More good news for Ford, hoping to gain on its domestic rivals with residual-value strength. Also scoring high marks in the latest initial quality studies, Ford is gaining favorable approval among consumers in customer satisfaction surveys.
Ford, Nissan and Tesla accepted US government loans offered to speed electric vehicles to market by financing the retooling of production factories. Nissan will be first to the US market in August 2009 followed by Ford in 2010 and Tesla with a higher-end model in 2011.
Fleet drivers driving poorly result in significant hard and soft costs like downtime. On-line training from several sources can be effective as part of the risk management process provided it is comprehensive, performance is monitored with a test, and it is applied universally.
Edmunds.com sees recent surge in potential buyers on its website, but they have not translated into sales. Thus, July sales may end up on a par with June sales. People are holding onto their vehicles longer, but perhaps dealers can find a way to capitalize on the potential, says Senior Analyst David Tompkins.
The federal "cash for clunkers" program is funded for approximately 250K vouchers of $3,500 or $4,500 to pay for older, less fuel-efficient vehicles to be replaced by new ones. Vouchers will be available soon but will probably be gone long before the November 1, 2009, expiration of the current program.