Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Ford Announces Major Dip In Sales

A WHOPPING 41% from last year at this time, to be exact. Even though Ford rejected any government loans, I knew such an announcement was imminent.

I grew up with Fords. My brand loyalty goes back to the first car I ever owned. A 1981 blue Ford escort that was 14-years-old by the time I bought it. Daddy swore by the brand. Only once did I cheat when I leased a Jeep for a few years early this century.

Nobody's perfect.

We've tried to buy two vehicles from Ford in the last two years. Last year, they didn't make a fuel-efficient, five-door hatchback model I wanted. So I ended up with a Toyota Matrix. I was pained. Only the second time in my entire life that me or my family has ever owned anything other than a Ford.

Just last week, the lease on my Ford F-150 ended and we wanted to lease another one. But Ford is in such dire straits, the leasing deal they offered was ridiculous. 13% interest rate made a $300 payment rise to nearly $800. I don't want to own a new truck, but I considered it. Still, the interest rate on the new model was terrible and I wasn't about to fork out over 600 bucks for a monthly payment.

Lo and behold, Toyota had a great leasing deal on a brand new Tacoma. 300 bucks a month for a two-year lease. I couldn't do it. I refuse to have two Toyotas in my driveway. So, until Ford gets its shit together makes a car I wanna buy and comes up with some incentive to lease, we'll go without a pickup, or acquire an old Ford clunker just to haul trash to the dump.

No comments: