George Pipas
George Pipas
goal good increase market share
Our goal is to increase market share in 2003. There's a long way to go...but this is a good start.
economy ford good half june key kicks optimistic report sales second several summer year
We feel pretty optimistic about the second half of the year and where the economy is heading. And this June sales report kicks off a good summer for Ford in several key areas.
board cars coming data despite economic effect good incentives lower reason sold spring using
Probably the reason why '03 was lower than '02, and the reason that we don't think '04 will is necessarily going to be a blockbuster, is despite these good economic data coming in, we sold so many cars using incentives in '01 and '02, we didn't get the spring board effect you usually see,
areas coming good news optimistic
We're optimistic that we'll see more good news in these areas in coming months.
good looks quite strong
I don't know if 1999 is going to be quite as strong as 1998 but it looks like it's going to be another good year.
advantage balance capacity demand honda production toyota whenever
Whenever production and demand are out of balance, you have incentives. Toyota and Honda have the advantage of a more clean-sheet approach, so they have capacity more in balance with demand.
buys car focus likely move pickup stay
The person who buys a Focus is more likely to stay with us to move into a mid-size car or SUV or pickup trucks,
lack levels support term
With these levels of inventories, we probably need to replenish inventories to a level that will support a - for lack of a better term - 'normal' level of sales,
assumption base planning
Our base planning assumption was not predicated on unemployment going down,
financing impact perceived percent program strong swept wave zero
I think that impact of that program is not as strong as when it was first announced, ... Zero percent financing was like a tidal wave and you had to get on the wave or you'd be swept under. But I think the program is still perceived as having a lot of value.
buying cars feedback less people
Some of the feedback we got was there was less traffic, but people who were there were people there buying cars and trucks.
beginning expected january sales
January sales were better than we expected at the beginning of the month. We expected them to be down 15 to 20 percent.
ahead easily inventory january month selling situation
January is easily the slowest selling month of the year. We don't want the inventory situation to get ahead of us.
best huge last month sixth
Last May was a huge SUV month -- the sixth best ever for Ford,