Alan Mulally on Autoline Detroit

[Blue Oval Guide]

Alan Mulally on Autoline Detroit

 

Anyone who has had half a toe in automotive knows what's been going on at Ford the last few years. And to be generous, much of it has been curious at best. Alan Mulally was brought in from Boeing late in 2006 to show what he could do to straighten things out. This month he completes his first full year on the job, and though things are still rough, he’s had some successes slowly start to show

 

This week, for the first time, he joins John McElroy as the sole guest on the automotive interview show Autoline Detroit. Joining John on his panel to question Mr. Mulally are Joe White from the Wall Street Journal and Csaba Csere of Car and Driver. The quartet touch on a variety of topics, everything from product to people to marketing to strategy. So catch Alan Mulally this Sunday, December 23rd on the national cable outlet SPEED at 7 a.m. ET, and in southeastern Michigan and throughout Canada on WTVS-PBS Detroit at 10:30 a.m. ET. The interview can also be viewed on the show's website on Sunday morning at www.autolinedetroit.tv

 

Link to the episode.

 

Video clip about Autoline Detroit

[P71_CrownVic]

Didn't somebody already post this?

[RichardJensen]

Not with the cool embedded video. Only Robert can do that.....

 

 

All hail Robert. All hail Robert. Master of the mysteries of the H, T, M, and L........

[Admiral]

Thanks Robert.

 

 

Craig -

[ironhorse]

Should be a good interview...John McElroy sometimes asks decent questions...I'm sure he'll throw a few softballs.

Edited December 22, 2007 by ironhorse

[Bob Rosadini]

Should be a good interview...John McElroy sometimes asks decent questions...I'm sure he'll throw a few softballs.

IMO the entire interview was one softball after another with the obvious answers. Alan is "the man" in my book for the job. But he didn't reveal anything but the obvious. No mention of any specific product info other then ...Lighter, more economical, greener blah blah. Some comments about the need to integrate the world wide effort but no specifics. Nothing about diesel technology and with so much of ford resting on the success of the 150 and commercial trucks (200,000 plus Power Strokes a year right?) and with the GM announcement this week of the new GM/Navistar "love in". maybe a question about Ford's relationship with Navistar might be in order. And maybe even a question about the future of RWD in Ford platforms.

 

One thing that did come across was the size of the task to bring about all the changes at once in products, manufacturing efficiencies, relationships withe the UAW etc, but I wish he had taken a stronger shot at the guy from the WSJ as they are the idiots who always push the "short term results" button. Which in my book is the one thing that has put ALL American industry in trouble. Everyone is driven to look good by the next quarter so they will get a good press review. Instant results except it just leads to real lasting long term problems.

[pcsario]

The interview sucked.

 

Might as well put Oprah and that old lady from Titanic on the panel with Mulally.

 

They would've asked tougher questions... that's how bad it was.

[JagXFRGuy]

Yeah I agree..the interview stunk......the web portion was just as boring...

[RichardJensen]

Geez. What were you guys expecting? CAD renderings of the 2012 Fusion?

 

Of course they were soft-ball questions. That's all these shows ever have.

[suv_guy_19]

Geez. What were you guys expecting? CAD renderings of the 2012 Fusion?

 

Of course they were soft-ball questions. That's all these shows ever have.

 

And theres a reason for that. If they didn't throw softballs, he probably wouldn't give them any answer, and so it would be no different.

[J-150]

first question of the show...

 

"Mr. Car & Driver guy. How the hell does one pronounce your name?"

 

 

[suv_guy_19]

One thing I have to say for sure though, their new comprehensive set is pretty crappy.

[Mark B. Morrow]

first question of the show...

 

"Mr. Car & Driver guy. How the hell does one pronounce your name?"

 

 

It's pronounced Chubba. I have no idea why.

[RichardJensen]

Because he's from one of those countries that uses our alphabet for things it was never intended....

 

I think he's from one of the Slavic countries. I remember reading it years ago, but have since forgotten it.

[bondo007]

I think Alan Mulally is an action guy. I like the guy. I think he would rather be working than running his mouth in some interview. However, his position requires he must speak, to congress, to shareholders, to automobile industry pundits.

 

I have developed a fuel saving product that Ford evaluated. I cannot divulge what it is at Ford's request. But Ford gave me the chance to demonstrate it. No, Mr. Mulally gave me the chance to demonstrate it. I know this because when I went through the security check at the building at Ford I was to have the demonstration at, the guard asked what company I was with? I told him I was an individual not with a company. He then said, " Oh ,you are the Mulally guy!" Then I realized Alan Mulally was the reason I was there. This proves Mr. Mulally is looking into every opportunity that presents itself to make Ford more competitive and profitable.

 

To give me the opportunity to have Ford evaluate my invention, was a golden opportunity for which I will be forever grateful to Mr. Mulally. To all those who reley on Ford to provide them with a paycheck or stock dividend you should be thankful you have a man like Alan Mulally bearing the burden for you. You should each commit to taking on a larger part of this burden to help Alan out. Ford must survive, and through the intelligent guidance of Mr. Mulally and the commitment of all Ford employees to work just a little harder, success is a given.

 

Merry Christmas to all,

 

Bondo007

Edited December 25, 2007 by bondo007

[Edstock]

It's pronounced Chubba. I have no idea why.

 

IIRC, Csabe is Hungarian. Chubba Chedda, or Chubby Cheddar, is how I try to remember.

[P71_CrownVic]

Thats the most advertising for FMC I have seen in a long time.

[jpd80]

Without dropping weight, power train improvements don't really have maximum effect.

Once you get weight out of vehicles using Aluminium / Magnesium / Composites,

the structural and safety features remain but the power train requirements are less.

 

Mulally expects mass production using what he calls "enabling technologies" to get prices down.

Maybe this happens after he retires?

Edited December 23, 2007 by jpd80

[StevenCaylor]

Without dropping weight, power train improvements don't really have maximum effect.

Once you get weight out of vehicles using Aluminium / Magnesium / Composites,

the structural and safety features remain but the power train requirements are less.

 

A good example of this would be the Boeing's new 787, the Dreamliner.

[Moosetang]

Going to see more work with advanced materials, as opposed to just drivetrain efficiency, that's good info.

 

Talked a lot about using volume to hit the efficiency standards, which to me says a boatload of B-cars and much more volume in Hybrids.

[Noah Harbinger]

I have developed a fuel saving product that Ford evaluated. I cannot divulge what it is at Ford's request. But Ford gave me the chance to demonstrate it. No, Mr. Mulally gave me the chance to demonstrate it. I know this because when I went through the security check at the building at Ford I was to have the demonstration at, the guard asked what company I was with? I told him I was an individual not with a company. He then said, " Oh ,you are the Mulally guy!" Then I realized Alan Mulally was the reason I was there. This proves Mr. Mulally is looking into every opportunity that presents itself to make Ford more competitive and profitable.

 

How intriguing. What lends credibility is that you're not trying to sell it retail to uninformed customers...

Edited December 24, 2007 by Noah Harbinger

[J-150]

IIRC, Csabe is Hungarian. Chubba Chedda, or Chubby Cheddar, is how I try to remember.

 

 

 

next time I go to a peeler bar, I'm telling people I've got a Csaba

[Edstock]

Csaba: as a word, it looks like a melon with a typo.

[rmc523]

One thing I personally noticed about the interview is Mulally's voice and speech actions. He seemed very calm and relaxed when he talked. I liked that about him. To me, the way he was talking conveyed a sense that Ford is on the right path back to profitablilty and building vehicles consumers want. (which I believe it is) His voice, at least to me, is reassuring.

[bondo007]

I agree rmc523. Mr. Mulally speaks calmly and level headedly. As important, if not more so, he is shaking up the old guard at Ford.

 

When I worked for the Ford's west coast studio in Valencia, Ca., back in the '80's, we worked at a very productive level. It was not breakneck, but everyone contributed and no one was a slacker. In 1986, I went to Ford Design Center in Dearborn to help present the 1992 Ford Econoline Van. It is still produced today except for a pretty radical facelift for 2008. As I cleaned the full scale model in the truck clay studio before we rolled the full scale model outside into the courtyard, I noticed the modelers were all comfortably sitting down. I thought they must be on break. However, the break lasted the whole two hours I was in the studio detailing the Econoline full scale hard model for presentation. I did notice some of the modelers would get off thier ass and make a few swipes on the clay models in the studio.

 

I was not used to this slow work pace. It seemed unproductive to me, being raised on a farm in Arkansas. When it came time to bale hay. you did'nt sit around. I feel Mr. Mulally found the same unproductive culture in management at Ford when he arrived. I did read he made his managers not bring thier notebooks to meetings any more so they would'nt have a prop to get lost in when he questioned them. Mulally is from the Midwest as I am. There are hard working folk all over America, and I feel Mulally is putting a boot in the ass of some at Ford who have been long overdue for such an exercise.

 

I closing, we as Americans should all make a resolution to work harder in 2008 and not gripe about how bad things are here. The Chinese will be bringing thier cars on shore soon. They are hard working SOB's. For the honor of our ancestors who worked hard to make America great, individually we have to wake up and grab the bull by the horns everyday. The furture generations of Americans will be the ultimate beneficiaries.