blazerdude20 Posted November 18, 2008 Share Posted November 18, 2008 http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/11/18/mulally.a...lout/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DUCKRACER Posted November 18, 2008 Share Posted November 18, 2008 (edited) http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/11/18/mulally.a...lout/index.html I hope millions of people heard that. Excelllent job by Mulally. Ford really has the most common sense path to the future. I wish he had mentioned that Ford is tied with Toyota for quality. Edited November 18, 2008 by DUCKRACER Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted November 18, 2008 Share Posted November 18, 2008 Love John Roberts... "You promoted SUVs...." Yeah. Damned Ford executives, walking around with AK-47s. Threatening to kill people if they didn't buy Explorers. >sniff< It truly was a dark day in our history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted November 18, 2008 Share Posted November 18, 2008 I wish he had mentioned that Ford is tied with Toyota for quality. He did. Mulally: Absolutely. I don't think it's a promise. I think it's a promise that we are already delivering on today. When you look at the Ford lineup going forward, we have now cars, small, medium, and large cars, utilities, and trucks that are absolutely world class in their quality, in their fuel mileage, in their safety -- on par and competing and in many cases much better than Toyota and Honda. We have a business plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lfeg Posted November 18, 2008 Share Posted November 18, 2008 Love John Roberts... "You promoted SUVs...." Yeah. Damned Ford executives, walking around with AK-47s. Threatening to kill people if they didn't buy Explorers. >sniff< It truly was a dark day in our history. Be careful there Richard. Companies have been sued for not forcing a potential customer to buy their product. Been there, had that done to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ford Jellymoulds Posted November 18, 2008 Share Posted November 18, 2008 CNBC also put out quite a good video interview with Alan Mulally. http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232/?video=931559325&play=1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theoldwizard Posted November 18, 2008 Share Posted November 18, 2008 I too thought Mullaly did well, but there some points he could have hit harder on. The interviewer pointed out that Ford has just launched another pickup truck. Mullaly said some people still want/need pickups, but he should have added This F150 is the class leader in fuel economy. Ford has closed 4 (?) truck/SUV plants in the past 5 years and is about to convert another (Michigan Truck) into making more small cars. Ford's plans for future small cars have been published. There is no way that Ford can return to being defendant upon trucks and large SUVs again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7upMustang Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 What I think needs to happen is Ford needs to start an aggressive campaign to show that they have been working on reworking the company to be more sustainable for the future. Highlight the fact that since 2005 they introduced the 500, Fusion, reworked the Focus (twice), the 500 was refreshed and mpg increased (and became Taurus), the Focus refresh increased mpg both times, and the Fusion refresh is to be introduced with increased mpg. All are at or near the top of their class for mileage. Lay out the facts. Also, the news people should do some research and stop making it sound like Ford and the other US auto makers were the only ones pushing SUVs and trucks. Everyones holy green grail Toyota has introduced in the past year the new, bigger, more powerful, and no more fuel efficient Tundra, Sequoia, and Land Cruiser. And guess what, those were the vehicles they were advertising. Appearantly making the prius gives you a free pass on those. I'm not knocking Toyota for that, they did what they thought they needed to do at the time. The reporters make it sound like Ford's fault that more people bought Explorers, Expeditions and F-150's than 4-Runners, Sequoias, and Tundras. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Reynolds Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 This was the dialogue regarding the debut of the Fusion Hybrid, to which Mulally countered that Ford had the Escape Hybrid: Mulally: Well, that's really one model of the vehicles. The very first hybrid was introduced by Ford with the Escape. Roberts: It was an SUV Who cares, that 'SUV' delivers better city fuel economy than the frigging Camry Hybrid. The press, needs to come off of it already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpvbs Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 Reading the public replies to the article shows what Ford is up against. The ignorance of many of the posters is incredibly frustating. In particular I was irritated by the a number of people seem to think the reason Ford is in bad shape now is because of the F150. Apparantly they think it would be sound business sense for Ford to stop selling the best selling vehicle in the world and only sell vehicles with a purchase price that is almost the same as just the profit margin on an F-series. Then there is the usual, Ford builds junk, their Hybrids aren't nearly as good as Toyota, how irresponsible they are to provide health care coverage for employees, how Ford has nothing in the pipeline, Mullaly is an imbecile.... It must really suck to have to try to figure out this mess and then have to listen to all the stupidity. Not to say that Ford is completely innocent, but they are really getting shafted by some fo the really poor decisions of GM and Chryco. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 Focus: Best In Class highway mileage Focus: Best In Class city mileage Escape: Best In Class highway mileage Escape: Best In Class city mileage Fusion: Best In Class highway mileage (2010 model) Edge: Best In Class highway mileage (excludes Highlander hybrid) Taurus: Best In Class city mileage Taurus: 1mpg off Best In Class highway mileage Flex: Best In Class city mileage Flex: Best In Class highway mileage F150: Best In Class city mileage F150: Best In Class highway mileage Ranger: Best In Class city mileage Ranger: Best In Class highway mileage Aside from the Mustang (in a class by itself :D ), Ford delivers solid fuel economy. Of course, what Ford is doing NOW doesn't matter, because all those people that think that Ford needs to change........ are fixated on the past. They are so full of what Ford used to do and what they think Ford should've done that they can't be bothered to find out what Ford is actually doing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mettech Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 Reading the public replies to the article shows what Ford is up against. The ignorance of many of the posters is incredibly frustating. In particular I was irritated by the a number of people seem to think the reason Ford is in bad shape now is because of the F150. Apparantly they think it would be sound business sense for Ford to stop selling the best selling vehicle in the world and only sell vehicles with a purchase price that is almost the same as just the profit margin on an F-series. Then there is the usual, Ford builds junk, their Hybrids aren't nearly as good as Toyota, how irresponsible they are to provide health care coverage for employees, how Ford has nothing in the pipeline, Mullaly is an imbecile....It must really suck to have to try to figure out this mess and then have to listen to all the stupidity. Not to say that Ford is completely innocent, but they are really getting shafted by some fo the really poor decisions of GM and Chryco. It comes down to this question: Why is Toyota and Honda making money and the American 3 isn't? The answer to that question might be the solution to the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7upMustang Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 Reading the public replies to the article shows what Ford is up against. The ignorance of many of the posters is incredibly frustating. In particular I was irritated by the a number of people seem to think the reason Ford is in bad shape now is because of the F150. Apparantly they think it would be sound business sense for Ford to stop selling the best selling vehicle in the world and only sell vehicles with a purchase price that is almost the same as just the profit margin on an F-series. Then there is the usual, Ford builds junk, their Hybrids aren't nearly as good as Toyota, how irresponsible they are to provide health care coverage for employees, how Ford has nothing in the pipeline, Mullaly is an imbecile....It must really suck to have to try to figure out this mess and then have to listen to all the stupidity. Not to say that Ford is completely innocent, but they are really getting shafted by some fo the really poor decisions of GM and Chryco. I really admire Alan for taking this challange as unfortunately some here give the general public too much credit in thinking that just having class leading vehicles will mean magical sales success for Ford. Just like the idiots who reply to some of those blogs, I see the same think in daily life. A lady I work with wanted a new car and was talking about the RAV4. I convinced her to check out the Escape and she liked it better. Guess what she bought however because she "knows it will last and not give her any problems." Also 2 people who just bought Civics. One does not even like it as it is not comfortable to him. It was the only car he looked at though, because he wanted something fuel efficent that will last forever. His misconceptions would not even allow him to look at a Focus or anything else American. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 It comes down to this question: Why is Toyota and Honda making money and the American 3 isn't? The answer to that question might be the solution to the problem. Thats too simplistic of a view, lets keep in mind that the Japanese domestic market is more or less locked out market for any foreign car makes due to the opposite problems that the Big 3 face, mostly patriotism towards buying domestically produced cars made in Japan and a difficult market to penetrate. Then we can talk about union problems and goverment assistnace that the Japanese makes get also. Its not just one thing that will fix it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 It comes down to this question: Why is Toyota and Honda making money and the American 3 isn't? The answer to that question might be the solution to the problem. Uh, thanks Confucius. Got anything helpful to add? Something that doesn't consist of a 10 minute barrage of "should'ves" and "could'ves" Past is the past. Nothing you can do to change it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 (edited) Or, more to the point, WHAT SHOULD FORD BE DOING DIFFERENTLY NOW? Little harder to answer THAT question, ain't it? Edited November 19, 2008 by RichardJensen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7upMustang Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 (edited) Focus: Best In Class highway mileageFocus: Best In Class city mileage Escape: Best In Class highway mileage Escape: Best In Class city mileage Fusion: Best In Class highway mileage (2010 model) Edge: Best In Class highway mileage (excludes Highlander hybrid) Taurus: Best In Class city mileage Taurus: 1mpg off Best In Class highway mileage Flex: Best In Class city mileage Flex: Best In Class highway mileage F150: Best In Class city mileage F150: Best In Class highway mileage Ranger: Best In Class city mileage Ranger: Best In Class highway mileage Aside from the Mustang (in a class by itself :D ), Ford delivers solid fuel economy. Of course, what Ford is doing NOW doesn't matter, because all those people that think that Ford needs to change........ are fixated on the past. They are so full of what Ford used to do and what they think Ford should've done that they can't be bothered to find out what Ford is actually doing That is the $64,000 question. How does Ford convince people of this? When people ride in my car (Zephyr) they love it, and they are amazed when I tell them the only work done to it was one visit to fix a rattle in the dash (45,000 miles). They still don't trust Ford enough to buy one. Another thing to look at, GM has been running ads about how they have more 30mpg cars than Toyonda. Yet everyone still thinks they make only gas guzzlers. How do you convince people when somethings just seem burned in their head? Edited November 19, 2008 by 7upMustang Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 Or, more to the point, WHAT SHOULD FORD BE DOING DIFFERENTLY NOW? Good question, but when you shacked down by your past, how do you go about fixing that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 Takes time. People are finally coming around on the Korean makes (of course, I believe that's part of an accepted prejudice in the US that 'slanty eyed people with straight black hair make good cars'--as though the Korean and Japanese cultures were basically the same, and as though there were no meaningful differences between Asian individuals because 'they all look the same') Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 Good question, but when you shacked down by your past, how do you go about fixing that? You ever see 'To Catch A Thief'? Great scene in it where Cary Grant explains to John Williams that he, as a pardoned thief, must be scrupulously honest in all matters because it's the only way he can stay above suspicion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 You ever see 'To Catch A Thief'? Only that stupid TV show on Discovery :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ford Jellymoulds Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 (edited) Or, more to the point, WHAT SHOULD FORD BE DOING DIFFERENTLY NOW? Little harder to answer THAT question, ain't it? Gotta say Fords cars let Ford down big time in the US if you add up all the car sales together they come to just 31,914, the F-Series managed 43,324 on its own last month. Ford need the Fiesta fast in the US, it sells about 34,000 a month against much the same sort of Japanese opposition in Europe. With the downturn and credit crunch most folk are looking to cut back, so a nice cheap fuel efficient Fiesta is just the car most folk want at the moment. Only the Mustang has the wow factor and leads it class of car the rest would not appeal to me in anyway. In the past every car Ford made appealed to me from sports coupe to station wagon l liked all of them - Fords cars have lost their magic appeal of the past, l prefer a car thats been designed by a human not a binary systems dream or idea of what a car should look like.. Edited November 19, 2008 by Ford Jellymoulds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goinbroke2 Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 So your saying if ford sold the mustang in europe, you'd buy one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mettech Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 Uh, thanks Confucius. Got anything helpful to add?Something that doesn't consist of a 10 minute barrage of "should'ves" and "could'ves" Past is the past. Nothing you can do to change it. Why yes I do.... :shades: Cut overhead until the company can make a profit. And I'm talking about today too... not yesterday. :reading: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 Gotta say Fords cars let Ford down big time in the US if you add up all the car sales together they come to just 31,914, the F-Series managed 43,324 on its own last month. Ford need the Fiesta fast in the US, it sells about 34,000 a month against much the same sort of Japanese opposition in Europe. With the downturn and credit crunch most folk are looking to cut back, so a nice cheap fuel efficient Fiesta is just the car most folk want at the moment. Only the Mustang has the wow factor and leads it class of car the rest would not appeal to me in anyway. In the past every car Ford made appealed to me from sports coupe to station wagon l liked all of them - Fords cars have lost their magic appeal of the past, l prefer a car thats been designed by a human not a binary systems dream or idea of what a car should look like.. If you think the Fiesta is going to magically turn around Ford's North American car sales, you've got another thing coming. At the most it will sell about 10,000 units a month. And that's being generous. B-cars don't sell here like they do in Europe. And well, the Mustang certainly isn't Ford's best-selling car here either. Look at the best-selling cars here: Camry and Accord. Are either of those appealing to you in the least? I doubt it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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