Today's Stat, Follow Up

Ford' sales dropped 9.6% from a year ago. This despite a 3% increase in passenger car sales. Ford has been by far and away the domestic automobile manufacturer most reliant on big SUV sales. From my perspective they more or less abandoned the passneger car market for close to a decade. They're passenger cars are neither exciting nor terribly reliable. Earlier this year there was a quote from Bill Ford saying the company was "surprised" at the sustained high gasoline prices that caused the slump in truck and SUV sales.

The article also notes that Jaguar, owned by Ford, saw a 35.2% decline in sales. Several of my friends and I predicted problems when Ford took over this brand. Sure, Jaguar's infamous electronic systems couldn't get any worse but the brand's prestige was it's saving grace. Being owned by a "colonial" company was detrimental. Then Ford brought out the small Jag based on the Taurus frame. It was all over then. The prestige of owning a the big sedan or the sports coupe was gone.