Ford's Big Time Factory

Ford Motor Company is in dire peril, along with many other legacy manufacturers. Many of us older (ahem) factory rats remember large factories bustling with thousands of employees. Now there are fewer of those vertically integrated behemoths. Ford's Rouge complex was an iconic standout of the industrial age.




Interior of the Ford River Rouge tool & die factory United States. Office of War Information. Overseas Picture Division. Washington Division; 1944

Recently Ford stock, NYSE symbol "F", traded as low as $1.88 a share, the lowest price in 25 years. Ford's CEO Alan Mulally says bancruptcy is not an option. But you have to wonder when the slide will end.

So far this year, Ford's U.S. sales are down 17 percent, and its market share has dropped from about 26 percent in the early 1990s to around 12 percent last month.