How do you suggest that Ford make a car that's "better quality" AND "drives better" than a Fit or Yaris while simultaneously making it cheaper than those cars? You're demanding the impossible here. Do you think Ford should sell the Fiestas at below cost?
Wal-Mart sells the same products as other retailers for less money. They cut costs in production, shipping, wages, etc. Their philosophy is to sell the same product for less money, but they still make higher profits than anyone else because of a smaller cost structure. For example, they realized they had trucks running empty because one of their suppliers would ship things to them, and Wal-Mart was sending trucks to stores along the same route. This was costing them money. So they started having their trucks, which were coming home empty, stop at their supplier and pick up product, taking trucks off the road and cutting costs for them
and their supplier.
If, for example, Ford paid its executives less, it could afford to make a smaller margin on each car sold. It's all about cutting costs, company wide, which allow you to reduce margins on individual products while still making money.
And judging by the way Ford spends money, they could really benefit from a company-wide cost cutting program...
