PFA Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 They should definetly bring back John Colleti!! Remember, he left when HTT came in. There was a conflict there. They need a real hot rod person, gear head, in there to produce SVT vehicles! Do you really think that Ford had an Asian come up with the 05 Mustang concept? A guy that dreamed about the car and wanted one...Does that mean that I can design the next one? Please. And then to put him over a performance group....he did wonders huh? As was said, the Terminator was one hell of a ride, and done up with who at the helm? The GT500 is a great car and has a bigger engine than that of the Term. It should be better, in all aspects. It's a Shelby, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 1) Coletti left before HTT 2) Rumors were that he did not get along with Martens, not HTT 3) I don't particularly care for your use of the word "Asian" in this context, and if I catch even the slightest hint of racial superiority out of you again, you are sooooo out of here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
68fastback Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 Yeah. But at least he's actually seen a balance sheet and knows about accounting. Since Barry Engle's promotion, I think Ford Brazil has been without a head. Also IIRC Ford has gradually restructured the Americas division so that each separate business unit now reports directly to Mark Fields, instead of the old South America (with Brazil, Argentina etc. under that umbrella) and "Rest of North America" (with Canada & Mexico under that umbrella) structure with the Pres. of Americas being directly responsible for U.S. ops., and 2 removes from the rest of the continent. If I'm right about the restructuring HTT now reports directly to Mark Fields, and since Ford Brazil has come a long way since the failure and wind down of the Auto Latina project, one hopes that he's got a capable staff, and a decent teacher in the Ford Brazil corporate offices, and Mark Fields respectively. I think you're right, Richard. HTT is likey being fast-tracked for 24months so he can get some executive hands on business experience and will then string-back to Ford NA, I'd bet Mark Fields holds the string. I'd expect him to come back to own the organization where his old job (including SVT) and FRP/DanDavis come together in the organization. Unlike many I don't believe for a minute SVT is dead. It's a common practice to 'protect' key human resources by placing them in a matrix organization serving two areas when a hiccup would otherwise obviate their need in the short term. Look. the SVT engineering team are the cream who found themselves in the situation of Ford not having the right product staging to effectively maintain continuity in their skill use, so they were restructured with HTT holding the string to bridge the needs of FRP and traditional SVT and do it with a reduced staff -- just good business. As the product plan gets back to serving up viable candidate vehicles for SVT to do its magic on (the F150 gained 800lbs so was no longer an SVT candidate against the Ram SRT-10, the Ranger isn't ready and the Focus, well, let's not go there for a few years, and Fusion hadn't happened yet). As the plan re-alligns on new platforms, H/Boss initial production gets underway, and the 3.5L V6 ramps to full production, I fully expect SVT, regardless of whatever it's called, to be reinvigorated. Lightning, Fusion, Focus, Interceptor and, of course the refreshed Mustang (and beyond0 are all candidate SVT 'canvases' to my mind. I guess only time will tell. In the meantime those engineering resources are being used on choice engineering work on various platforms, advanced projects and FRPP. As that work motures, I'd expect to see SVT's role to show more clearly as the next crop performance variants finally make busines sense again because the right platforms, programs and pieces are in place to support SVT's traditional magic. HTT will return -- about when the Mustang '09/'10 refresh is due, which is when work will start in earnest on the MY'12 ground-up Mustang and other derivatives. I expect HTT to wind up owning all of that -- just my hunch based on 30 years of Fortune-10 corporate work, but the fun will be in the specifics for sure ;-) -Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 (edited) Of course, we haven't gotten official word HTT's in Brazil anyway.... Between FRPP, and the problem with doing SVT products on assembly lines (which is really inefficient), it's worth tossing out that Ford may be reorganizing their performance divisions into a business unit with P&L accountability, perhaps separate facilities for building SVT models, etc. Edited February 21, 2007 by RichardJensen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
68fastback Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 (edited) Of course, we haven't gotten official word HTT's in Brazil anyway.... Between FRPP, and the problem with doing SVT products on assembly lines (which is really inefficient), it's worth tossing out that Ford may be reorganizing their performance divisions into a business unit with P&L accountability, perhaps separate facilities for building SVT models, etc. That would make a lot of sense once the pieces are in place -- around when HTT comes back? (assuming he's leaving <lol>) By then SVT will have some targets to shoot at and, hopefully, some bullets in the arsenal ;-) . <edit:> of course, we'd all like a performance division to be in place yesteday, but... . Edited February 21, 2007 by 68fastback Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFA Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 1) Coletti left before HTT 2) Rumors were that he did not get along with Martens, not HTT 3) I don't particularly care for your use of the word "Asian" in this context, and if I catch even the slightest hint of racial superiority out of you again, you are sooooo out of here. WOOOOOOOOOO tough guy! If you want to band me, then do it! But make sure you get the "stereotypers" too, OK. ( "So Asian ricerboy is now head of FoB? "--post 7) I was in reference that FORD is an AMERICAN company, and he is of Asian descent, or Vietnamese to be more correct. I was not swaying towards any "superiority" what-so-ever. Read it how you want to. As for Colleti, maybe I'm wrong, but I swear I read it somewhere that HTT was "in" before John left, and there was conflict. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 Saw this on another message board: Thai really has not been super focused on the Mustang for a while, he hit a homer and got promoted and now promoted again. As of 4-1 there is a announcement coming regarding SVT and its a good one Guess we'll have some good news in about 30 days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 Saw this on another message board: Guess we'll have some good news in about 30 days P415 Lightning?? :hyper: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blueblood Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 P415 Lightning?? :hyper: Which will be paraded around all the auto shows for 3 years, people will put down deposits, and then one month before it's about to go into production Ford will cancel it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
68fastback Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 (edited) They should definetly bring back John Colleti!! Remember, he left when HTT came in. There was a conflict there. They need a real hot rod person, gear head, in there to produce SVT vehicles! Do you really think that Ford had an Asian come up with the 05 Mustang concept? A guy that dreamed about the car and wanted one...Does that mean that I can design the next one? Please. And then to put him over a performance group....he did wonders huh? As was said, the Terminator was one hell of a ride, and done up with who at the helm? The GT500 is a great car and has a bigger engine than that of the Term. It should be better, in all aspects. It's a Shelby, right? The Termies were [are] great cars, but I think the GT500 IS better in virtually every regard except that I prefer IRS (yeah, I know the Termies IRS shortcomings, but I still like IRS -- maybe a good control blade design in the future?). Forget about the SHELBY letters - it's an SVT Cobra and Ford left a lot in it for us. With simple bolt-ons -- headers, catbacks, pulley, CAI, tires and a tune -- it makes 650rwHP and runs mid-10s. Not too shabby for a 2-ton oversized retro-Cobra <lol> ...and there are street-legal GT500s with full interiors, a/c and 1000W Shakers with NAV systems running that quick. And it's seats are infinitely more comfortable than the prior Cobras and the larger interior and amenities are just a comfot bonus, especially as we all get older (ok, if you're younger you won't care about that so much). It's really a very nicely engineered package even if its engine is not all that different mechanically from the Termies. Still from Termie to GT500 or 385->500HP (nominal -- more like 410->525crank) is still a nice jump. If you drive one you WILL want one ;-) As far as HTT, I think you underestimate him. Everyone is different. He's no John Coletti, imo, but, then again, John Coletti is no HTT. Coletti was the quintessential car guy that HTT may never fully understand -- but don't sell HTT short.. he's a savvy executive John would never be. Fortunately it takes both kinds to make great cars -- if you think it doesn't, you may not have a adequate grasp on business in the 21st century. The implication that HTT's achievement is somehow less or less-credible or to be discounted somewhat because he's Asian and therefore could not possibly appreciate the Amrican muscle car (I'm putting words in your mouth, but that's how I read it) is offensive to me -- not because I'm not Asian (I'm not) but because it implies an inherent superiority which flies in the face of what makes America great. I supect you didn't mean it the way it sounded, but HTT is the real deal, imo. Godd human being, talented engineer/designer, and potentially and extraordinary senior executive (he's not doig too badly so far ;-) -- we need more senior execs in Ford with real roots as car enthusiasts. HTT will be back -- don't sell this guy short. Colletti? ...the pinnacle car-guy building cars for car-guys. HTT ...the car-guy-executive who just might be the person who brings all forces to bear on leading Ford thru the Muscle-car-wars-II. Coletti had to run against the wind because he was a car-guy among businessmen. In an organization run by a car-guy businessman (HTT) it just might be a lot easier for Ford to hit it's stride in the upcoming performance segment wars. Will HTT ever be a John Coletti? Unlikely, but that's ok -- as long as he has the skills in his organization (because we'll likely not see all the skills Coletti had in one single human being again for along time). I've said before that HTT is developing as an executive 'ninja,' imo, and he needs a Coletti-type as his advisor. Unfortunately, the process no longer works the other way around in business-2007. Watch who replaces HTT... whoever that is is likely the person who will carry the performance segment flag for Ford under HTT when he returns (assuming he's going anywhere <lol>). You're watching the set-up of the new Ford performance segment -- at some point I expect HTT to own the full breadth of that piece of the organization. Yeah, he's that good ...even if he isn't a John Coletti. -Dan Edited February 21, 2007 by 68fastback Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildosvt Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 P415 Lightning?? :hyper: You know, Louisville is getting ready to produce the ST Adrenaline.. Maybe it is coming.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackedon Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 From Automotive News today... Ford moves Mustang chief to Brazil Richard Truett | Automotive News / February 21, 2007 - 1:58 pm DETROIT -- Hau Thai-Tang's star is rising once again at Ford Motor Co. The Vietnamese-born engineer who has led Ford's Special Vehicle Team since 2005 is leaving for Brazil next week to become director of product development in South America. This assignment continues Thai-Tang's quick rise through Ford's executive ranks that started when he became vehicle dynamics supervisor and vehicle engineering manager for the Lincoln LS in 2000. More recently, Thai-Tang, 40, led the engineering team that created the 2005 Mustang, one of Ford's best-selling cars. Thai-Tang's team successfully relaunched the Shelby brand of Mustangs and has created several other performance-oriented versions. Thai-Tang will be responsible for developing vehicles for the South American market. He will be based in Camacari, Bahia, in Brazil. He is replacing David Breedlove, who is retiring after more than 30 years with Ford. Hermann Salenbauch, a former BMW veteran who joined Ford in 2000, takes over for Thai-Tang as head of the Special Vehicle Team. ------------------------------------------------------- I always find it funny that every time they write an article about HTT it starts with "the Vietnamese-born...". They don't refer to Coletti as the "Italian-American engineer" or Mark Fields as the "Jewish President of the Americas". As much as we like to think that we are beyond our biases, racism is still alive and well. If you don't believe me, just read the posts on this forum. Richard Jensen is mostly accurate with his previous post. The fact is HTT was promoted after the Mustang program to an E-roll job to replace Chris Theodore who was a Ford VP. He inherited Theodore's responsibilities for the Advanced Product Group AND SVT. While SVT receives most of the external attention, inside of Ford everyone recognizes that the Advance part of the job was the more important role. In fact, it is most likely that HTT's contributions in the Advance function resulted in his promotion to Brazil vs. the SVT work. Unfortunately, the advanced engineering work is on future products that are still 3 to 4 years out and most people outside of Ford are not aware of those achievements. With respect to HTT and Coletti, John worked for HTT after his appointment. Therefore, technically HTT did not replace Coletti. John elected to retire b/c he could see the hand writing on the wall that Ford was going through some very difficult business challenges and that they would not provide him with the resources he once had to deliver SVT products. In addition, he had just launched the Ford GT and that was a once in a lifetime achievement and would be hard to top. There was no rift between HTT and Coletti. In fact they worked together well when HTT ran Mustang and Coletti ran SVT. Ford went through numerous changes in senior leadership in Product Development and in Marketing durinng this period. The original SVT champions Bob Rewey in marketing and Neil Ressler in PD retired. None of the countless senior leaders that followed had any energy for SVT and viewed it as a luxury in light of the other near term business needs. Not only was SVT funding cut, they also cancelled programs that were well under way. The Lightning and Adrenalin were the most visible examples. In spite of this lack of support, the SVT team kept their heads down and delivered the GT500. We can argue about the performance of the GT500mvs. the Terminator but there is no doubt within Ford that this program was a huge business success. It has delivered all of the buzz of the prior Cobra but is much more profitable and the customer satisfaction is much higher. Given today's reality, Ford should reward teams for delivering profit and improved customer satisfaction. There's no arguing that Coletti was a larger than life public figure and rightly deserves a lot of credit for building SVT. We should also acknowledge that HTT is a very good engineer and business guy. He is very well repected by Ford management, his peers, and his team. He deserves credit for fixing the Ford GT quality issues (lower control arm fiasco), launching the Shelby GT500, and keeping the SVT team in tact in spite of the lack of support from senior management. The seeds have been planted for an SVT revival. We just won't see it for a few more years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 You know, Louisville is getting ready to produce the ST Adrenaline.. Maybe it is coming.... I wouldn't hold my breath, the Adrenaline has been a trim level of the ST in past years... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
68fastback Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 (edited) From Automotive News today... Ford moves Mustang chief to Brazil Richard Truett | Automotive News / February 21, 2007 - 1:58 pm DETROIT -- Hau Thai-Tang's star is rising once again at Ford Motor Co. The Vietnamese-born engineer who has led Ford's Special Vehicle Team since 2005 is leaving for Brazil next week to become director of product development in South America. This assignment continues Thai-Tang's quick rise through Ford's executive ranks that started when he became vehicle dynamics supervisor and vehicle engineering manager for the Lincoln LS in 2000. More recently, Thai-Tang, 40, led the engineering team that created the 2005 Mustang, one of Ford's best-selling cars. Thai-Tang's team successfully relaunched the Shelby brand of Mustangs and has created several other performance-oriented versions. Thai-Tang will be responsible for developing vehicles for the South American market. He will be based in Camacari, Bahia, in Brazil. He is replacing David Breedlove, who is retiring after more than 30 years with Ford. Hermann Salenbauch, a former BMW veteran who joined Ford in 2000, takes over for Thai-Tang as head of the Special Vehicle Team. ------------------------------------------------------- I always find it funny that every time they write an article about HTT it starts with "the Vietnamese-born...". They don't refer to Coletti as the "Italian-American engineer" or Mark Fields as the "Jewish President of the Americas". As much as we like to think that we are beyond our biases, racism is still alive and well. If you don't believe me, just read the posts on this forum. Richard Jensen is mostly accurate with his previous post. The fact is HTT was promoted after the Mustang program to an E-roll job to replace Chris Theodore who was a Ford VP. He inherited Theodore's responsibilities for the Advanced Product Group AND SVT. While SVT receives most of the external attention, inside of Ford everyone recognizes that the Advance part of the job was the more important role. In fact, it is most likely that HTT's contributions in the Advance function resulted in his promotion to Brazil vs. the SVT work. Unfortunately, the advanced engineering work is on future products that are still 3 to 4 years out and most people outside of Ford are not aware of those achievements. With respect to HTT and Coletti, John worked for HTT after his appointment. Therefore, technically HTT did not replace Coletti. John elected to retire b/c he could see the hand writing on the wall that Ford was going through some very difficult business challenges and that they would not provide him with the resources he once had to deliver SVT products. In addition, he had just launched the Ford GT and that was a once in a lifetime achievement and would be hard to top. There was no rift between HTT and Coletti. In fact they worked together well when HTT ran Mustang and Coletti ran SVT. Ford went through numerous changes in senior leadership in Product Development and in Marketing durinng this period. The original SVT champions Bob Rewey in marketing and Neil Ressler in PD retired. None of the countless senior leaders that followed had any energy for SVT and viewed it as a luxury in light of the other near term business needs. Not only was SVT funding cut, they also cancelled programs that were well under way. The Lightning and Adrenalin were the most visible examples. In spite of this lack of support, the SVT team kept their heads down and delivered the GT500. We can argue about the performance of the GT500mvs. the Terminator but there is no doubt within Ford that this program was a huge business success. It has delivered all of the buzz of the prior Cobra but is much more profitable and the customer satisfaction is much higher. Given today's reality, Ford should reward teams for delivering profit and improved customer satisfaction. There's no arguing that Coletti was a larger than life public figure and rightly deserves a lot of credit for building SVT. We should also acknowledge that HTT is a very good engineer and business guy. He is very well repected by Ford management, his peers, and his team. He deserves credit for fixing the Ford GT quality issues (lower control arm fiasco), launching the Shelby GT500, and keeping the SVT team in tact in spite of the lack of support from senior management. The seeds have been planted for an SVT revival. We just won't see it for a few more years. +1 and great post! <edit:> ...and welcome to BOF! Hope you stick around... -Dan Edited February 22, 2007 by 68fastback Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 Also it appears that he is not being tapped to head Ford of Brazil, just product development. I would imagine in this assignment he reports directly to Kuzak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolita Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 Also it appears that he is not being tapped to head Ford of Brazil, just product development. I would imagine in this assignment he reports directly to Kuzak. Well, I dont think it was mentioned that Marcos de Oliveira replaced Barry Engle as head of Ford Brazil & Ford South America about 2 months ago. De Oliveira comes from Ford South Africa and he is a Brazilian native with a pretty good track record within Ford. Perhaps, HTT could head Ford Brazil & De Oliveira Ford South America? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 Nah, Richard Truett has him head of Product Development. I would assume he reports directly to Kuzak, and indirectly to Marcos de Oliveira (who reports to Mark Fields). Either that, or he reports directly to Oliveira, and indirectly to Kuzak. Ford hasn't, in the past, had a single head of global product development because of their 'business unit' structure, with its emphasis on decentralization and P&L accountability from each head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackedon Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 Nah, Richard Truett has him head of Product Development. I would assume he reports directly to Kuzak, and indirectly to Marcos de Oliveira (who reports to Mark Fields). Either that, or he reports directly to Oliveira, and indirectly to Kuzak. Ford hasn't, in the past, had a single head of global product development because of their 'business unit' structure, with its emphasis on decentralization and P&L accountability from each head. Ford typically has a country manager position and then functional leads. Marcos Oliveira is the country manager for Brazil (President of Ford Brazil) and has responsibilities for sales, marketing, and profit/loss responsibilities for Brazil. There are country managers in Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, etc... HTT is the head of Product Development function for all of South America. They are peers and the positions are ranked at the same level. The country managers report up through the Fields chain of command and HTT will report to Kuzak. In Mulally's organization both Kuzak and Fields are peers and report directly to him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Surgen Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 Ford typically has a country manager position and then functional leads. Marcos Oliveira is the country manager for Brazil (President of Ford Brazil) and has responsibilities for sales, marketing, and profit/loss responsibilities for Brazil. There are country managers in Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, etc... HTT is the head of Product Development function for all of South America. They are peers and the positions are ranked at the same level. The country managers report up through the Fields chain of command and HTT will report to Kuzak. In Mulally's organization both Kuzak and Fields are peers and report directly to him. The country managers report up to the President of South America (Dominic DiMarco). HTT will likely matrix to both DiMarco and Kuzak. It is very common in Ford for local managers to matrix to both a functional boss and a local operational head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twintornados Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 Fellas.....Ford needs to revive the line first...then they can work on "halo" cars like the ones from SVT. if they slap SVT on the flanks of every car line they produce...it would possibly dilute the SVT name...I still liked "SVO" better though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inteller Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 YAY he's gone! This guy never fit the SVT image. Oh I'm sure he is loved by the insider suits at Ford, and that is great...but every picture I saw of this guy in an SVT story he looked so out of place. Sorry, but you would never see this guy doing a smoky burnout coming into the SVT garage a la Scarpello. Scarpello and Coletti were both a man's man. HTT was a suit. Any time I saw him in a picture with the GT500 it was in a suit. I never could relate to him as a down to earth guy....just another dude climbing the corporate ladder. Someone call Jaguar and bring Scarpello back. SVT just got the guy from the Volvo R program, now bring in some Jag R program guys and maybe steal a few from Aston Martin. We need a performance dream team that reflects Ford performance across the board....not just a bunch of mustang nameplate managers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphy Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 YAY he's gone! This guy never fit the SVT image. Oh I'm sure he is loved by the insider suits at Ford, and that is great...but every picture I saw of this guy in an SVT story he looked so out of place. Sorry, but you would never see this guy doing a smoky burnout coming into the SVT garage a la Scarpello. Scarpello and Coletti were both a man's man. HTT was a suit. I guess you never saw this video of HTT doing 136 MPH with ease on a roadcourse in a GT500 Any time I saw him in a picture with the GT500 it was in a suit. I never could relate to him as a down to earth guy....just another dude climbing the corporate ladder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 The country managers report up to the President of South America (Dominic DiMarco). HTT will likely matrix to both DiMarco and Kuzak. It is very common in Ford for local managers to matrix to both a functional boss and a local operational head. Is DiMarco still with Ford? I can't find him on the exec bio page. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inteller Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 (edited) i see he took off his suit jacket so his white collar could show. also from what I could tell of the video he appeared to be turning into the corners to soon. but they kept switching the camera back and forth to him so that isnt conclusive. Edited February 23, 2007 by inteller Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edstock Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 HTT was a suit. Well, that suit was responsible for getting the chassis as right as it is, with a minimum of front overhang. HTT has always been about handling, not lighting up the tires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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