Mulally: Putting His Stamp on Ford
By Michelle Krebs June 13, 2007Things seem to be happening at Ford Motor Co. these days, which suggests CEO Alan Mulally is making
some moves and putting his stamp on the place.
Though he’s only been on the job since fall, many of us are saying: “Finally.â€
Among the latest moves at Ford:
Mulally reportedly is boldly pushing for a 30 percent cut in hourly labor costs in this summer’s national contract talks with the United Auto Workers union in hopes of reaching parity with Asian automakers.
Ford confirmed it has put Land Rover and Jaguar on the block; it already sold Aston Martin in March.
Mulally is dismantling the house that Jac built. Former Ford CEO Jac Nasser envisioned the Premier Auto Group, created by combining Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo, would carry the day for Ford in sales and profits. It was an outrageously exaggerated notion from the start.
Not only is he trying to raise funds to keep Ford afloat, Mulally is shifting the focus to Fordâs core business of mass-market brands of Ford and to North America.
Word from insiders is that Mulally has given the OK to pull out all the stops to come up with some home-run products in terms of interior and exterior design. Among them are the next-generation F-150, due in 2009, and the next-generation Taurus (formerly known as Five Hundred), due in 2010.
Under Mulally, Ford appears to be trying new things in terms of marketing. The latest is putting the Focus advertising account up for grabs when Ford has had the same ad agency since the 1940s.
Still, Mulally faces an uphill battle. The turnaround is in jeopardy. Ford expected to be profitable by 2009, but Ford has seen sales and revenues slump and has not met other targets. The UAW is highly unlikely to give Mulally the cost cut he wants, especially in light of Mulally's $28 million compensation for four months in 2006. And some Ford family members, who combined control some 40 percent of Ford stock, are getting restless.
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Click here to comment on this entry.Mulally's on the right path, and I applaud his decision to focus on exciting products instead of just shedding financial liabilities. Selling off Jaguar and Land Rover may be the right thing financially, but Volvo should be held on to because it provides Ford with safety innovations that trickle down.
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Alan Mulally is just great! He has courage, makes the right decisions, and puts Ford Motor Company first. I too applaud Alan's decisions... and Bill Ford for recruiting Alan Mulally to Ford!
Sell everything except Ford and Lincoln. Dump Mercury a la Oldsmobile unless someone can come up with hard numbers showing that Mercury can stand on its own targetting women as it has been doing lately. There's Toyota and Lexus, Honda and Acura, there should be Ford and Lincoln. Period.
Selling Volvo doesn't have to hurt safety innovation...simply make first option on licensing Volvo safety technology a non-negotiable condition of the sale.
Then, significantly increase niche marketing plays like the Foose F150, the Funkmaster Flex Expedition, the Roush Stage 3 F150s and Mustangs, and the Shelby Mustangs. Leverage after-market suppliers and customizers to deliver the 1,000-5,000 units per year products that can't be delivered profitably in mass production with UAW labor.
Then, make executives eat their own dog food. It is no secret that the only reason the PAG was formed and JLR/Aston Martin were purchased was because executives wanted to drive something more expensive than a Lincoln. If a Lexus was good enough for Mulally when he was at Boeing, a Lincoln is good enough for anyone.
Next, force all executives and managers to get their lease cars serviced at regular Ford dealers instead of special Ford-staffed garages. Until executives see the way Ford dealers treat their customers and people on the street, customers will continue to get poor service and sales will continue to fall.
Next, start delivering clean diesel technology ASAP. Do whatever it takes to get the products that are selling so well in Europe over here, even if it means reworking the design a bit for US emissions. Get Navistar completely out of the equation...a $5000 premium for a diesel engine in a Super Duty is insane.
Next, force all executives to visit buildings and plants at least once per quarter, monthly or weekly if they're in Dearborn. I know people that have worked on the Ford campus in Dearborn for 20 years and have never seen an executive let alone talked with one.
There...I just described how to save Ford. Now pay me $20 million! LOL
Make that $28 million -- for four minutes!
Almost forgot...fire the guy that thought killing the Taurus brand and launching the Five Hundred instead was a good idea. If it was two different people, fire both of them. And make darn sure every employee at Ford knows who those people are and why they're being fired. If they've already gone, hire them back and THEN fire them. LOL
Also fire the engineer that signed off on putting the live cruise control wire next to the brake fluid reservoir in the F150s that was apparently the cause of the engine fires (since fixed). I'm no electrical engineer, and even I know putting a live, always-on current next to a corrosive fluid is begging for big problems.
There are two big problems at Ford: no accountability, and no sense of urgency. The media can quote Fields and Mulally all day long...the fact is nothing has changed. You have people making huge boneheaded decisions (like killing Taurus) and they get away with it (they probably got promoted!!) when anyone from the UAW rank and file up to entry level management knows it is a boneheaded decision. Then, you have Fields saying stuff like "change or die" but in reality nothing has changed. People still take 3 months to make a decision that should take 30 minutes, and people still spend more time worrying about typos in Powerpoint presentations and going to meetings than they do building hot cars that people want to buy.
TWENTY YEARS AGO I SAT IN A TRANSMISSOIN AND CHASSIS DIV. ENGRG., MTG, AS WE WERE ALL BEING BERATED ABOUT BEATING THE JAPANESE AND Q. C., AND IMPROVING PRODUCT, METHODS, AND COSTS.
I MADE ONE OF MANY CAREER LIMITING COMMENTS; "WELL GET OUT OF THE WAY AND LET US GO. WE KNOW HOW TO DO THE JOB AND HOW TO DO IT BETTER."
WHY FORD TAKES SO LONG TO MOVE AWAY FROM STYLING THAT NEVER EXCITED ANYONE AND THE INTRO OF CARS LIKE THE "LS," "MDX???", AND "MED???," THE TWO LINCOLNS COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE ZEPHER AND "EDGE," THAT ARE UNDER POWERED, AND UNFINISHED FEATUREWISE? NO THIRD SEAT OPTIONS FOR THE TWO EDGE MODLES, YET MAZDA HAS THIRD SEAT OPTION AND ENGINE OPTIONS THAT COMPETE WITHIN ITS CLASS. THE LINCOLNS WERE SHORT ON POWER AND INTERIOR APPEARENCES. AGAIN A DAY LATE AND A DOLLAR SHORT.
FORD NEEDS REVOLUTIONARY CHANGE NOW. MUALLY, NEEDS HELP FAST.
OH, BY THE WAY, THE GRASS ROOTS FEELING IS KEEP LAND ROVER. THE LR2 IS A WINNER. SELL JAG OR MAKE IT THE NEW STYLED AND HANDLING POWERFUL, "I WILL KICK YOUR TAIL" BMW, PORSCHE, MERCEDES, & LEXUS, LIMITED PRODUCTION VEHICLE THAT TURNS HEADS. AND YES BY ALL MEANS KEEP VOLVO!
JUST REMEMBER FORD, SHEET METAL SELLS CARS, eg; CHRYSLER "300." WAS THAT A FORMER FORD GUY WHO DESIGNED THAT?
MY WIFE, (WHO NEVER NOTICES CARS EXCEPT TO SAY WE WILL NEVER GET A GRAND MARQUE EVEN IF THEY PUT HOT TUBS IN THEM); ABOUT THE 300, SAYS, JUST GET BIGGER TIRES AND CHANGE THE GRILL AND EVERYONE WILL THINK WE HAVE A BENTLY.
OH, BYE THE WAY; YOU WERE POUND FOOLISH AND PENNY WISE WHEN YOU CLOSED THE CO. USED CAR 'B' LOT AND STOPPED ALL SALES TO EMPLOYEES. NOW WIFE INSIST WE USE HER 'GM OPTION B PLAN', AND GET A CAR W/3-5K MILES AND CHEAPER THAN 'B' CARS. WHAT SHOULD I DO? (I HAVE BOUGHT 7 B CARS)
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