Two of the biggest and most successful automakers in the U.S. are GM and Ford. The two are bitter rivals in the market with cars like the Mustang and Camaro going head to head, as well as the Ford F-150 and Chevrolet Silverado trucks. A report is going around that claims there is a chance that a Ford and GM merger could happen. Talks of a Ford and GM merger come on the heels of a proposed merger between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and Renault.
The FCA/Renault merger is heralded as a tie-up that would save $5.5 billion. In a global market where sales are on the decline, that is a massive savings that can’t be ignored. Ford is facing a very rough road having closed factories all over the world and announced that it would be shedding 7,000 workers recently.
The auto market in China is slowing down, and all automakers are facing decreasing profits and challenges globally. GM and Ford both enjoy a strong market share in the U.S., but Ford is facing challenges and discontinued all of its passenger cars except the Mustang to focus on trucks and SUVs. GM is doing well in China, while Ford sees sales fall in the country. The Chinese market is critical for the automakers, and both could use help in that market.
Reports indicate that GM is better regarded under CEO Mary Barra, while Ford CEO Jim Hackett isn’t well regarded in the industry. Ford has the best selling vehicle in the U.S. with the F-150 truck, but GM sells more vehicles overall with about 17 percent of the U.S. market. If GM took over Ford, the two combined companies would have close to 30 percent market share. 24/7 Wallst says that regulators might require the automakers to spin off some brands. The most likely would be GM’s Buick or GMC truck businesses.
24/7Wallst reckons that GM has a future as a stand-alone car company over the next decade, but Ford doesn’t. It bases this on the market cap of Ford declining 42 percent over the last five years, while GM is close to flat. A merger would also make it easier for Ford and GM to compete against the other big mergers like FCA and Renault as well as against Toyota and VW. A Ford and GM merger sounds unlikely to us, but stranger things have happened.
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Source: 247Wallst
Comments
No.
Henry would roll over in his grave. Don’t se it?
Stupid article. Look at Mazda, Subaru, Nissan, Honda .. .and many other European automakers. If they can survive, of course Ford can. Ford is very strong in the US, has a presence in China, and soon India, not to count many other markets around the world. When Toyota buys Honda, and Mercedes buys BMW, then I will believe that GM could buy Ford. It won’t happen otherwise.
If a merger had to happen, it would be Ford Toyota before Ford GM
I’am sure Toyota would have Fords best interest —-LOL
SHANE MCGLAUN, you are getting sound like the phony news media always after Trump. This article sucks, it has a phony media flavor added to it. Wall Street sucks too.
I’m not a fan of Hackett, I don’t know he got in that position, but shedding dead weight in any business makes them lean and mean. GM wouldn’t be where they are today and that’s not all that great. They haven’t and can’t even pay back the loan Obammer gave them.
Ford didn’t get a hand out and don’t forget that!
If GM paid back all that money they were given they’d be looking for a bailout again.
So take your phony news to a phony news channel.
Seems like you don’t understand the intricacies of the transaction associated with the GM bailout, relegating you to spew out falsehoods. But that’s okay, it’s a topic misunderstood by most, so I don’t blame you.
As for the rest of your comment: the fact that you don’t agree with an opinion doesn’t make something “suck”. It just means you don’t agree. But hey, at least someone is “getting sound like” they can write good 😉
Al, if I don’t know the intricacies of the transaction, it’s the phony news medias fault. Where is that information and prime example is Chrysler, they made a major announcement world wide that they paid back their loan and with interest.
If my writing isn’t up to par, my fingers are moving faster then the brain and sometimes they miss the proper writing technics. Non the less, I get my points across.
Thanks for at least reading what I wrote. This exchange is good for the sole.
This article is meaningless. Ford and VW have ongoing talks about closer collaboration. GM-Ford is just someone’s opinion with no basis on fact.
I’ll never buy either brand again so just shut them both down and lay everyone off. Ford made some bad stuff but not as bad as GM. The problem with both companies are their crkd. dealers. If I was a car company I would control my dealers just like McDonalds and own their property. If they treated people bad and ripped them off I would evict them. In todays marketplace you can’t inflate a basic auto’s price 20 grand. For example I was shopping for my wife a new small car in AWD gas was 4.00 a gallon. I went to Ford and drove an escape and went for a test drive in 2013 the sales man tells me the Escape is $39,000.00. I laugh in his face and turn around and haul ace back to the dealership, nope no escape is worth that. Ford didn’t want to sell me AWD in the car with the options I wanted. I stopped and bought a Honda CRV no hassle for 22,000.00 with AWD blue Tooth radio etc. That was five years ago and never a repair. If Ford would make their dealers sell me the car of my choosing without a load of extra crap they wouldn’t be going broke. I should be able to buy a car just like Saturn did on the internet and never go to the stealer ship. The problem with Saturn is it was GM and it was my last Saturn as they had cheap Renault parts on them like the starter and alternators etc. The Saturn left me stranded on a trip because the cheap starter went out at like 30k and the same things happened to a friend Saturn around the same time. I still have a Chevy in my barn. But I wont buy a new one after trying to buy a new Silverado crew cab WT for the farm. I got into the CRKDST GMC dealership in OKC. It was the worst experience ever and I will never go back into anything GM stealership. One American car company in America is shameful but since everything is run by liberaltards that’s the way it is. lol
I’d rather ride my bicycle than drive a GM car. Everyone i have owned has nickel and dimed me to death. They are crap. I’ve never had problems with my Fords like GM but even they are not as good as my Honda’s that i just get in and drive and not one thing has gone wrong with them. They’re dealerships are superior to Ford &GM also, they don’t try and rip you off. Ford will never merge with GM, why would they want to go out of business.
If GM and FORD merge GM will bring both of them down like GM nearly went under in 1934 when holden saved them an in 4 other time’s in the past GM should of gone under in 1934 . this is what GM is going to do to FORD
How did Holden save GM in 1934? Holden was a body building company that GM bought. Even then, Holden was a very small part of GM.
GM needs to follow FCA’s lead, and make GMC their sole truck/SUV producer. Eliminate Chevy trucks altogether. Eliminate the Camaro? Good call, it’s competing with the Corvette. Phase out everything smaller than the Malibu? Another good call, same as Ford is doing with their car segment.
However, I don’t see a GM/Ford merger. I DO see a GM/Toyota merger, however, along with a Ford/Mazda merger, if not an outright buyout of Mazda. Use Mazda’s car lineup, and Ford’s truck and SUVs.
FCA should add Mitsubishi to their stable though, not Renault. Renault is a lot like Peugeot, a locally produced, Euro-only brand.
“Ford Division of General Motors” It’s got a certain ring to it. At least it would be stronger than Toyota with their decaf blandmobiles!
Im a true blue ford guy and if they merge i will never buy again ill drive old fords and fix them as i go like my father did 69 ford truck he had till he died in 2012
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading the pro Ford bias opinions in this thread.
After working as a licensed auto tech for 15+ years I can say both brands have had their issues and poorly made vehicles. But Ford definitely made me more money over the years than GM products. In case that needs to be explained (this is a Ford website) Fords broke down more often with higher repair costs over GM’s.
I’m non-bias towards any brand as every manufacturer has a diamond amongst turds.
I have nothing but good things to say about Fords 5.0 V8 since it’s revival. It might even be better than GM’s LS series engines. But the LS was just so incredibly easy, simple, reliable and had potential for power. The 5.0 is fantastic though.
I wouldn’t drive a free Ford car, not even a Mustang of any type. But there are few GM cars I thought were good either.
If these two brands merged, the Camaro would disappear, the Mustang would only get better, the F-150 would finally become as reliable as its engine and the GMC truck line would vanish. The Silverado would finally become the best selling truck in North America because the market split between Chevrolet and GMC would all go into Chevy.
Yes that’s right Ford guys you’ve been believing a lie all these years. GM has been the best selling pick up truck in North America all along!
It would only be a good thing for both brands to merge even though it’ll ruffle up brand loyalties and convince narrow minded buyers to buy from neither.