"VW-Ford isn't just an alliance, it's an automotive earthquake" -Autoblog

4WD said:
Probably not as easy to produce turbines as tiny electronic gadgets … But the International Harvester turbines live on as part of another well known company …
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John Deere 1837 and still here but if they makes mistakes and don't bother to change course they will fail too. I understand exactly what you are saying and I agree Sears was the model that everyone copied but they started breaking down and did nothing to change it, they didn't leave the table with their chips. They were permanent residents in the skyscraper named after them and now they are lucky to get a room at the Motel 6.
That is a pretty sad end wouldn't you say, some would call that a major failure.
 
Tesla has a lot to learn about mass producing automobiles and their distribution.
Tesla has some catching up to do in large-scale production, but established car companies have a bigger problem... learning how to write software.
 
Trav said:
John Deere 1837 and still here but if they makes mistakes and don't bother to change course they will fail too. I understand exactly what you are saying and I agree Sears was the model that everyone copied but they started breaking down and did nothing to change it, they didn't leave the table with their chips. They were permanent residents in the skyscraper named after them and now they are lucky to get a room at the Motel 6.
That is a pretty sad end wouldn't you say, some would call that a major failure.
Click to expand...

In my lifetime Sears moved from catalog sales to unimaginable brick & mortar real estate …
Right in the middle of things in what was once the nicest of areas. A cornerstone of the big mall era.
During this same period SW Bell (att) was the 2nd largest employer in Houston … why? It was the industrial age and they did things with copper wire … So did Sears = massive workforce to run things … Legacy $ effects burden
Cameron Iron Works was #3 and had a huge plant in area that has no industry now. The era is over … we just need larger container ships and a barista selling coffee to the girl who cuts his hair … but Sears was now physically trapped

In Houston there are several huge former Sears stores in areas I would not drive through with an M1A1 tank. These I shopped at frequently years back - 3rd world country now. Many large cities contain numerous Sears stores just like that. What decision did Sears make that led to cities in major decay and crime riddled- that chased shoppers out - and killed the value of this formerly prime real estate and significant corporate investment … They didn’t but we can’t get into just who did. I watched them put a police station in the mall next to Sears … but that could not fix things - It was too late. Drug lords had won over more territory …

Now, Walmart started in small towns … waited a long time before coming into the cities … moving outside inward … not too far knowing what had happened to Sears. They added grocery sections to the super center … good move.
Along came Home Depot and Lowe’s and they became dominant by chasing the suburban flight. Started fresh in better places that were still expanding to get out of the Sears ghettos

But, Amazon is the most unique … immune to so much of this … they started beyond fresh without any balls & chains … technology was already there … put warehouses away from many of these crazy places … and besides the shoppers did not go there. Amazon was just one of many companies that replaced Sears … And it continues … It was a first for me to order a canoe online last night - but my son already got his new Ram that way.
We can’t even predict who’s going to be the big names 5 years from now … I’m still in a daze to see that freckled kid worth $109 billion …
 
4WD said:
In my lifetime Sears moved from catalog sales to unimaginable brick & mortar real estate …
Right in the middle of things in what was once the nicest of areas. A cornerstone of the big mall era.
During this same period SW Bell (att) was the 2nd largest employer in Houston … why? It was the industrial age and they did things with copper wire … So did Sears = massive workforce to run things … Legacy $ effects burden
Cameron Iron Works was #3 and had a huge plant in area that has no industry now. The era is over … we just need larger container ships and a barista selling coffee to the girl who cuts his hair … but Sears was now physically trapped

In Houston there are several huge former Sears stores in areas I would not drive through with an M1A1 tank. These I shopped at frequently years back - 3rd world country now. Many large cities contain numerous Sears stores just like that. What decision did Sears make that led to cities in major decay and crime riddled- that chased shoppers out - and killed the value of this formerly prime real estate and significant corporate investment … They didn’t but we can’t get into just who did. I watched them put a police station in the mall next to Sears … but that could not fix things - It was too late. Drug lords had won over more territory …

Now, Walmart started in small towns … waited a long time before coming into the cities … moving outside inward … not too far knowing what had happened to Sears. They added grocery sections to the super center … good move.
Along came Home Depot and Lowe’s and they became dominant by chasing the suburban flight. Started fresh in better places that were still expanding to get out of the Sears ghettos

But, Amazon is the most unique … immune to so much of this … they started beyond fresh without any balls & chains … technology was already there … put warehouses away from many of these crazy places … and besides the shoppers did not go there. Amazon was just one of many companies that replaced Sears … And it continues … It was a first for me to order a canoe online last night - but my son already got his new Ram that way.
We can’t even predict who’s going to be the big names 5 years from now … I’m still in a daze to see that freckled kid worth $109 billion …
Click to expand...


One point on the real estate value of Sears, the thinking at first was that the size of the stores created the value. As malls started to decline with online shopping taking hold, the thinking shifted and stores that were closer to the mall center became more valuable. Nobody wants to go to the end stores. Sears located on the ends mainly because of their tire and auto care centers.

If you walk into a mall you will notice the traffic patterns as shoppers tend to not go to the ends unless there is a popular destination there.
 
Every transit van I see is a Ford. They run all day long stopping over and over. They seem to run really well I have ridden in them a couple times. In any case happy we have Ford and GM.
 
rooflessVW said:
That's funny right there.

Ford makes a whole lineup of turds and a decent pickup.
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They make a pretty darned good full size van, too. I've not known anyone with a good long-term experience with a VW, Porsche, or Audi. A good friend just sold off his Cayenne after having both axles and other AWD drivetrain parts replaced. Fortunately, it was under warranty, but barely. It would have cost him $12k to $16k if he'd paid out of pocket. OUCH! He bought a 1 owner 2013 Cadillac EXT with about 130k on the clock and in pristine condition. He said it is a huge relief not constantly worrying about big trouble and knowing if it does come, he can afford to fix it and will have lots of choices as to where to get it done.

Don't get me wrong, I've always loved lots of things about VW/P/A, but I wouldn't buy one, based on what I've seen among friends and family with their experiences. None of them bought a second one.

I hope the partnership benefits both of them greatly.
 
4WD said:
In my lifetime Sears moved from catalog sales to unimaginable brick & mortar real estate …
Right in the middle of things in what was once the nicest of areas. A cornerstone of the big mall era.
Click to expand...

Oddly AND sadly Sears was one of the few that could have gone back to " catalog" sales (the online type) and saved the store.
Get off 80%-90% of the retail,
focus on warehousing and delivery and cost
Even print a catalog for certain high end customers, or those paying for a platinum membership.
 
parimento1 said:
Maybe they will start this partnership with putting Lincoln out of its misery
Click to expand...
They was ready to pull the plug on them 20 years ago with PAG but unfortunately that never happened.

Volvo, LR and Jaguar weren’t nearly as viable and prestigious as the ones currently avaliable at VW’s disposal.
 
I don't know why people are posting articles from July 2019 as news here. While I respect the author (Gary Vasilash) from his many appearances on Autoline After Hours, I disagree that this VW-Ford deal is an earthquake. This is just another money saving & tech/platform deal that is super common in the automotive industry. Prior to this EV-centric deal Ford had another cost saving EV/Hybrid tech sharing deal with Toyota. EV vehicles are a giant money loosing government mandated headache for the whole industry, so signing up for deals like this is simply a case of limiting the bleeding until that long promised day of EV profitability becomes a reality. Even the the gold standard of EV's Tesla is only making some money now because of the huge sums of money they earn ($428 million in Q2 2020 alone) from other automakers in the form of regulatory credits.
 
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