Comments from Ford Chairman Bill Ford, CEO Mulally
By The Associated Press, 01.09.10, 04:40 PM EST
Comments from Ford Motor Co. Chairman Bill Ford Jr. and CEO Alan Mulally from a recent interview with The Associated Press.
"This last year was the worst economic situation we've ever been in. We crawled our way all the way back, and not only did we survive, but we have positioned Ford for a very exciting and viable future." - Mulally
"Remember, the most important thing about Ford is we didn't back off one bit on the product development plans in the worst of times. We took those losses and we borrowed that money so we could do this transformation. And in the automobile business, like nothing else I've ever seen, you cannot get behind. You've got to have the products that people want and value. We accelerated the development of new products. But we did that during the worst of times." - Mulally
"We had really good people but what we needed was a leader who had gone through what Alan had gone through post 9-11 at Boeing ( BA - news - people ), which was just horrific market conditions, and having then to respond to those in terms of product development and production." - Ford
The above note as to not backing off in product development is a major understatement. Intros in Detroit vehicles: New global Focus (earlier to market than advertised/cycle plan) for interiors: MyFord/MyMercury, and an unprecedented cadence (and variety) in automotive powertrains. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Ford-Launches-Unprecedented-prnews-1640753136.html?x=0&.v=1
And the 'tech' crowd as CES seems to have taken a liking to F as well: http://news.cnet.com/8301-30966_3-10430683-262.html?tag=mncol;title
I'd expect it will take GM & Fiatsyler three years to catch up.
By The Associated Press, 01.09.10, 04:40 PM EST
Comments from Ford Motor Co. Chairman Bill Ford Jr. and CEO Alan Mulally from a recent interview with The Associated Press.
"This last year was the worst economic situation we've ever been in. We crawled our way all the way back, and not only did we survive, but we have positioned Ford for a very exciting and viable future." - Mulally
"Remember, the most important thing about Ford is we didn't back off one bit on the product development plans in the worst of times. We took those losses and we borrowed that money so we could do this transformation. And in the automobile business, like nothing else I've ever seen, you cannot get behind. You've got to have the products that people want and value. We accelerated the development of new products. But we did that during the worst of times." - Mulally
"We had really good people but what we needed was a leader who had gone through what Alan had gone through post 9-11 at Boeing ( BA - news - people ), which was just horrific market conditions, and having then to respond to those in terms of product development and production." - Ford
The above note as to not backing off in product development is a major understatement. Intros in Detroit vehicles: New global Focus (earlier to market than advertised/cycle plan) for interiors: MyFord/MyMercury, and an unprecedented cadence (and variety) in automotive powertrains. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Ford-Launches-Unprecedented-prnews-1640753136.html?x=0&.v=1
And the 'tech' crowd as CES seems to have taken a liking to F as well: http://news.cnet.com/8301-30966_3-10430683-262.html?tag=mncol;title
I'd expect it will take GM & Fiatsyler three years to catch up.
Last edited:
