Manufacturing Quality

In article ,
Matt Whiting wrote:

Think? The F150 has been the best selling truck in this country for the
last 30 years running.

And Microsoft is the best selling OS. What has that to do with quality?

few people buy an F-150 because that's what they are forced to use
at work.

--
Bob Noel
Looking for a sig the
lawyers will hate

Newps wrote:
That's because Ford doesn't force everybody to buy a truck that rides
worse because one twentieth of one percent of the trucks will have a
snowplow hung on the front. If you want the snowplow package you order it.

I thought you were the one who didn't like the "girlie man" trucks.
That is what a standard F-150 is. Then again, 95% of truck buyers don't
use then as a truck. Which means that Toyota, Nissan and Honda will
likely do very well longer-term with their car-like trucks.

Matt

Matt Whiting wrote:

Newps wrote:



Jonathan Goodish wrote:


(though I think Ford has figured out how to build a quality truck)



Think? The F150 has been the best selling truck in this country for
the last 30 years running.


And Microsoft is the best selling OS. What has that to do with quality?

Everything when there is competition. You don't buy Windows, you buy a
computer that has Windows.

Matt Whiting wrote:

Newps wrote:

That's because Ford doesn't force everybody to buy a truck that rides
worse because one twentieth of one percent of the trucks will have a
snowplow hung on the front. If you want the snowplow package you
order it.


I thought you were the one who didn't like the "girlie man" trucks.

I don't. I own an F250, the 150 won't tow my 5th wheel at freeway
speeds plus it is too small.


That
is what a standard F-150 is. Then again, 95% of truck buyers don't use
then as a truck. Which means that Toyota, Nissan and Honda will likely
do very well longer-term with their car-like trucks.

We'll see. They haven't so far these last 30 years.

Jonathan Goodish wrote:

The Japanese have not figured out why we Americans want full size
trucks.

Exactly.


alternatively, may be the Japanese have figured out exactly why *most*
people buy a SUV/truck; you guys are talking about towing large trailers
and plowing snow and other heavy duty stuff, while most SUV/truck users
drive the thing to commute to work on clean well paved (well, mostly well
paved, can't really consider 101 to be well paved but it's not really
offroad driving either) highways, and the worst cargo these vehicles
ever see is the occasional groceries bag or may be, more rarely but I
have seen it, honest, a mountain bike or two (for those who actually
go outdoors rather than just faking it); i.e., you guys who use
trucks for what it was intended, rather than just a status symbol,
are in a minority...

--Sylvain

In article ,
Newps wrote:
(though I think Ford has figured out
how to build a quality truck)

Think? The F150 has been the best selling truck in this country for the
last 30 years running.

Actually, the F-150 has been the best selling VEHICLE in the US for
quite a while now. Ford sold just shy of 1 million F-series trucks in
2005.

I sure hope that Ford can get past its current problems without slipping
on quality. It seems that Ford's passengers cars are just beginning to
look appealing.


JKG

In article ,
Matt Whiting wrote:
Even the standard F-150 is now pretty wimpy. When I called to inquire
about a snowplow for my K1500 a few years ago, the first question they
asked me when I asked for a price was if I had an F-150. The reason is


The "standard" F150 may be pretty wimpy, but it's roughly equivalent in
capability to the "premium" Japanese offerings. If you want to tow, you
buy the appropriate package, which includes more than a trailer hitch.
If you want a snow plow on the front, you buy the appropriate package.



JKG

In article ,
Matt Whiting wrote:
I thought you were the one who didn't like the "girlie man" trucks.
That is what a standard F-150 is. Then again, 95% of truck buyers don't
use then as a truck. Which means that Toyota, Nissan and Honda will
likely do very well longer-term with their car-like trucks.

Well, in 2005 Ford sold almost 10 times as many F-series trucks as the
closet Japanese competitor (Toyota). If 95% of truck buyers don't "use
it as a truck," there's still something that those buyers like better
about a Ford truck.



JKG

"Newps" wrote in message
. ..


Jonathan Goodish wrote:


(though I think Ford has figured out how to build a quality truck)

Think? The F150 has been the best selling truck in this country for the
last 30 years running.

I bought a new F150 some years ago. Biggest piece of poorly assembled,
unreliable piece of crap I ever owned.

Newps wrote in
:

Matt Whiting wrote:

And Microsoft is the best selling OS. What has that to do with quality?

Everything when there is competition. You don't buy Windows, you buy a
computer that has Windows.


Actually, several companies, including Dell and IBM, tried to market PCs with
Linux on them instead of Windows. OS/2 failed, not for quality. Even Apple
had to give in to the MS OS wars, with their new ads that indicate their new
Macs run Windows...

Microsoft has competition. They're just better marketers.


If it were just about the better mousetrap we'd all be rich.