Finally, A Feel Good Story From Dearborn

[a6m5]

Ford benefits from CEO's turn to road less traveled​

By Sharon Silke Carty, USA TODAY

DEARBORN, Mich. — On this rainy, cold, miserable Tuesday in December, Alan Mulally sits in his office at Ford Motor's headquarters, beaming.

With Ford's (F) sales down 19.5% this year, the economy showing no sign of recovery, and Congress and the White House working on loans to help the domestic auto industry survive, you'd think Mulally would have very little to smile about.

But he's perfectly chipper, showing off a 1903 Indian head penny sent to him by a Ford dealer's son. For luck.

"Isn't that great?" he says, peeling it out of its protective wrapper. "I'm going to keep that in my pocket."

Compared with the other two domestic automakers, Ford looks like it's already been blessed. The automaker has $18.9 billion in cash and $10.7 billion in untapped credit, which Mulally says has his company positioned to survive the market falloff.

That's in stark contrast to General Motors and Chrysler, which say they need billions by this month to avoid filing for bankruptcy court protection.

Not that Ford isn't hurting: It lost $129 million in the third quarter and says it won't be profitable again until 2010 — at the earliest.

But its cash position puts it in the enviable position of saying it doesn't plan to tap government loans that may be offered. That's not unless things get markedly worse for the overall economy, or if one of its Detroit competitors goes under, disrupting the entire supply system.

Is it luck or good planning that got Ford here?

Please read the rest of the story here.

Not just some feel good story during this time of Detroit crisis, but very interesting and educational article to those who are not familiar with restructuring of Ford Motor Company, led by their new CEO, Alan Mulally.

I've been wrong about Mulally on a lot of things. I still think cars like the new Taurus, or Focus were waste of time & money. But with all the headlines about emergency mergers, bailouts & bankruptcies, you can't help, but notice how Ford Motor Company is in much better shape than their rivals. I've been pretty impressed by Alan Mulally lately, but ever more so after reading this article. Please check it out.

 

[Pupik]

Ford has the mattress pocket money from selling Jaguar and Land Rover. Volvo is the next item up for bids. He's also happy because gas is under $2.00 per gallon, he can sell F-150s and Explorers again, and people won't be as adverse to Mustangs.

There's a lot of decent, but unspectacular, products in the American Ford portfolio. I don't see the Flex changing the automotive landscape like the Explorer did, let alone be thought of as an extra-large xB. The Fusion needs to be value-priced and feature-laden to have a hope of selling in Accord and Camry-like numbers, because the buyers in that segment want those things. And the Taurus sedan and Taurus X should just be sold as Lincolns and trimmed-out as such; they are too similar to other products in their line-up.

Bring over the new-old Focus, and Fiesta (although I imagine it will be a Mazda), and figure out a way to show the Mercury brand the door...or do something impressive with it (I haven't a clue).

I watched an interview with him on PBS's News with Jim Lehrer a few nights ago, and he really did seem confident. He claims there's going to be more products to meet all sorts of segments, in small, medium, and large sizes.

 

[Philly]

I'd personally say that Ford is doing less bad compared to the other two, not necessarily better... They're still in a bit of trouble. It certainly is good to see that they are confident that they will make it through the downturn, but they are short of most everybody else in that they probably aren't confident they will be in good shape once things turn around.

At least we can be nearly certain that they will still be around when they finally get the Focus and Fiesta over here, which should sell quite well, instead of not knowing if GM will be around to be saved by the Cruze, or even if the Cruze will be competitive, or instead of not knowing what Chrysler has in the books for a competitive small car.

 

[a6m5]

Yeah, nobody's exactly making a killing right now. But considering, looks like Ford and Mulally did an excellent job of preparing themselves for weathering of the economic storm. Like most consumers, I've got enough beef on current Ford (vehicle)lineup. But on the business end, execution of smart(but tough) downsizing, corporate restructuring, etc., I was pretty impressed.

I'm not gonna lie, for last couple of years, I thought Ford was in a much more serious trouble. They were trying to secure capital, there were announcing huge layoffs, plant closures, selling of assets. But all those things have positioned Ford for survival, not in the economy two years ago, but in this serious recession we are going through right now. And should Ford's game plan succeed, they would actually be pretty competitive in just couple more years!

 

[YSSMAN]

I've repeatedly shared my moment of shock and awe when Ford announced that it wouldn't need bailout money (yet), and I think this article has highlighted the reasons why fairly easily. Lets be honest, Ford has done a much better job of reorganizing itself early on as opposed to GM and Chrysler (I almost feel like I've been lied to by GM), and much of that goes to Mullally. He has had his high and low moments with me, but as of now, I really believe that he knows what he is doing...

...Particularly on the choices to bring over the Fiesta (as a Ford), the next Focus (possibly the MKII, we'll see), the City Transit, and the little rumors that the Ka and Kuga would join as well. It looks as though he understands the importance of a cohesive brand identity that exists on a global scale, and truthfully, its probably the only way to make a massive profit.

BTW: Bring on the new Fusion. I still love the old one, I think the new model can do wonders for the company.

 

[Tornado]

What has always amazed me is Ford's dogged resistance to even the thought of doing something spectacular with Mercury, and it leads me to believe that (somehow) Ford has never lost money on it existing. This strikes me as particularly odd, as GM has had nothing but problems with the same thing (Chevy/Buick/Cadillac).
Considering how (comparably) well Ford is doing now, could you imagine how spectacular off they would be if they had never bought and brand but Mazda?

 

[Gil]

I would still buy a Ford.
I'm kinda partial to the Fusion, as it is pretty much a Mazda6.
I'm also almost old enough to start considering a Lincoln MKZ.

I have issues with the GM cars I own, and the MOpar that I used to own.
Though, if I win the Lotto, I might consider a Dodge Challenger...

The American Auto industry is in the shape it's in because they haven't really developed technology as quickly or as efficiently as the "foreign" automakers.
UAW is also to blame.
Where else can you make $50,000 a year for factory work, have medical benefits that make Senators and Congressmen jealous, and be able to retire and start another career at the age of 45, whilst retaining a good pension, and those medical benefits?
The cost of all this is passed on to the consumer.
That's why a Truck worth about $20,000 leaves the lot for $35,000.

That's why a loaded Dodge Challenger R/T costs the same as a well optioned 3-series or a G35.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't American cars used to be built like anvils and cost half What a BMW costs?

(damn, that rant-monster got loose again!)

 

[YSSMAN]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't American cars used to be built like anvils and cost half What a BMW costs?

For the most part, yes. Then the '80s happened.