[mdorazio]

I can't tell if you're serious or trolling. Ford sold close to a million F-150s alone in 2019 (the best-selling vehicle in America), with the F-series line doing $42 billion in revenue on its own. The domestic auto industry is very much a real business with real revenue and real profitability.

[rcpt]

And VW didn't sell any pickup trucks in the US but it's not because Ford outcompeted them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax

[mdorazio]

Tundra is manufactured in the US and doesn't sell anywhere near as many. Other manufacturers are free to open production facilities in the US to avoid the tariff as well. Not sure what your point is...

[recuter]

Ford is permanently up to its eyeballs in debt and would not be a viable business without repeated government bailouts due to its history.

It isn't a very profitable market.

[mdorazio]

https://www.sfgate.com/business/fool/article/Why-Ford-Motor-...

And I assume you're referring to the automotive bailouts in 2008 when companies in many industries were falling apart and received bailouts or TARP funds? It was a rather unprecedented situation at the time, not really reflective of overall business viability.

Domestic OEMs have plenty of issues (poor innovation, arguably poor relative quality, unions, etc.) to criticize. Operating margins, which tend to be on par with foreign OEMs, aren't really one of them. And it really depends on what you're comparing it to to make a determination about how profitable the sector is. Pretty much nothing is as profitable as SaaS, but 4-5% is nothing to laugh at.

[smabie]

Running a business with high leverage is a totally valid way to make money. That said, Ford is doing very poorly. Their stock has lost like 60% since 2011. If you lose 60% during the greatest bull market the world has ever seen, well, maybe you should go out of business.