When did layoffs go from massively shameful and embarrassing, to some kind of "eh it happens" type of thing? A few decades ago a layoff like this would have almost signaled the death of the company but now it seems like everyone does it all the time
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An alliance among all who oppose Donald Trump's actions, positions, cabinet, supporters, policies, or motives. This alliance includes anyone from the left or the right; anyone from any religion or lack thereof; anyone from any country or state; any man, woman or child.
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!desantisthreatensusa@lemmy.world

Jack Welch is the reason.
Greed.
It was Jack Welch
It was common back in the 80s at least, maybe further back.
This will tell you everything you need to know about that BS
Jfc, 6min of incessant yapping about shit I could not care less about. I think this is why I can't do podcasts. I was to annoyed by the time they started getting to the point.
Cool?
Sucks when the leopard eagles come home to roost, donut.
Ford dropped 100k on Donald trumps campaign in 2024
Just 100k? That is basically nothing for a big company or a big political campaign. I know it's still bad but 100k for Ford is not the same as 100k for a person
Canada just got a huge investment from Europe to build a synthetic graphite plant for EV batteries. The workers could move up here but they would have to give up their guns and hate speech, accept that women and the LGBTQ+ have rights, that their religious rights end at the end of their noses and that their religion tells them what they can't do, not what other people can't do.
Guess im never buying a Ford. Shame, because I was a fan as a kid.
Edit: I owned a Ford Taurus as my first car years and years ago. It had problems, but it was a comfortable ride. I liked fastback mustangs as a kid. As an adult I hoped that they could one day make sense as a purchase. My next car will almost certainly be electric.
I mean it's Trump that removed their entire market. People don't buy EVs unless there's legislative pressure being built on ICE emissions.
Not that Ford couldn't have handled this with more grace of course... But I honestly doubt they were happy about the idea of building an entire plant and then shutting it down
Trump may have put a small speedbump in the path, but Ford could have absolutely pushed forward with promoting EVs if they wanted to. People do buy EVs even without incentives, and car companies have been telling people what their preferences are the whole time.
I think they overestimated their market. I think the Lightning was the perfect truck to spearhead the EV transition. It looks, drives, and feels like a normal (yet powerful) truck. Being the highest volume seller, electrifying the F150 made sense on paper.
But that’s where it really stops.
The kind of person that buys a 4x4 F150, is not the same demographic that wants to be seen in an EV. As childish as the mentality sounds, that’s the demographic.
Where they sell 70,000 F-series (150 through 550 I think super duty’s included until dump beds), they only sold ~1,500-2,000 lightnings a month. Which honestly isn’t that bad for such a niche product.
I think the move to give it a plug in hybrid style powertrain will help sales as our travel charging infrastructure is still garbage. But try and tell people that they can just charge at home with an L2 and they freak out. It’s also frustrating that most people who are against EV’s just don’t understand technology in general.
In contrast, Ford sells about 15,000 mavericks a month. More when it was newer, same with the Lightning.
I do agree with your points and that Ford isn’t happy, and they could have handled the whole situation a little better.
Why is it that electric cars have to be weird, ridiculously high performance, or both?
I don't want strange controls, I don't want virtual door handles, I don't want a cab full of computer screens, I don't want bizarre styling, and I honestly don't want a 250mph 0-60 in 0.2 seconds hypercar. Give me a car that looks and acts normally but has an electric powertrain so that I can plug it in at home rather than having to go to a gas station all the time.
I agree. Finding a car that is front wheel drive and not 1000 hp is ridiculous.
I’m pretty sure most major brands are aligned with maga at this point. Toyota has gone maga with their (I think) CEO putting on trump merch for photos. Stellantis and GM contributed to trump, and ford seems to be going in that direction. Tesla is obvious. Seems like what remains is expensive brands (BMW, Porsche, Mercedes) and Hyundai, Rivian, and Subaru. Not sure where Nissan sits in all this.
Mitsubishi
I also can’t believe I forgot VW. Pretty sure they’re are OK minus the whole Dieselgate thing.
I'm getting a raise and I was thinking about buying the ID.3 let's see if I can in the end
The ID3 looks super cool, I really want to go test drive one. If you ever do a test drive, post about it.
Former CEO for Toyota, but none of that should matter too much if you buy pre-owned anyway. Tesla maybe notwithstanding. Don't be the sucker who buys new
Ford's always been crap since the 70s. There's a reason they say Fix Or Repair Daily or Found On Road Dead.
I mean, what were they supposed to do? Trump enacted all these tariffs and all the money they spent on the plant would never be recouped in vehicle sales, so they’re rejiggering the factory to produce (sigh) data center batteries. At the end of the day they’re a corporation, and they’re gonna go where the money is. Apparently that money is not in retraining the existing workforce?
It’s just a dumb situation all around. Not like anyone’s buying cars anyway. And now folks that are in abject poverty will be even worse off. Trump did this, and Ford in their infinite wisdom made it worse, if inadvertently.
I'd buy an electric pickup tomorrow if they made one in the same style as a 90s single cab ranger or s10
slate.auto
5ft bed
My entire team was laid off.
Sucks when your actions come back and bite you in the ass. I just feel bad for the people that didn’t vote for Trump. Typically I would have sympathy for both sides, but Trump was very clear what he was gonna do before the election.
That’s what Ford wants. EV’s are expensive and retooling to meet emissions standards is expensive. The profit margins are thin if there are any at all. Better to lay off all these people and push the good ol’ ICE production line where there are known profits to be made.