Schlenker Motors's automotive expertise is a product of our sustained interest in industry trends and characteristics. We are privileged to share the latest news, promotions and events with you and hope the information will enhance your shopping experience. As you know, there are many new cars from which to choose, and we believe an informed customer is the best customer.
July 23, 2008
Ford’s radical transformation signals a
dramatic shift for the company – and the American automobile
industry.
By Peter M. De
Lorenzo
That’s a strong statement, but an accurate
one. No automobile manufacturer has undergone a more fundamental internal
transformation than Ford. And by fundamental I mean everything, beginning with a
philosophical shift in the way the company approaches this business led by
Mulally, whose laser-like focus has altered the company to such an extent that
it’s barely recognizable in less than two years.
Mulally has purged the paralyzing
bureaucratic fiefdoms that thrived for years at Ford, he has eliminated the
classic Detroit policy of designing, engineering and producing vehicles in a
vacuum – something that has absolutely crippled the domestic automakers for
years – and he has trained his entire team’s focus on the one thing that can in
fact save the company, which is, of course, The
Product.
I know what you’re thinking, that all of
this stuff is so obvious that it really shouldn’t even be noteworthy at this
point, but believe me, what will come out in tomorrow’s announcement from Ford
can’t even begin to tell the story of what has gone on behind the scenes. The
announcement will only address the obvious future direction of Ford’s product
transformation; but the rest of the story is still being written, because it’s
an ongoing process that gets refined, pushed and tweaked every single week by
Mulally and his team.
The short story behind the announcement is
this: Alan Mulally has completely abandoned what worked for the previous 30
years (and what has been made painfully obsolete over the last three months in
this new “real price” energy world we live in) and has taken Ford in a new
direction that basically eliminates the distinction between what Ford is in
Europe and around the world, and what Ford is in the United States market, in
terms of the cars offered.
In the old days of Detroit, Ford (and GM)
made cars for different markets around the world, and what worked in Europe was
never even considered for the U.S. except in a few individual instances, because
the driving was different “over there” and the price of fuel was dramatically
higher, which thus forced the need for a completely separate range of products
than what we were used to.
In Ford’s case, American driving
enthusiasts whined for years about the terrific Fords available in Europe that
were never available here, and when Ford did venture to bring one of their
stellar European products over here, they would never stick with them long
enough to make a difference in the larger scheme of things because the company
was designed to make money on producing large cars and even larger
trucks.
All of that has now changed in one
tumultuous quarter.
Mulally could have made a series of
incremental steps, which is part and parcel of the Rick Wagoner school of
“managing the downward spiral,” but he knew if he hesitated or made only gradual
moves then Ford wouldn’t be around long enough for it to matter. So instead
Mulally emboldened his team with marching orders that did away with the word
“transition” and instead focused their raison d’etre on the word transformation,
and the results will be truly breathtaking to see, to the point that Ford’s
product lineup will bear little resemblance to today’s lineup in just 24
months.
The only way I can best describe just how
radical Ford’s future product push is in terms that even the casual observer of
the auto biz can understand is that what Mulally and his team have done is
actually skipped a model cycle with these new cars headed for the U.S. market,
so instead of doing a series of baby-step changes over the next three years,
Ford will bring its 2012-2014 products forward to the 2010-2011 time frame in a
blaze of models and configurations that will set the U.S. market - and its
competitors - on its ear.
We’re talking a full range of smaller,
more efficient sedans, sport coupes, crossovers, people movers and even urban
delivery vehicles that will change people’s perceptions of what the Ford Motor
Company is almost overnight.
Will Ford still make trucks and some
larger vehicles? Absolutely. There will be a core group of American pickup
buyers needing the vehicles for work applications, so that business will remain
steady for the foreseeable future. It will be a much smaller market than what it
once was, but it will still be viable for years to come
nonetheless.
But the everyday “face” of Ford on
America’s streets and byways will be radically transformed by these dramatically
designed and executed new passenger cars, and it will be a refreshing sight to
behold.
It’s actually fitting that an ex-Boeing
engineer has led Ford’s fundamental transformation, given the fact that Henry
Ford’s exploits into the aviation business were so noteworthy.
And it’s
fitting, too, that the one American automobile company that basically pioneered
this industry and that is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its vaunted Model
T this year will be the company that will lead the domestic automobile business
into the future.
Things are about to come full circle for
the American auto industry, and for the legacy – and the future - of the Ford
Motor Company, the timing couldn’t be better.
The institute today released its "Top Safety Pick" awards list for 2009, which recognizes vehicles that do the best job of protecting people in front, side and rear crashes, based on the institute's tests.
Ford had more winners than any other automaker -- 16 in all. Honda Motor Co. was second, with 13 winners. General Motors Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. tied with eight each.
In all, 72 vehicles made the list, double the number of winners a year ago.
Chrysler LLC, based in Auburn Hills, was the only major automaker that did not receive a single top safety pick. The institute said Chrysler could have picked up five awards "if the head restraints were better in the Dodge Avenger and Chrysler Sebring, the Sebring convertible, and the Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country."
Read more: http://www.freep.com/article/20081124/BUSINESS01/311240002