Yesterday, the numbers came out for car sales. They were generally dismal. Chrysler down 41%, GM down 33%, Toyota down 33% and Ford down 11%. Do you notice anything specific? Ford, of all company's is doing better, much better and WITHOUT GOVERNMENT BAILOUT! According to news reports, they are also gaining market share. Interesting!
They too, were too big to fail. But Ford had been in trouble long before the others. They were blotted, greedy and their quality was okay but not great. Their cars were about as appealing as me in a bikini. So their board and their top management began making the hard, hard decisions of laying off, closing plants, negotiating with the UAW, reducing management staff and INCREASING marketing and re-engineering their cars to meet the market. They did this long before the others. The others waited until it was too late and then they ran to the government for help. Why? GREED by the top people. Greed! They were so big and successful they were invincible. Wrong!
The other thing Ford has done is realize that they are only as good as their people. They manged through the problem. My personal belief is that when the CEO of Ford was asked to take a $1 a year to run the company by Congress, he said "I'm good". What did he understand? He understood that the government was bout to get in their pockets big time and he said no thanks to bailout money and they have re-invented them selves.
Small and Family owned businesses do the same. Look at where you are NOW! Take action. Make the hard decisions now. They will not become easier in the future. Honest! Do it now. Don't know what to do. Call me. I will help you.
By the way, I bought Ford stock at a little over $2 per share. It is right at $6 a share now. I expect that by next quarter they will be close to even in sales, gained market share and have learned a valuable lesson. More is not necessarily better, sometimes less is.
What do you think?
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