Why should not Kill the trucks?

With the convenience that trucks bring us, the problems of those vehicles are exposed to us. For example, the large consumption of the gasoline, the large emission of the exhaust gas and the large amount of noise are some negative aspects that some people are against. Ford, as one of the biggest auto companies in the U.S.A., produced a lot of those controversial trucks. Then some groups talk about the issue of whether Ford should stop selling the oil-dawdled but profitable cars and trucks. Ironically, “the social justice organization CorpWatch bestowed its Greenwash Award on the automaker…while the average fuel efficiency of the company`s fleet was getting worse due to increasing sales of SUVs” (Askari, 2001, para.15). “For over a century, the Ford Motor Company has been a symbol of American enterprise and pride. Set up by Henry Ford in 1903, it pioneered affordable motoring for the masses with its 1908 Model T” (Leggett, 2005, para.1-2). Ford is an important competitor in the field of making cars. Some people, like the executive officer of Ford Motors, disagree with making Ford stop selling those cars. Other people, such as some environmentalists, argue that they should stop producing the cars because the environment is getting worse and worse with a slow speed of deterioration. They have suggested that Ford should use some new kind of energy such as solar battery, ethanol or hybrid. Actually, those new fuels are not very popular around the world today.

According to Roosevelt (2000), controlling the fuel economy and cleansing the tailpipes have been the requisite strategy of General Motors and Ford Motor Co. for several decades. It seems that Ford is a green motor company. It loves green as much as the public does. Thereby, as the best response to the unreasonable request, Ford should not stop selling the oil-dawdled cars. First, if the company stops selling them, Ford will make no profit, like a charity organization. Ford is a business company and it cannot live without income. Second, there is no moderate replacement of the truck. Although the high technology is developing at a high speed, the technology still cannot be put in place because it can only work in theory. Third, Ford has many competitors who want to kill Ford. Some of its deadly foes, such as Honda, Toyota and GM, are watching Ford. Once Ford cuts the production, they will rush out to grab that market which was controlled by Ford. Therefore, Ford should not stop the trucks and SUV sales.

First of all, Ford will make no profits without selling those well-sold but controversial vehicles. Those cars, such as trucks and SUVs, are the main source of income of Ford Motor. “For decades, Ford's F-Series truck has been the best-selling vehicle in America” (Ford history, n. d., para.1). Once the program of producing the trucks is held up, the company will lose a lot of money. Ford will be like a painter who loses his hands or a singer who gets sick in his throat. Is there someone who wants to cut his hands because they sometimes are out of control such as hitting himself? No one wants to do that stupid thing for the reason that compared with the damage the hands made, they have created more profits. So it would be a terrible pain for Ford to be forced to stop selling trucks or SUVs. Also, the finances of the company are in danger. According to Leggett (2005), “Although the company made a $3.5bn profit last year, most of its revenues came from selling car loans and other credit-it made relatively little money from selling cars. And if the interest rates rise, those revenues could dry up” (para.10-11). This is another big problem which Ford is facing. What is worse, as everyone in the United States knows that the economy of the U.S. is involved in a big trouble which is that it is decreasing. “If the economy continues to worsen and U.S. auto sales nosedive, the top executive of General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC say they are prepared to weather the downturn” ( Detroit automakers prepare for worst sales year in a decade, 2008, para.1). According this situation, it is not a good idea to stop selling trucks to avoid the possibility of Ford Motor being collapsed. Therefore, Ford should not stop selling those trucks and SUVs.

The next reason that the argument cannot be accepted is that there is not any moderate replacement vehicle for the trucks and SUVs. Without selling those vehicles, what kind of cars can Ford produce? Can it sell the hybrid trucks, the electric trucks, the fuel cell trucks or the solar trucks? It is impossible only to sell these cars, because the technology used with these cars is limited. Actually, the efficiency of using new energy in the car is still lower than that of using the gasoline in an internal combustion engine. For example, the top speed of Toyota hybrid car Prius is 109 mph which is obviously slower than 160 mph-the common top speed of the car using gasoline. Further, if you drive a full electric car, you have to charge the battery every few days. Once you forget to charge, you may have to walk to work. However, you just only ought to fill up the gasoline every two weeks, if you have a common car using gasoline. And it is easy to remember to fill the gasoline every two weeks and it is not worth driving the hybrid cars. In addition, the new energy can only be bought in a few gas stations. The new fuel is being popularized slowly in a small scale around the world. For example, if you have an electric car and you live in Carbondale, when your car is under low power, you have to go to Chicago to charge your car. Will people buy a car that they have to drive hundreds of miles to charge? It is obvious that nobody will do that kind of thing. Instead, they will prefer to do something easy. After all, it is not reasonable and not timely to ban Ford from selling the trucks or SUVs.

The last consideration for Ford is its huge number of competitors. Ford is the most famous and largest automaker; on the other hand, it is also the biggest rival that the other automakers want to beat. According to Leggett (2005), “In the United States, Ford is struggling to maintain its share of the market in the face of intense competition from Japanese manufacturers Toyota, Honda and Nissan-as well as its traditional rivals General Motors and DaimlerChrysler” (para.12). This is a hard situation for Ford, and by now the result of the competition is negative. “…General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC (are) collectively (losing) market share to foreign carmakers like Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co….” (Japanese competition has negative impact on U.S. automakers' - S&P, 2008, para.2). For avoiding this consequence happening, Ford should do something to improve the output of its products instead of stopping production. If Ford gives up the trucks and SUVs marketplace, the other automakers would take its place to sell them. Is there any difference between who sells the trucks and the SUVs? There is no difference. Once Ford follows the advice and stops producing trucks or SUVs, sooner or later, one of the biggest Motor companies which has a history of over 100 years will be killed by the weird suggestion. Thereby, Ford should not defer.

Opponents argue that Ford is the criminal of the environment and it is not so green as it claimed before because Ford makes trucks and SUVs which engendered a lot of pollution. However, this argument is not accurate because Ford is making a contribution to the environment. According to Askari (2001), “Through the Ford Motor Company Fund, the chief executive has helped steer millions of dollars to environment organizations in recent years. Last February, the fund contributed $5 million dollars to the Audubon Society, the largest contribution in his society`s history” (para.27). This proves that Ford is concerned about the environment, and it did what it should do as an environmental leader. Also, Ford makes its vehicles green. As Fonda (2006) said, “Ford also became the first American automaker to sell a hybrid SUV, with the Escape model in 2004” (Fonda, 2006, Sep. 10, para.3). Indeed, Ford has been working on the environmental problems and trying to reduce the waste gas from the tailpipe since they realized the environmental issue. They are clear with their responsibility that they should take good care of the nature. Therefore, Ford is also an environment protector. It is cruel to stop Ford from selling the trucks and SUVs.

In conclusion, asking Ford to stop the trucks and the SUVs is good thinking, but it is out of reality. If the trucks and SUVs are stopped, it will cause a dead Ford. First, Ford is going to face another economic problem while facing financial crisis after it stops selling the trucks and the SUVs. In America, most of the cars bought by the consumers are on loan from the banks. And the deadline of most of the loans is more than 10 years later which illustrates that Ford does not have much money. If Ford prohibits the trucks and SUVs, Ford will certainly die. Next, the limited technology reflects that it is not possible only to produce the new fuel vehicles. The hybrid, hydrogen cars are being produced as concept vehicles which just expresses the ideal cars in humans` mind. There are many obstacles to overcome until those concept cars become realized. Last, the competitors will take the place of Ford to sell trucks and SUVs. The Japanese vehicles, such as Honda and Toyota, are very popular in the U.S. because they have high quality, low price and fascinating design. Trucks and SUVs are the favorite styles of American consumers. Ford cannot stand for a while in the seriously competitive auto markets. To sum up, Ford should not stop selling the oil-dawdled but profitable cars. As the new technology is being invented, someday there may be a new style that may take the place of the trucks and SUVs because those new cars are not only green, which the consumers recommend, but also profitable, which satisfies the businessmen of Ford Motor.












Reference
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Ford History, (n. d.). Edmunds. Retrieved Apr. 24, 2008, from http://www.edmunds.com/ford/history.html
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