Ford Likely To Overtake GM This Year

Before this month is out, the federal government is likely to find itself getting behind the GM steering wheel and driving that automaker through bankruptcy court. One month after Chrysler filed for bankruptcy protection itself, it appears that General Motors will be the next American car company to restructure, a fate that the Ford Motor Company hopes will not befall it.

Is This Ford’s Chance To Move Up?

Ford’s position could actually improve with GM’s restructuring. Even right now Ford is working diligently to poach customers from Chrysler and General Motors, figuring that some customers see the other automakers as being too risky to deal with. That move alone will shift some of GM’s business to Ford, a step that will soon propel Ford past GM as the top selling automaker for the US market.

Ford has several other advantages that will likely help the company increase its sales especially when the market improves enough to bring in more showroom traffic.

First, Ford has overhauled much of its fleet, offering newer editions of vehicles customers want. The Ford Fusion Hybrid, Lincoln MKS w/EcoBoost, Ford Mustang, Lincoln MKT crossover and an all new Ford Taurus will work to bolster sales. Chrysler has delayed all of its new product launch and will likely be late to the market with its own 2010 models. GM’s situation is unknown given that it will likely spend the greater part of the summer separating good assets from bad.

Second, customers tend to shy away from damaged brands. Even with the federal government protecting customers by guaranteeing car warranties, the corpse still stinketh and customers don’t want to associate themselves with something that is sick or dying. Chrysler is totally dependent on Fiat absorbing what is left of the company post bankruptcy while GM is getting rid of more dealers than Chrysler.

Third, restructuring is a messy process even if GM or Chrysler manage to emerge looking fairly good later on. Good, but smaller. Getting knocked down to size means that GM will not have quite the leverage they had in the past, but then again they won’t have as much baggage either. It’ll take an extraordinary effort on behalf of the company’s public relations people to make sure that customers know that GM is around for them. Still, I see Ford quickly moving past GM, perhaps to stay.

Chrysler and General Motors are giving Ford and other brands the chance to pick up market share, but I believe Ford will stay ahead of Toyota at least for now. Bad news for GM means good news for Ford.

See Also — Will New Fed Fuel Rules Harm Ford?