3 shifts are working 24 four hours a day, seven days a week, turning out Ford F 150 pickup trucks

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.suntimes.com/business/blogentries/index.html?bbPostId=B4jhSTW4PgUEBBhg3Bli3T1tB1tAPMKbxUebB7P2JVMMK9bT&bbParentWidgetId=B930EWn2i4v0z4IhOARLxZkg

The Ford F-150 plant is running three shifts

Monday, March 23, 2009

CBS:


If there's one city that's suffered mightily from the intense financial strain of the recession, it's Detroit.

And while General Motors and Chrysler have turned to the government for bailouts, one is doing so well that one Wall Street brokerage gave its stock a "buy" recommendation on Friday: Ford.

...

"If you're looking for that tiny glimmer of hope amid all the economic doom," says Smith, "the place to find it might be at the gleaming, green, state-of-the-art Ford truck plant in Dearborn, Mich. It has three shifts are working 24 four hours a day, seven days a week, turning out Ford F 150 pickup trucks.

"Every single truck has been spoken for," Smith continued. "A buyer or dealer wants it, which basically means it has a 'sold' sign on it"

[endarkenment]

1. And most of them will be put to use hauling groceries. nt.

[MissMarple]

3. You must be thinking of Hummers. F 150's are farm/work trucks.

Of course, they can be quite comfortable and easy to drive. We are on our third one.

[endarkenment]

6. Yeah, on farms and at work.

However across suburbia they are misused as family cars and commuting vehicles. The shopping malls and beltways are full of empty pickups used as personal transport.

[dysfunctional press]

7. huh? what part of suburbia are you in...?

i hardly ever see pick-ups around here- it's still mostly suv's, mini-vans, and crossovers.

[endarkenment]

11. Oh we have plenty of those too.

I certainly didn't mean to imply that 'oversized pickup' was the only stupid choice in personal transport, it is just one of many stupid choices. Go look at any shopping center or office parking lot. Start counting the F-150 class pickups. The answer to your irrelevant question is 'new england'.

[dysfunctional press]

15. most of the pick-ups around here are used by contractors/tradespeople and farmers.

and maybe some mexican immigrants. i'm in the far suburbs of chicago.

[MindPilot]

18. The F-150 is not "oversized". It is a standard pickup truck.

F250 crew cab, F350 extended with dualies, now those are oversized.

[endarkenment]

12. The data is a bit old, but 70% of pickups are used for personal transport.

"However, about 70 percent of pickups are used for personal transportation, according to the most recent U.S. Census survey data. By comparison, only 8.3 percent are used for construction and 4.6 percent are used in agriculture."

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15032/story.htm

[amandabeech]

5. Not on a rainy day.

I used to own a Jeep pickup. Loved it, couldn't kill it, but the groceries did get wet when I bought more than could be put in the cab.

[Kalyke]

9. So, you're going to tell people how to spend their money?

Heaven knows I'm a liberal, but I live in the real world where people aren't going to pay $32,000 on an ugly hybrid. And, while they seem popular on this board, they're not popular with the average American who thinks they're butt ugly.

[Scout]

10. hybrid = electric jelly bean n/t

[wuushew]

14. Which $32,000 hybrid are you referring to?

:shrug:

[alarimer]

2. Well Ford trucks are much better than Dodges.

I know this from personal experience. So Fords are more popular. I would bet that a large proportion are fleet vehicles.

You couldn't pay me to buy a Dodge anything after what we have gone through with the trucks here at work. They suck. I don't think Chevys suck as much but I really do not knwo.

[Tim01]

4. Wasn't it about this time last year

that the whole country was bitching because there weren't enough fuel efficient cars available? Complaining that Detroit had dropped the ball. That was when gas was like $3.50 a gallon. Now that gas is less than $2.00 a gallon Ford can't produce F150s fast enough. Typical Americans.
I listened to a auto exec on the radio just this morning saying that Americans won't buy fuel efficient vehicles unless gas is more than $3.50 per gallon. And he has no interest in building vehicles nobody wants. I don't blame him.
And I see them on the roads. It's suburbanites who are buying all those trucks and SUVs.

[Selatius]

8. I wonder how Ford F-150 sales would be faring if gas was still over $4.00/gallon.

Probably not as good.

[slackmaster]

13. Those are pretty good pickups for the price

I rent one on occasion when I need to haul debris or greenery.

[ContinentalOp]

17. Ah, if only all Americans were so rational.

I swear, of the dozen or so truck owners I know, their beds are probably empty 99% of the time.

[Profprileasn]

16. Not surprising

Buy Fords all the time. They're great!