Ah yes, those elusive people who make a $30,000 impulse buy of the latest Ford truck because they just can't be seen in last season's Ford. I'll admit there's even a thousand people in all of America who treat Ford pickup trucks as fashion accessories and just have to have the latest one for their Ford collection, like it's a designer purse.Darth Wedgius wrote: ↑Thu Aug 27, 2020 3:54 pm GreyICE, you aren't usually this slow. As I said, Ford does create demand, even though they aren't the customer. There are people as loyal to Ford trucks as to God, America, or the local football team. If there are no more Ford trucks, enthusiasm for that next truck can fall, and, with it, the number of auto-making jobs.
It's funny how you missed the point I started out with.
But lets not pretend. That logic can work on things like designer purses and other fashion accessories, but the vast majority of pickup trucks are bought by someone who needs a pickup truck specifically, or needs a vehicle generally. The people who need a vehicle generally are the ones who might not buy a pickup truck if Ford goes, but they'll buy some other similar vehicle - they still need some flavor of transportation that moves when you hit the gas pedal. And the people who need a pickup truck for its ability to transport things in the bed will buy a new truck when it makes financial sense to, that demand is as steady as a rock.
But lets say that you're right. Lets say that there's some value to the "Ford" designer label. Do you know what creditors want? Money. So if Ford is bankrupt, and the name "Ford" has value, then they'll sell the name "Ford" to a company who can put it on their pickup trucks. If it's the Ford F-150 design that's valuable, they'll sell that design to a company (who probably also want the factory that makes it).
Inevitably a small group of people on the internet will grouch that the 2023 F-150 isn't as good as the 2018 F-150 and everything has gone to shit, but that'd happen anyway.
If something like the label "Ford" has value, it'll be sold. That's what creditors do. They sell things that are worth something. Brands aren't sacred, they're a word and logo design registered with the Trademark office, and that registration can be bought and sold. There's quite a few former car companies that live on as logos some other company owns.