07-02-2012, 03:15 PM | #1 |
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Henry Ford III appears on Barrett-Jackson - Orange County Auto Auction
I was watching some of the Barrett-Jackson - Orange County Auto Auction on Tivo over the weekend and I was impressed when the Speed broadcast team did an interview with Henry Ford III.
Henry Ford III is the great grandson to the founder of Ford Motor Company - Henry Ford. (Henry Ford - Henry Ford II - Edsel Ford - Henry Ford III) During the Speed interview Henry Ford III indicated that he spent a few years as a teacher and a coach before joining the family business. His current job, as I understand it, is the District Manager for Ford's Southern California operations. (That would be like a Business Center Director for Chrysler.) He sounded very humble and indicated that he routinely talks with Ford dealers in Southern California. Ford used to have a strong position in California about ten years ago and then gave up a large percentage of their market share between 2005 - 2008. It will be interesting to see if Ford can claw back some market share in Southern California with Henry Ford III in the driver's seat. |
07-04-2012, 05:16 PM | #2 |
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I don't remember what the exact numbers are, but Ford is supposedly gaining market share in California. I think the Fiesta and new Focus are helping Ford, but that was several months ago. I don't know what the situation looks like today, but it sounds like Ford is on a rebound a bit in California.
Unfortunately, the same can't be said for Lincoln (and Cadillac). Apparently, these two luxury brands are pretty much non-existent in the California market with Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, and Audi being the dominant brands. |
07-05-2012, 02:41 PM | #3 | |
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My impression of Ford's historic strong market share in California was because they jammed their dealers with inventory and then used Ford Motor Credit to move the iron. It seemed to work well and the dealers were mostly happy until the market started to soften and the dealers were stuck with excessive inventory and high expenses. Great point. While I think Cadillac has some existing product and some product in the pipeline that will sell in California, I don't think the same can be said for Lincoln. I'd hate to own a Lincoln single-point store anywhere, but I think it would be worse in a market like Southern California where the Lincoln dealers face high expenses and low market share/consideration. |
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07-06-2012, 09:47 PM | #4 | ||
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