Bye Bye SUVs, Bye Bye Local Jobs?
The Ford Excursion is officially dead. Friday last week marked the final Excursion to be produced at the Louisville Kentucky plant that also produces Ford’s heavy duty pickups. One report said:
“Ford introduced the Excursion in 2000 and sold 50,000 of the vehicles, but sales have stalled each year since as gas prices and insurance costs have taken their toll on the vehicles. Sales of Ford’s three largest SUVs – including the Expedition and Explorer – fell by more than 24 per cent in the first three months of 2005 according to figures from the Associated Press.”
The Excursion, dubbed the Ford Valdez by some, was massive and thirsty. SUV sales from all makes have tanked (get it? tanked). Anyway, this is generally good news that the buying public has realized that 12mpg is not so good. But, the Ford plant in Hazelwood makes Explorers which have also dropped in sales lately. The DiamlerChrysler plant in Fenton makes full-size trucks and mini vans. This change in the buying public could have some seriously bad consequences for our local economy.
I see a couple of political solutions. One is local and state governments decide to buy these vehicles for fleet use to help them out. Other is bonds or loans or something to cling to these jobs. More likely we’ll see some form of financial assistance to retool the plants to produce reasonable sized vehicles. Or we might see them shuttered like so many plants in Flint Michigan.
We are all tied together and unfortunately oil consumption is the very thing that holds together our economy. The rest of Bush’s presidency is going to be an interesting ride as energy costs rise. The leaders in Washington, on both sides of the fence, are about as prepared for the energy crisis as they were for Katrina.
– Steve
Energy Crisis? What energy crisis?
Having governments buy stupid vehicles will just perpetuate their production – the answer is not to protect jobs from competition, but to encourage more-competitive products (and this includes a more-competetive workforce). As a taxpayer, I want to see my tax dollars spent efficiently, not to prop up small groups of local residents and/or businesses. See today’s Post-Dispatch for a more-reasoned solution at the Chrysler plant. Asian companies are building plants in the U.S. and paying their workers less than what local UAW workers are paid. It may not be “fair” to be facing a pay cut and/or a benefit cut to stay competitive (i.e. employed), but the market dictates what you’re paid, not seniority or a union contract. As consumers, we vote with our feet and our checkbooks. As many in the airline industry can testify, a WalMart economy results in the loss of good-paying jobs in the name of low prices. Unfortunately, Ford is losing market share due to non-competitive products and will have to close plants, either here or in Louisville, Ky. The auto industry is a global market, and Hazelwood is simply not competitive, with or without local subsidies . . .
[REPLY – Well stated. I agree that buying vehicles to help prop up the industry isn’t a good idea but I wouldn’t put it past our Governor. I support the concept of unions but I think we’ll see more unions with unemployed members as businesses switch manufacturing oversees. Sadly it looks like the unions (along with the stupidity of management) is going to ruin our American auto industry.
GM VP Bob Lutz admitted they are slow to react to hybrids – that they are behind. GM & Ford were so busy making $10K per big SUV they didn’t pay attention to changing trends toward smaller and more efficient vehicles. They’ve been down this road before in the 70s and it took them about 20 years to recover. Now it is happening all over again. If the UAW leadership really wanted job security for their members they should have been pushing GM & Ford to not put all their eggs in the SUV basket. Ok, end of rant… – SLP]
I don’t know how anyone could blame the unions for Ford and GM’s bad products. Ford’s pricing for an explorer is cheaper than most other SUV’s. However, the design simply sucks. Look at the new 2006 explorer. A new grill, that’s inspired. The union guys that assemble them are doing there jobs well. It is not there fault some bean counter is buying a cheaper part that they know will fail at 70k miles. Ford and GM need to step up to the plate and design better vehicles that the public wants and with the quality parts the public wants. The Ford Focus has been a great success for Ford. But, they need a available Hybrid version that you can buy at every ford dealership in town. Basically Ford’s management is inept and the person on the assembly line always gets the blame. I don’t see the parts falling off the explorers. I just see a bean counter buying cheap parts, that a skilled technician is putting on the car. The Hybrid version’s are not readily available. Hinda and Toyota are doing a much better job with the hybrids.
With involvement at the Kentucky Truck Plant, I saw the last Excursions roll off the final line last week. There was very little pomp and circumstance.
Bill Ford stated recently that ‘DEARBORN, Mich. Gas-electric hybrid engines will be available in half the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury lineup by 2010, Ford Motor Co. Chairman and CEO Bill Ford said. He said the automaker will be able to produce 250,000 hybrids in the next five years. It currently has two sport utility vehicles on the market.’ (AP)
Perhaps moods are changing? I don’t know.
With regard to the Explorer they are built in St. Louis and in Ford’s other Louisville assembly plant. They can produce many Explorers in two plants.
P.s. Steve, I saw you taking pics a couple weeks ago from your scooter of the new and improved Target on Hampton Ave. I am anticipating to read your updated assessment of the store.
– Brian
In the past, I have heard Bush & Company say we don’t have to worry about running out of oil or changing our lifestyle. They have faith that American ingenuity and science will bail us out. With their hostility towards intellectualism and science, we are truly on a collision course.
Another reason to “kick” the SUV habbit:
SUV’s are killers
here is part of an article from Yahoo UK news:
(http://uk.news.yahoo.com/07102005/3…ian-threat.html)
“A study in America recently found that, for the same collision speed, the likelihood of a pedestrian dying was nearly doubled in a crash with a large SUV compared with a normal passenger car.
The researchers said other studies reported higher rates of risk – up to four times – for serious injury and death in such collisions.
It is the geometry of the front end structure of SUV that poses the increased risk, the authors said.
Pedestrians injured by cars normally suffer mainly leg and knee fractures from the primary impact with the bumper, while head injuries often occur in the secondary impact with the bonnet or windscreen. The researchers said: “SUV bonnets are higher than those of cars and this results in more severe primary impact on the critical central body regions of the upper leg and pelvis.”
They said that a collision with an SUV also resulted in a doubling of injuries to vulnerable regions such as the head, thorax and abdomen. The researchers added: “The evidence shows that SUVs represent a significantly greater hazard to pedestrians than ordinary cars – and those pedestrians are getting older and more vulnerable.
The researchers said one measure should include changing crash investigation processes to identify SUVs in statistics on road accidents. They said that informing consumers of the increased risk to pedestrians from SUVs may represent a “useful first step” in raising public awareness.”
People buy what they want. All this crying for what. You are all so fatalistic. Should clean your .45 so you can end it all. Back in the 70’s we heard the same old doom and gloom. You always want to blame it on present administration but there has been no changes in at least 25 years. Slick Willy was in for 8 years and did nothing and I didnt here any complaints. Everything in the world is not always going to be the way YOU like it. You have had it so good for so long that you think it is owed to you.
[REPLY – People buy what they want? Well, I want the Smart Car from DaimlerChrysler that has been available in Europe since 1998. It is a tiny micro car holding two people and gets 60mpg without complicated hybrid technology. Their 4-passenger version gets about 50mpg. I want it but can’t buy it because it is not offered here. It is not offered here because our policies favor big thirsty vehicles whereas Europe & Asia favor more sustainable transporation.
You are right about it not just being Bush. I’ve stated that in prior posts. It just so happens that I think this issue will come the front while he is in office so he & republicans will get the brunt of the blame. Democrats are equally absent on this issue and have had their time in office to change things. – SLP]