[jalisco555]

Interestingly, Ford will actually weather this downtown better than GM, for a couple of reasons: 1) Their upcoming automotive product line (the new Fiesta, possibly the Ka, the next-generation Focus, the replacement for the US-market Fusion sedan, and the Kuga small SUV to replace the Escape) are coming from their highly-successful European division. 2) The Ford F-150 trucks are well-liked and could switch to large-scale implementation of diesel power over the next few years.

There's a third reason. Ford brought in talented management that has a clear idea of what the problems are and how to solve them. Whether it's too late for them given the damage already done is unclear, but Ford has the best chance of the formerly Big 3 to survive. Personally I think both GM and Chrysler are doomed.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

GM has eight brands and Chrysler has three. Put them together and you have a company that should reduce itself to two.

[RayChuang88]

Also, Ford sold off Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata Motors of India, so Ford no longer has to deal with the loss of sales from those brands lately.

From what I've read so far, the critics overwhelmingly like the new Fiesta, and the public seems to like them, too (sales have been very strong since the car started to reach showrooms earlier this month). As such, this means the Fiesta--if Ford does a successful job translating it for the US market--could have a huge hit on its hands in the USA.