Sunday, December 11, 2005

Ford Plant Closings

GM's financial woes have gotten considerable press lately, somewhat taking the public pressure off of the Ford Motor Company. Unfortunately, Ford's financial pressure hasn't followed suit, and it looks like they're likely to close a round of plants themselves.
This is an unfortunate, as any need for downsizing is a negative sign, however the under-utilization of these facilities isn't something Ford can afford to support. The part that really got my attention was the inclusion of the Windsor powertrain facility. Any Ford enthusiast has a special place in their heart for motors manufactured in the Windsor plant; Mine formed when I first read about the DeTomaso Pantera. Auto companies sell a lot of vehicles based on their history, hence the resurgence of names like "Charger" and "GTO". While the name "Windsor" doesn't quite carry the weight of, say "Mustang," I have no doubt that the "Windsor V8" option catches a significant number of eyes. While I'm willing to accept the necessity of plant closings, I certainly hope the historical and sentimental significance of certain facilities is something Ford is taking into consideration.

1 comment:

FrankF said...

The Windor plant closing is just a sign of how the decline of Ford and GM marketshare leads to a decline in american-style performance cars.