Ironman sponsor Ford: We're feeling the pain at ground zero

Triathlon Forum
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It’s the big news today. Ford is cutting. Deep. Jobs. Buyouts. Benefits cut. Retirement threatened. UAW labor force cut *in half *is the headline on today’s paper. There are news crews on the front lawn of Ford World Headquarters up the street. The town feels like a funeral.

The blue collar axe fell yesterday. The white collar one falls today. The revision for a return to profitability has moved from 2008 to 2009 with an additional revision in Ford’s target market share to only 14-15% as reported by CNN Money. As I type this, the stock is off 10% in early trading after a hefty six week run.

What does it mean to us? It means Ford’s Ironman sponsorship is more important than ever. They have to reach the target customer. They have to *quickly *follow up with new vehicles that compel the target customer to buy.

Today is a dark day in the automotive business in Dearborn. The hope is we’ve hit bottom and after rolling up our sleeves it will slowly start to get better. The question is- will it?

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“They have to reach the target customer.”

I’m a tad confused here Tom. Are you saying that triathletes are Ford’s “Target Market” or should be? I think that would be a loosing desicion, considering what, 50% of the US is obese.

I really don’t think that Ford’s sponsorship of IM is in any real danger. I suspect that the cost of Ford’s sponsorship of IM is a mere pimple on the elephants ass as far as cost and profitability issues. IT may or may not gte cut, but of it does it will be because someone changed their mind not because the cost was prohibitive.

~Matt

3

That’s very sad, but a familiar story when a town relies so much on a single employer. I hope the effect on the local economy is not as bad as it could be, only time will tell.

4

So… when is Bikesport-Silicon Valley opening up?

5

All the more reason to get BikeSport West moving :slight_smile:
.

6

We are feeling the “pain” across the border here too…pretty scary today!!

7

There’s a saying around here. When Detroit catches a cold we get pneumonia.

Typically our “rescession” start before Detroits and last longer as well as “harder” via higher unemployment rates.

However I’m not sure if this will be the case as the last round pretty much wiped out what little was remaining as far as automotive. We’ve been busier than I can remember from last Nov thru about July but are slowing now. Wait and see I guess.

~Matt

8

I bought Ford vehicles(cars and trucks)for personal and business use for years because I have a friend that is a dealer. If it wasn’t for that relationship, and his service department, I never would have put up with problems I had with them.

I’m originally from Janesville, WI(a GM plant town), and grew up watching the UAW help put the auto makers in the jam they’re in today. I have sympathy for the impact on the surrounding community, but none for the auto makers, the union, or the union members.

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I’m sorry for the families that will be hurt by the cuts at Ford. My family was part of the Auto Industry for most of my life and in the early years paid for most everything I ever had. My father was a Glassworker at Libby Owens Ford glass plant in Rossford Ohio for most of my childhood. My dad or people at that plant had their hands on glass that was put into most GM and Chrysler cars for a long time.

All that being said, the only way I’d drive a ford is if they gave it to me. I just got a new car and the only domestic manufacturer that was in the short list was Jeep, and it was a distant 3rd to the other two, Honda and Toyota.

I think that Labor unions were a great thing for workers when they started out to level the playing field and get things that made working safe and fair. Now I think that most of them are not out for what’s best for the worker, but what’s best for the Union leaders. Between labor unions and lawyers, doing business in the U.S. is hard to make a profit just because of the cost of doing business.

10

My wife grew up in St. Thomas, Ont which is essentially a Ford town. Lots of cuts in Ontario also but St. Thomas is going to benefit because Ford is shifting some Michigan production there. Over all however, it’s not a good picture.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/money/national/2006/09/15/ford-cuts.html

11

Sad news indeed but partly their own doing. I was a long time Ford owner going back to my first car (65 Mustang) but after many problems on my current Ford truck(including blown head gaskets 42K miles and them thumbing their nose at me), I understand why this is happening to them.

I hope your biz is not too adversely impacted and the employees survive this. Seems to me the white collar workers may be hurt more since they don’t have all the contractual protections.

12

Maybe next year the events will be called “Hyundia Ironman”.

At the very minimum, I suspect we won’t be getting those nice Ford bags as part of our swag anymore.

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I’m with you here. My dad spent 31 years on the assembly line for GM, building trucks, buses, and Corvettes. EVERYTHING I have, from a good college education on down to a good blue-collar work ethic, I owe to my father and his labor. Our family tree is the classic American success story:

Great-grandparents: immigrants
Grandparents: farmers
Dad: laborer
Mom: teacher/homemaker/Hallmark store clerk and manager
Kids: college graduates, advanced degrees, great jobs

People forget how recently factories were loud, dirty, and dangerous places. I haven’t forgotten, because I got to go tour the factory when I was young – that old assembly line in downtown St. Louis scared the shit out of me. When my dad started in the 60’s, he earned vacation time but couldn’t use it. Unions helped improve that. Factories got safer. Guys got fairer compensation for the work they did.

I will continue to buy GM vehicles made in America because a) I owe it to guys like my dad to help families like mine, b) because I get an 11% discount, and c) because I have had good luck with their products.

That being said, I think that their union has gone too far in recent years. The pendulum that was once too far on the side of ownership has now swung way too far in the direction of labor. Union costs are killing the industry, especially in recent years as the "Big 3"s dominance of the market has slipped and profits have fallen. If they won’t become more flexible they’ll all be out of work. I especially worry about Dad’s pension…he thinks that it is rock solid, but when I see news like this, I’m not nearly as confident.

There is a happy medium. Hopefully it can be reached before all the jobs disappear.

And don’t even get me started on GM’s current designs (boring), lack of fuel efficiency (pitiful), etc etc. My relationship with them is a tenuous one. I want to support them, but they aren’t making it easy.

mm

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Tom - thanks for your post. I was born in Detroit, grandfather worked for Ford for 30 years, Dad for 8, Brother for 4. My first car was a Ranger and next was an Explorer and I thought I’d be a loyalist forever. The environmentalist ember inside me built into a fire and if I was going to drive it was going to be a car with limit emissions and better economy and that made me turn the corner.
I have faith in the American auto biz and I’m an optimist. I hope they stay with Ironman as they change their product. Triathletes are all - as Malcolm Gladwell would call us - connectors so it seems like a wise marketing choice.

Ian

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I can’t imagine the impact this will have on the Michigan economy, which was already suffering. It’s not just Ford, either since reduction in production volume impacts suppliers, which also employ lots of folks. I hate to say it, but I think we got out of Michigan just in time.

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“And don’t even get me started on GM’s current designs (boring), lack of fuel efficiency (pitiful), etc etc. My relationship with them is a tenuous one. I want to support them, but they aren’t making it easy.”

Great post. Very honest.

It’s amazing to me how companies this size with many smart people working for them don’t get it. Don’t see where the market is going or where they may be wrong in their thinking( keep siding WITH labour etc . .) There was just a big announcment in Ontario recently with big fanfare, back slapping, hand shaking, much celebration and woohoo-ing about the fact that GM would start to make the Camaro in it’s Oshawa plant. Hello!!! The Camaro. Are you kidding me. That car name/brand is a thow-back to yester-year. It’s dead before it even get’s into production. I thought they were going to be making an announcment about GM making some new stealthy, super fuel efficient, economical and practical vehicle that would actually fit into where the car business is going!

Fleck

17

Agree…who are the geniuses sitting around the table thinking that huge SUVs and monster pickup trucks will be the wave of the future…?

I own stock in Ford. Looks like I am losing my $.10/share dividend. I won’t miss it…

I feel sorry for the workers, but do feel the union hasn’t served them well. The pay/benefits levels are un-realistic…in some ways they have negotiated themselves out of jobs.

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“That car name/brand is a thow-back to yester-year. It’s dead before it even get’s into production.”

Well I do believe that one of Fords largest selling vehicle is the Mustang, no? Not only that but recent models have pulled heavily from the old muscle car design.

I’d agree about the pitiful lack of originality coming from Detroit these days, but fact remains, MUSCLE CARS RULE!!!

Give me Camaro, Mustang or Challenger (Note I mean the real ones not some 2006 wanna be muscle car) over pretty much anything on the market. The fact that Ford can “Repackage” the Stang and it’s still a hit speaks to not only the popularity of these vehicles, but that they are STILL cool.

~Matt

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Not to be an ass or anything but it’s not ONLY recent union issues that are driving teh big three into the ground. I read an article that GM’s overhead was around 3 to 3.5K per vehicle to cover expensies associated with union retirement benefits. If you’re parents are retired and have Paid medical, Pension, etc etc they are part of the reason, even a big part, that the big three are not competitive.

I agree 100% that unions have “overstepped” their boundries. However I think that started happening in the 60’s, not just recently.

~Matt

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"Agree…who are the geniuses sitting around the table thinking that huge SUVs and monster pickup trucks will be the wave of the future…? "

The same geniuses that realize that, that is what sells. Have you looked on the road recently? Every other car is an SUV. These vehicles also carry higher profit ratios than your “Econo” cars so not only do you sell more but make more profit. That is genius.

“I feel sorry for the workers, but do feel the union hasn’t served them well. The pay/benefits levels are un-realistic…in some ways they have negotiated themselves out of jobs.”

I agree here.

~Matt