Consult1

1951 LeSabre

Fields, or Ford lunder pressure? I thought vision and strategy were the domain of his boss, and that Field's primary role was one of execution of the vision/strategy. Investment in the core business is clearly affected by BoD approved changes in future direction of the business and vehicle offering (electric, autonomous, et.al).

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Yep, design is locked in. A solicitation -- or --another way of saying, 'we delivered what you asked for'?? If it's a 'hit', we win, if its a 'miss', that's you asked for? Maybe somebody's just a bit nervous -- there's a lot on the line.

I'd prefer the legal community focus on something than needs fixing; like health care insurance (reform).

Before we look to deeply into the supply chain side of the equation, we might ask ourselves ~ are we hitting the program dates for 'design freeze'. If not, and we are still doing product engineering past that key milestone, I wouldn't automatically expect procurment/suppliers to bridge 100% of the gap.

He did - last summer ~ I'd say about the time that he became aware that it wasn't a $500M problem. I believe that is where the EU restructuring plan was developed. Unfortunately, the time it takes for implemention/execution for a major restructuring seems a bit beyond the capacity and patience of the respective 'analysts'.

Didn't see anything revolutionary in design there, looks similar to current Volvo product. Love generic 'building footprints', they almost never exist, requiring lots of re-interpretation and re-design.

Class Act, what a career! And the only guy I would ever want as my race engineer!

Not to worry, likely something virtual.

49 concept car.

Excellent idea, just use UNobtainium in lieu of Limitanium. Connotation of 'you can't get it' and a signature is worth at least another $2K in F150 ATP.

A one year old F150 with EcoBoost or a 2005/2006 Ford GT (<30K miles).. :D

Still original, no rust. ) But on recent service, my trusty Ford Tech brought to my attention that the 'recall' shield (1975) was installed incorrectly by the servicing dealer, he subsequently reinstalled it per original design. The guys' work and attention to detail is incomparable!

I have a '72 Ford Pinto (here in MIchigan for all 40 years) that has begun to show some discoloration on the wheel well trim moldings. Will this be covered?

Great link - some interesting exchange there. And in follow up, wonder if the subject poster/Ford employee: XEQUER eventually bought a Ford since the Company is now openly targeting her 'audience'.. Answer to someone's question earlier: average age of driver in current Fiesta transaction = 45 And is the 'Fiesta Movement a 'miss'? Yes, by a country mile if Ford strategy actually contemplated that the social media campaign was the singular element intended to carry the vehicle. I'd hope that it was one aspect of a more comprehensive strategy, serving to do, just a sit has here, to stimulate conversation (buzz, I guess) to be augmented by more traditional media when the product was up and available. But, using a football analogy, you make adjustments at halftime if the game isn't going your way.

Bless that dealer's heart !

Nope, the comment may have been tongue in cheek, but I stll have the car in the garage.

Similar story. I anxiously awaited delivery of my new 1979 Mustang for eight weeks, after watching production of the car. The dealer (and Ford) couldn't locate the car, but the dealer had cars on his lot with vin #'s before my car and several vin #'s after it. I subsequently elected to search myself, locating it at the transportation company (E&L - I still remember the name) yard (sitting in a large mud puddle w/a flat TRX tire) in the Detroit area. No apologies, no gas card.

Not nearly as much fun as driving a Ford GT into GM's MIlford Proving Ground....

Now's your chance to belly up and buy..... http://www.forbes.com/2010/06/23/gm-reportedly-planning-ipo-filing-next-week-marketnewsvideo.html?partner=alerts

Amen on the hijack. Something not discussed in the thread. A (product development) learning curve that took a vehicle from concept to production in 16 months vs. 30. Also forgot to mention that the program had a very small number of actual prototypes built, having developed (and validated) most of that car in virtual program(s). Yep, definately created some value there. An opinion: You need to try small/high viz projects once in a while to stretch your corporate 'legs' to appreciate what Ford is truly capable of when it decides to break industry & internal paradigms. And BTW, if you actually knew any of the team members, you'd be amazed at the bandwidth of those folks. The real 'loss' if there was one was not building upon the experience ~ greater transfer of some of the more forward technologies and of course, further responsibility and development of those GT team members.

Yeah, just one of your F development drivers having a "bad day". We'll set up any Indy style "shoot out". All of the fast 9 drivers from here can go at it until we run out of cars, tires or until you need a change of underwear. I think you'll have a pretty hard time besting 2:58 at VIR. The video, while providing a great perspective of VIR, is shot in wide angle format, which flattens out the track (camber and sightline) and would serve to explain some of the driver inputs that you see. And the rest; it is a heavy car, at speed, which has to be a handfull, even if 120lbs lighter in the front. And while Goodyear did a great job on the tires I'm, sure, they have to be at their limit trying to put/keep power down through undullations and camber changes. Line forms to the left.............

Perhaps an accurate (current financial) perspective of the Company's transformation, however, Q&A re: sustainability of financial performance of the Company lies with the CEO, not the CFO. While I appreciate the CFO's conservative view of current performance (managing expectations?), the relevance to future performance resides directly with the fellow charged with delivering same. It was disappointing that the significant Q1 result were effectively 'managed down' to 'non-event' status. Listening to the Q&A, If I closed my eyes, I'd swear somebody flipped a switch and we reverted to an old model: a financial Company that also happens to build cars.