http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns17335.html

So if Ford does buy up its own sock and go private, would that be a good thing or a bad thing for Mazda?

I am thinking it would be good, might let Mazda do some more interesting stuff without having to worry about the stupid share holders getting scared.

 

I definitely think this would be a wise choice for the Ford family as they have the most to lose from the company going through chapter 11. Right now the market cap for Ford is a little over $14 billion which I am pretty sure the Ford family can swing without much problem.

 

good yes- also saw an article sayign that ford called Ghosn and said if the thing with GM falls thru then they should talk

 

Oh no!!!We will all end up driving Renaults!!

 

We've talked a lot about that news release throughout the meeting rooms of Ford and we cannot get a read on Bill's motives. It's pretty well known that a few years ago Bill courted Ghosn for position Mark Fields now holds with Ford. He turned it down because of the Ford family's control of the company. So, either Ford will go private or Bill will again court Ghosn for the CEO role at Ford....both actions will not happen together. Personally, I think the new 'Ford courting Ghosn' media leak is meant to force GM's hand on an unhealthy partnership with Nissan/Renault which would ultimately hurt all three companies. I think the weakening of GM and Nissan in the US would work well for Ford as well as others.

"It's Strategery"

 

Bye bye Billy. Don't let the door hit you on the way out. Maybe now Ford will be able to design and build a quality car that customers would actually want to buy.

 

Actually, Bill Ford did turn around the company after Nasser screwed it up. And he's not leaving, just bringing someone in to run the business end of it. The guy they are getting worked a major turnaround for Boeing's commercial division, so it should be interesting to see what he does at Ford (considering he modeled his plan to turn Boeing around off of Ford's earler plan...).

It's not a case of Ford not building what the public wants, as the trucks are still hot sellers (even the Explorer is still the #1 in it's market), and the Mustang was a great success. Bill's managing of Mazda and the premium brands has been going well, especially for Aston Martin.

 

I think the Ford family taking the company private for the next 10-15 years may not be a bad idea. As the article points out... it would give them the freedom to do whatever needs to be done to get things back on track without worrying about shareholders and analysts. And that is one of my personal issues with taking a company public... the company that you put blood, sweat and tears into... that your vision has brought thus far... will now get influenced by people who only care about the bottom line and thus improving the company's value/stock price...

 

Allan Mullaly, the new CEO from Boeing, is a great choice. He is a real engineer, a great leader, incredible smart and has the ***** to be innovative. He was very well respected by the technical community at Boeing. In fact, a lot of people were dissappointed he wasn't named Boeing's CEO.