when GM brought out the GMT-800s, they cut between $1000-$2000 out of its production cost (which I find somewhat hard to believe), and then Ford goes the other way and adds cost. It'll still be profitable, but just not so much so.

However when you spread it out over about 500,000 units per year, that could be a half billion dollars off the bottom line :eek:.

This is a huge issue at Ford right now because GM was able to cut its production costs in old plants but Ford's have risen even with a new Ford Heritage Factory to build F150's in Dearborn. New Factories should ease the production costs not raise them. (not including the cost to build the plant)
Some of Ford's problems stem from the Visteon split because Ford agreed to buy a large percentage of needed components from Visteon. However Visteon is not cheap and otherwise almost uncompetitive with other major component suppliers. Thus Ford is stuck paying more for parts from Visteon than they would from Delphi, Lear or Magna.

Originally posted by 99SilverSS
This is a huge issue at Ford right now because GM was able to cut its production costs in old plants but Ford's have risen even with a new Ford Heritage Factory to build F150's in Dearborn. New Factories should ease the production costs not raise them. (not including the cost to build the plant)
Some of Ford's problems stem from the Visteon split because Ford agreed to buy a large percentage of needed components from Visteon. However Visteon is not cheap and otherwise almost uncompetitive with other major component suppliers. Thus Ford is stuck paying more for parts from Visteon than they would from Delphi, Lear or Magna.

For some reason the whole 96 Taurus mess comes to mind.

I bet the new 05 Mustang is also going to cost alot more to make then originally planned as well.

The next round of all-new vehicles are all going to cost more then the current models that are out.

Get ready for some serious sticker shock in the next few years.

Ford will probably make a combo rear bumper/gas tank to cut costs.;)

heh, on the subject of sticker shock, detnews had a article about how right now there are tons of incentives and discounts available for cars now... The example they had was some girl that got a loaded Ford Ranger truck priced at $27k for only $19k.. Now thats a discount.....



but wait a minute... A Ranger for $27k? Uh....what?

i think the last thing that ford needs to be messing with is there truck sales. they better compare to chevy and especially dodge who i feel is starting to take alot of buyers away. they better find a place to take it out without screwing it up cause i dont think anyone wants that cost passed on to them, or a cheaper as in manufactured, truck.

Originally posted by 99SilverSS
Some of Ford's problems stem from the Visteon split because Ford agreed to buy a large percentage of needed components from Visteon. However Visteon is not cheap and otherwise almost uncompetitive with other major component suppliers. Thus Ford is stuck paying more for parts from Visteon than they would from Delphi, Lear or Magna.
This is an issue for GM too. For example, American Axle (formerly units of GM) has a sweetheart deal to supply axles to GM, even though they buy them cheaper elsewhere.

I was reading somewhere before that the 2003 Silverado cost GM over $100 less to build then the 2002, a lot had to do with the electrical system.

People will pay more for a good looking car that has great performance (up to a point). Manafacturers are going to have to find a way to get more money per vehicle through creating niche vehicles of each model in order to get top dollar for them. A generic car will only create a mediocre emotional response.

There a saying in sales that goes like this:

"A persons heart is closer to their wallet then their brain".




People buy more on emotion then they do logic even though many like to convince themselves otherwise.

Originally posted by 99SilverSS
This is a huge issue at Ford right now because GM was able to cut its production costs in old plants but Ford's have risen even with a new Ford Heritage Factory to build F150's in Dearborn. New Factories should ease the production costs not raise them. (not including the cost to build the plant)
Some of Ford's problems stem from the Visteon split because Ford agreed to buy a large percentage of needed components from Visteon. However Visteon is not cheap and otherwise almost uncompetitive with other major component suppliers. Thus Ford is stuck paying more for parts from Visteon than they would from Delphi, Lear or Magna.

You obviously dont work in a Visteon plant.If you ever stepped into a Visteon plant you WILL see Delphi and Lear boxes all over the place.So to sit there and say Visteon is the problem you also dont know much about Ford/Visteon.Ford Controls Visteon and its prices.And to add to that Visteon doesnt make much off of any part they make.:eek:

Originally posted by guess who
You obviously dont work in a Visteon plant.If you ever stepped into a Visteon plant you WILL see Delphi and Lear boxes all over the place.So to sit there and say Visteon is the problem you also dont know much about Ford/Visteon.Ford Controls Visteon and its prices.And to add to that Visteon doesnt make much off of any part they make.:eek:

I agree wholeheartedly. I am a PD engineer at Visteon, and know of Ford and Visteon's relationship pretty well. Your comments of Visteon being the problem is way off base. Ford for the most part does control the prices with Visteon. Visteon does have "last refusal rights" on any new Ford business, but I have seem Ford get around that in ways that are pretty unethical in my opinion. If Visteon didn't make quality parts at competitive prices, then why are we picking new business outside of Ford everyday? I work specifically on GM programs (GMT315, GMT191) so I know what I'm talking about. Ford caused many problems for Visteon, but Visteon is not causing problems at Ford. If you want to talk more about this, feel free to email me...

I didn't say Visteon is the problem but certainly part of it. Yes Visteon's products and quality are no worse than the competition, but no better either. From purely a cost perspective Ford could probably cut some cash by using individual suppliers rather than Visteon who's being supplied by other Tier 2's. Like guess who, has said Lear and Delphi supply to Visteon who inturn supply Ford. Almost but not quite like cutting the middleman. Because Visteon actually builds components that would have to be asm'd at other suppliers so saying to cut them out completly isn't what I'm saying.
I'm looking at Ford's costs on a very broad scope. In this scope Ford is by no means not the problem they are in their manufacturing and engineering ineffecienies helping to raise the costs.
The UAW is also a huge factor they keep Ford's hands tied as to what can be done. We know they certainly don't give any room to budge on costs!

So while I see some of Ford's cost problems on its supplier chain thats only a marginal part. But since we all know Ford can't change it engineering and manufacturing practices overnight nor can it cut ties with the UAW the only changeable aspect is the supplier and thus Visteon's position.

So am I blaming Visteon for the price hike no but are they part of it, yes.

Originally posted by R377
It was noted that when GM brought out the GMT-800s, they cut between $1000-$2000 out of its production cost (which I find somewhat hard to believe),

It's not that hard to believe - they saved some money in certain areas by improving their production process (like in the frame) or reducing the number of possible build configurations, and in other areas they simply decontented the vehicle in a way that's not immediately noticable (like in changing the front upper control arms on the HD trucks from a tubular structure to a stamping). They beat up on their suppliers pretty badly, too.

It's funny how the Ford offical line always works to discredit the supplier. When you're the common denominator in all your failed relationships, maybe the other guys aren't the problem.

Getting back on-topic, I heard about this price issue quite a while ago. It simply amazes me that the industry spends half their time bitching about overcapacity, and then the other half thinking up various ways to jack up the sticker price with a bunch of content that just really doesn't improve my ability to go from Point A to Point B. Sorry, but if you're having problems keeping your factories busy, then it should be obvious that you need to lower your price if the goal is to utilize that capacity.