From an industrial standpoint, few companies symbolize the United States' decade of descent more aptly than Ford.

Ford. The mere name conjures up images of deeply-flawed auto market assumptions, an inability to cope with intense foreign auto manufacturer competition, inertia, and an inability to identify what's considered 'cool' among young adults.

As an example: how many young professionals do you know who want to 'run out and buy a Ford today?' These are the main reasons Ford's (NYSE: F) shares have plunged to about $2 per share. Its market cap is down to about $4.55 billion. In 2000, Ford's shares traded above $30.

Ford: it can't get any worse

Well, to paraphrase a song by The Beatles, Ford's stakeholders, including parties who are sitting on large blocs of stock, 'have to believe it's getting better, because it can't get any worse.'

Ford said it will re-hire 1,000 laid-off workers to assemble the company's most important product, the F-150 pickup, The New York Times reported Friday, with the company adding that it expects consumer demand to increase for the product. As a result, Ford says it doesn't need to merge with anyone to survive.

Ford (NYSE: F) delayed the new version of its flagship F-150 pick-up yesterday. It is giving up the ghost on light trucks and SUVs. No one will buy them. Sales are running off as much as 30% compared to last year. The company also cut all of its forecasts. This year Ford will lose money. Next year does not look much better.

All of this news and concerns that Ford may have to raise cash caused Moody's to say it was cutting its outlook on the company's debt, according to MarketWatch.

The news is telling, but not as telling as one of the details buried in the Ford comments on its forecasts. The company said total US vehicles sales for all car companies in the U.S. market would be between 14.7 million and 15.2 million this year. That is down about 300,000 from Ford's last estimates.

But, some analysts think the market may only produce sales of 14 million cars and trucks. Bloomberg reports that Citigroup believes "June auto sales in the U.S. may drop to 12.5 million, their lowest annualized rate in 15 years."

Ford is not set up for a marketplace which only produces 13 million to 14 million units a year. Its share of that market is about 15%. Ford's cost base is set to make money when U.S. consumers buy 15 million vehicles or more.

Can Ford take enough out of costs to make money at much lower levels of sales? Perhaps not. The UAW will have to take a hard stand at some point. Product design costs and factory operations can only be cut so much. The same holds true with marketing budgets.

Ford may have hit a point where it simply cannot structure the company to be profitable in its home market.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

It's become nearly tiresome by now -- car companies, especially one of the Big Three, announcing yet another production cut or shift, job cut, reorg, sales decline, losses, what not. If Thursday it was GM's turn, Friday it was Ford's turn. Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) said it "will delay introduction of its new F-150 pickup truck by two months and further cut production because of the declining market for pickups and sport utility vehicles."

If it wasn't so genuinely sad, and the implication of this, big picture wise, weren't so alarming, I might just say, boo hoo. The problem is, though, as much as I tend to shake my head when reading this and think "haven't you seen the writing on the wall," I'm more concerned about what all this could mean.

The bad news keeps coming for Ford (NYSE: F).

Today, the company announced that sales in the U.S. were down 15% in May. Not surprisingly, low-mileage pickup trucks and SUVs led the way. Sales of the F-150, Ford's bread and butter profit machine and its top-selling vehicle for over 30 years, dropped a whopping 31%.

Ford's miserable sales numbers come as Detroit neighbor General Motors (NYSE: GM) announced that it will close four truck plants and maybe even sell its Hummer division.

Both Ford and GM seem to finally be recognizing that their preferred approach to making and selling vehicles -- getting every penny out of their low-tech, low-mileage trucks while avoiding the engineering costs and difficulties of making high-tech, fuel efficient cars -- is finally hitting an immovable wall. Ford's marketing chief, Jim Farley, said that Ford is witnessing "the most dramatic shift in customer segmentation" in decades as consumers move away from trucks. He called May "a watershed month" and claimed that the auto industry is just "catching up with the breathtaking choices that customers are now making."

Ford (NYSE: F) announced late yesterday that it would cut back on the production of SUVs and large pickup trucks. I guess the harsh reality of high gas prices is finally sinking in at Ford headquarters. It's about time.

Ford will close its Wayne, Michigan truck plant for five weeks this summer. The plant is the source of Ford Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators, sad relics of the cheap gas and mindless consumption era. Not that I think mindless consumption is going anywhere, but cheap gas is probably gone for good. Both vehicles have seen double digit declines in sales this year.

And that's not the only major realignment in the works. Rumor has it that the Kentucky truck plant that produces the F-Series Super Duty pickup trucks will shut down for a month. Seems that expensive gas and a shriveling housing bubble has drastically reduced the demand for big work trucks. These plant closings come on top of a 10% reduction in truck production announced in March.

And in what seems like an admission of defeat for the profligate and war-inspiring American Way of Life, Ford said that it is planning a smaller pickup truck to be introduced in 2011. The truck will be based on the F-150, but be smaller and lighter and use a six-cylinder engine. Speculation is that the new truck, which may be called the F-100, will replace the Ranger.

If you own a Ford F-150, or a Lincoln Mark LT pickup truck, then you want to pay special attention to this, as Ford (NYSE: F) has announced that more than 655,000 of these vehicles are being recalled at this time.

The reason behind the current recalls is a possible problem with a hose that can affect the trucks' ability to brake properly. So far, Ford claims that there have been 11 accidents resulting from the faulty hoses, but that there have been no injuries to date.

The vehicles in question involve the 2005 and 2006 models of the trucks that come with the 5.4 liter 3-valve engines. If you have one of these trucks you should contact your local Ford dealer as soon as possible and get your replacement hose, at no cost to you.

Most of the trucks in question are located in the United States, which accounts for more than 600,000 of the trucks. Canadian residents account for another 50,000 vehicles, with the small remainder being located in other countries around the world.

Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last four years working as an analyst for the online investment advisory service Investor's Observer.

This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and check out other Battle of the Brands posts.

When it comes to comparing the pick-up trucks of Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) and Chevrolet by General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), I can honestly say that I've owned both brands. I bought one F-150 off the showroom floor. I also bought one that was very well used. Both my Chevy Silverados were low-mileage, used models. I leased one of them from my dad and the other one I bought from my brother. I have also had opportunities to drive multiple specimens of each brand that were owned by friends or associates. I like both brands as far as their trucks go. Their cars are a story for another day.

To me, Chevy trucks always seem a bit more solid, with interior appointments a little more lush and inviting. Ford trucks seem to focus more on utility and usability within a bit roomier interior. The Chevy trucks always exhibit deep power, easily delivered upon demand. Fords trucks always seem a bit more spunky with their aggressiveness always close under foot. Chevy trucks appeal to the gentleman in me but they've always done any job I asked of them. Ford trucks appeal to the workman in me and they sometimes seem immortal.

For residents of Detroit, today may have felt like they were transported back to the great old West, as automakers Ford Motor (NYSE: F) and Chrysler brought country to Motown for this year's North American International Auto Show.

For Ford, that meant recruiting the help of country music icon Toby Keith to unveil its newest model of the popular F-150 heavy duty truck. For Chrysler, it meant taking things to an even higher level. The auto maker literally brought traffic to a standstill when it paraded 120 Texas Longhorns into the convention center surrounding its newest version of the Dodge Ram pick up truck.

Definitely impressive marketing techniques to launch new models. Perhaps Ford and Chrysler figure they better put on a good show this year, after all, truck sales dropped pretty sharply last year, and with gasoline prices still hovering around $3 a gallon, you can bet that the trend will carry over into 2008.

The Ford (NYSE: F) F-150 has been one of the best selling vehicles in U.S. history. It is one of the most profitable products that the company produces.

A new version of the F-150 is one the way. According to Reuters, "the automaker, which has said its turnaround efforts hinge on exciting new products, is counting on the new trucks to help stem its protracted decline in U.S. sales."

Even if the truck has very little competition, it would not be likely to sell well. Pickups consume a great deal of gasoline. High fuel prices make the F-150 unattractive from that standpoint. And, Americans will probably defer new car buying due to tight credit and a bad economy.

In addition, Toyota (NYSE: TM) has entered the full-sized pickup market with the Tundra, and Chrysler has been in the business for year. GM (NYSE: GM) has a large line of light trucks. Each of these companies want the profits that come from selling a lot of pickup trucks.

If the F-150 is critical to Ford's fortunes, the company has a problem.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.