Troubled car maker Ford Motor (NYSE: F) today saw its stock fall to lows not seen since way back in 1986, as traders continue to express concerns over the company's ability to compete with its rival Toyota Motor (NYSE: TM).

Yesterday, Wall Street got the bad news that many of us had been expecting but hoped never to hear: for the first time since 1931, Ford lost its grip on the number two ranking for U.S. auto sales in 2007. The company showed a massive 12 percent drop for the year, and has been replaced by Toyota as the second best-selling auto maker in the United States. Shares have tumbled, hitting an intraday low of $6.00 a share, which is the lowest the stock has traded in more than 20 years.

Just how hard has the company's market value degraded over the past decade? Consider this... in 1998 the company boasted a $68 billion market value, compared with its current value of "only" $13 billion. This is definitely a tough time for the car maker which less than a decade ago was responsible for 25 percent of all new cars sold in the nation.

With both Toyota Motor (NYSE: TM) and General Motors (NYSE: GM) saying that India is a prime market for future sales, one of the incumbent automakers is saying not so fast. Suzuki Motor Co. of Japan said this week that it firmly intends to keep 50% of the Indian consumer vehicle market "for eternity." Those are pretty strong words, yes?

In that rather long-in-the-tooth announcement, the head of the Japanese automaker said that Suzuki would bolster dealer numbers in that country along with enhancing its auto lineup soon to compete with the likes of new competitors to the region. Suzuki CEO Osamu Suzuki said that, "We can't let newcomers break our 50 percent share that easily. We're going to do everything we can to keep that level for eternity." Suzuki is Japan's largest producer of compact cars, and currently has a little above 50% of the Indian automotive market share.

Suzuki may be able to defend its title also, as it sold more compact cars in India during the first half of 2007 than in Japan -- which is considered a dazzling success. Suzuki, though, will have larger global automotive forces to reckon with in the next few years as bigger auto heavyweights move into the area trying to capitalize on growth in the consumer Indian market.

CEO Suzuki said he was "grateful" for the fierce competition, although he's probably sweating in his boots, which -- at his age of 77 -- could just be an intimidation tactic to other automotive CEOs who dare try to take his market share away.

Toyota (NYSE: TM) seems to have a newly energized General Motors (NYSE: GM) grabbing for its throat, as the American automaker outpaced Toyota for global sales in the first three quarters of 2007 just as Toyota gained the position of the world's largest automaker after decades losing that title to its American competitor.

Add to that a loss of the top spot in auto reliability from Consumer Reports and a large Japanese recall, and Toyota -- which was shining over the summer -- has a few bruises as of late. General Motors is not sitting still, increasing its global presence very aggressively, just when Toyota probably thought it had the Detroit behemoth pinned. Toyota, ever the trendsetter, wants to gain some cachet back by making lighter cars that increase gas mileage even more than its current lineup can. After all, better gas mileage equals more sales in this day and age.

The Japanese automaker is experimenting with carbon fiber and aluminum in more designs to shed excess weight from concept vehicles, probably in an effort to firmly plant itself atop the mountain for cars that travel more and more on less and less gas. Is it a tactic to win more sales against some resurgent competitors or an effort to be an innovator? A little of both, most likely.

Consumers want the space of an SUV without the weight (poor gas economy) or the price, which is where Toyota has shined before. It can't rest on those laurels though, as GM has caught on and will join the race for more gas-efficient cars with lighter metals instead of sacrificing space. This battle has just begun, in other words.

Early morning futures are negative, pointing to a lower start stocks.

The market is possibly reacting to two things, the first being the sell-off that started around noon Friday, and the other is the sell-off in overseas markets. Update: oil prices are lower and futures may be changing the negative trend, although they are still negative at 8:15 a.m..

On Friday, data concerning the health of the economy in the form of Gross Domestic Product was reported, showing a lower growth than anticipated. Despite the concern about the economy'd growth slowing down, the market braved the news until at noon the sell-off began. This could have also been triggered by a Goldman Sachs report about lower demand for PC boards in China in the coming year. This report sparked the sell-off in the tech, and then possibly expanded to the whole market.

Today, major stock markets in Asia closed lower, with Japan's Nikkei 225 down nearly 2% . European markets are also negative with the German DAX 30 declining 0.7%. as is the FTSE 100 in London.

This morning, September personal income and spending will be reported at 8:30 a.m.. Analysts forecast both to grow at 0.3%. A measure of inflation, core PCE price index will also be reported, although may not have the same weight as other inflation measures.

Topping the news this morning are Wal-Mart, Verizon (both are Dow components), American Power Conversion and Yahoo!:

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) reported a pallid 0.5% increase October sales, the smallest gain in six years. Wal-Mart shares were down 1.7% in Frankfurt this morning.

Yahoo!, Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral by Merrill Lynch, which calls the present stock price an attractive entry point. Yahoo! shares were up 1.4% in Frankfurt.

Verizon Communications, Inc. (NYSE:VZ) just reported third-quarter financial results. Earnings (non-GAAP) were $2.0 billion, or 68 cents per share, a 7.5% increase over last year's Q3 earnings of $1.8 billion, or 66 cents per share. Analysts were expecting flat earnings.

Finally, French electric equipment maker Schneider Electric SA had agreed to buy American Power Conversion Corp. (NASDAQ:APCC) for $6.1 billion in cash. According to Schneider, the $31 per share offer, which represents a 30% premium over APC's Friday closing price, has been approved by the APC board.

Other stories:

A Goldman Sachs report from Friday suggesting that shipments of the main circuit boards for personal computers will be weaker than expected this year, could be indicating a sector weakness. Already on Friday the report sent computer makers Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HPQ) and Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) stocks down 1.8% and 1.1% respectively. Chip makers, Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC) and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD) stocks dropped around 3%. The report could also impact Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares as many awaited its new operating system, Vista.

An article in TheStreet.com examines the recent rallies of Yahoo!, eBay, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), suggesting they are riding the positive sentiment from Google, Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG).

In the auto industry, two more foreign automakers would shortly announce their plans to produce cars in Russia. General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM) and Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) are already producing there, and Toyota Motor Corp. (ADR) (NYSE:TM) will start shortly.

Norway's Statoil and its partners Norsk Hydro and ExxonMobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM) have awarded contracts worth about 700 million Norwegian crowns ($107 million) for gas turbine maintenance to General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE) and a unit of German engine group MTU.

Time Warner, Inc.'s (NYSE:TWX) Warner Bros, Martin Scorsese's mob tale "The Departed" held strongly again, taking in $9.8 million to place second for the third-straight weekend. The Warner Bros. film lifted its total to $91.1 million. In first place was Liongate's "Saw III."

Finally, the Blogging Stocks team reported some interesting stories on Apple Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) over the weekend.