Random Thoughts: Maybe Nassar was the "best" worse thing to happen to Ford?

[silvrsvt]

I was just thinking about this...maybe having Nassar as the CEO of Ford in the late 1990's was the best thing that happened to them in the light of current events? Ford pretty much went through the same thing that both GM and Chrysler are going through now, sans the Credit Crisis and having to go through bankruptcy.

 

All the mismanagement of the 1990's lead to Ford bringing in Alan in 2005/6 and him cleaning house, which prob the biggest difference between what GM and Chrysler are currently doing.

 

Basically, if Nassar didn't happen, Ford wouldn't be in the position it is now...which prob the best of the big 2.5 and quite possibly become the largest Domestic manufature in a couple years?

[jasonj80]

I was just thinking about this...maybe having Nassar as the CEO of Ford in the late 1990's was the best thing that happened to them in the light of current events? Ford pretty much went through the same thing that both GM and Chrysler are going through now, sans the Credit Crisis and having to go through bankruptcy.

 

All the mismanagement of the 1990's lead to Ford bringing in Alan in 2005/6 and him cleaning house, which prob the biggest difference between what GM and Chrysler are currently doing.

 

Basically, if Nassar didn't happen, Ford wouldn't be in the position it is now...which prob the best of the big 2.5 and quite possibly become the largest Domestic manufature in a couple years?

 

Really wasn't Nassar, if you want to credit it to anything it is the Firestone Tire Disaster, -- 12+ billion was spent on that.

 

Nassar ran into the same thing that Ford Jr ran into -- people saying everything was perfect when it wasn't, and protecting of empires

Edited June 15, 2009 by jasonj80

[akirby]

Just like Mike Vick's arrest and Bobby Petrino's quitting led to the Falcons getting Matt Ryan and Mike Smith. Thanks Mike!

[Biker16]

I was just thinking about this...maybe having Nassar as the CEO of Ford in the late 1990's was the best thing that happened to them in the light of current events? Ford pretty much went through the same thing that both GM and Chrysler are going through now, sans the Credit Crisis and having to go through bankruptcy.

 

All the mismanagement of the 1990's lead to Ford bringing in Alan in 2005/6 and him cleaning house, which prob the biggest difference between what GM and Chrysler are currently doing.

 

Basically, if Nassar didn't happen, Ford wouldn't be in the position it is now...which prob the best of the big 2.5 and quite possibly become the largest Domestic manufature in a couple years?

nasser knew ford was in trouble, before most did, he was trying to force ford to change, while ford was making record profits.

 

Ford needed to be brought to it's knees in order for change to happen.

[RichardJensen]

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

 

Yes.

 

Nasser KNEW that Ford's passenger car ops were in serious trouble.

 

So he did the following:

 

1) Created a poisonous atmosphere for white collar workers

2) Tried to undermine Ford's dealership network

3) Bought a bunch of ancillary crap (Quick Fit and British junkyards being particularly noteworthy examples)

 

And did not do the following:

 

1) Structure Ford's PD units to work like Honda's and Toyota's.

 

------------

 

In short Nasser knew what the problem was. Nasser was told what to do by Jim Womack. Nasser didn't do it. Nasser, therefore, bears a great deal of responsibility for what happened to Ford.

[RichardJensen]

http://www.lean.org/WhoWeAre/LEINewsStory....ewsArticleId=38

In 1997 I got a call from Jac Nasser, who had just taken over Ford’s North American Automotive Operations on his way to becoming CEO of Ford. He matter-of-factly told me that Ford’s Explorer and F100 pickup series were the only Ford products that made serious money and that he calculated that he had four years to become as efficient and effective as Toyota. Otherwise, the large pickups and SUVs would be copied by foreign firms at lower cost with higher quality and Ford would be in terminal decline. “So,” he asked, “how can Ford become Toyota in four years?”

Womack told him what to do, and he didn't even TRY to do it.

Edited June 15, 2009 by RichardJensen

[itguy09]

Really wasn't Nassar, if you want to credit it to anything it is the Firestone Tire Disaster, -- 12+ billion was spent on that.

 

Nassar ran into the same thing that Ford Jr ran into -- people saying everything was perfect when it wasn't, and protecting of empires

 

And driving costs down at the expense of quality. I owned a few Fords from Jac the Knife's era and they were not that reliable at all - drove me away from Ford.

 

I tried to get my wife to buy anything but the 2003 Escape she ended up with. And when she did, we bought the 100k warranty as "You'll need it"....

 

The funny thing is hers is no better or worse than my car WRT reliability and I'm back looking at Ford.

 

But I wonder how many Jac's extreme cost cutting put off for good.

[Ford Jellymoulds]

Nasser KNEW that Ford's passenger car ops were in serious trouble.

 

So he did the following:

 

1) Created a poisonous atmosphere for white collar workers

2) Tried to undermine Ford's dealership network

3) Bought a bunch of ancillary crap (Quick Fit and British junkyards being particularly noteworthy examples)

 

And did not do the following:

 

1) Structure Ford's PD units to work like Honda's and Toyota's.

 

------------

 

In short Nasser knew what the problem was. Nasser was told what to do by Jim Womack. Nasser didn't do it. Nasser, therefore, bears a great deal of responsibility for what happened to Ford.

 

 

"It's all about product"

 

Ford have been hemoraging CAR sales for years and years you posted them on BON at the top of the title page Richard.

 

Gotta say l am very impressed with the new Ka and Fiesta Ford ditched the dull styling both are massive improvements on the older models in Europe they look like they are both picking up market share & sales for Ford as everything else is falling. Fords new Taurus also looks a massive improvement on the old model that is a bit of a sales flop for Ford at the moment.

 

Even though l am not interested in the Ka or Fiesta they are to small for me l will be first to admit they are both cars that are a massive hit with sales on an upward trend again, the new Taurus will be another massive hit when it arrives although the FWD is not my cup of tea.

 

Naaser might have sown the seeds of falling sales, but Alan Mulally new CARS are picking up market share again with + signs in front of Fiesta & Ka sales numbers every month. Who cares about Nasser he had it easy he has not had to face the massive econimic storm Mulally has from day one with $12 billions of debt.

[jasonj80]

And driving costs down at the expense of quality. I owned a few Fords from Jac the Knife's era and they were not that reliable at all - drove me away from Ford.

 

I tried to get my wife to buy anything but the 2003 Escape she ended up with. And when she did, we bought the 100k warranty as "You'll need it"....

 

The funny thing is hers is no better or worse than my car WRT reliability and I'm back looking at Ford.

 

But I wonder how many Jac's extreme cost cutting put off for good.

 

That was some of it, but the most had to deal with the bonus structure that was implemented at the time, if you came up with an idea to cut costs, you got a percentage of the cost reduction as a bonus. Save $8 on a vehicle that sold 400,000 units and you could end up with a $10,000 cost savings bonus. The problem is no one ever looked to see if those cuts were going to affect safety/reliability/user features, Ford even under the Trotman years used to have features to start out a model cycle with and would just take them out as time went on. -- Trip Computers, Under dash/Door/Glove box lights, heated mirrors, all would disappear after a model year

 

Though it still works today in cost savings, an MKX doesn't even have a glove box light.

Edited June 15, 2009 by jasonj80

[Paul Selby]

Seems to me Ford was on a good solid path until old Jac came along. Ford had good products and was on track to pass GM for market share. Ford had 5 of the top 10 selling vehicles and was voted the #1 pick of people wanting to start a new car dealership. Then Nassar came along and vehicles were left to rot on the vine while he pursued other interests for Ford.

[StapRoboSitter]

I was just thinking about this...maybe having Nassar as the CEO of Ford in the late 1990's was the best thing that happened to them in the light of current events? Ford pretty much went through the same thing that both GM and Chrysler are going through now, sans the Credit Crisis and having to go through bankruptcy.

 

All the mismanagement of the 1990's lead to Ford bringing in Alan in 2005/6 and him cleaning house, which prob the biggest difference between what GM and Chrysler are currently doing.

 

Basically, if Nassar didn't happen, Ford wouldn't be in the position it is now...which prob the best of the big 2.5 and quite possibly become the largest Domestic manufature in a couple years?

 

Please tell me you are kidding... the "Way Forward" was a result of Jac's business concepts (which he then shared with Polaroid) ... he didn't care about product development and you cannot blame the underlings, he's the CEO. He DID care about putting an Analog clock in the middle of Lincoln's... that had to have a sweeping hand but didn't want it to cost anything so... they eliminated the Vanity lights and a Map pocket... 3 complaints about the new Lincoln... They didn't like the clock, and it had no map pocket and no Vanity lights!!

 

He was a business-man not a car guy... the whole firestone fiasco WAS Jac's work... "we have cash, buy 'em off and shut 'em up" Bill Ford came in when he saw finally the crap that Nasser had done to Ford... no, there would have been no "way forward" without Nasser... there would have been no need!!

 

There are many many things that aren't easily seen.. Many things that are "Ford Standard"... any trademen in bodyshops know the cost of an "Aro" gun and the complexity... Aro a french company... Nasser a frenchman... co-incidence??

 

Nasser is the reason Ford went down the shitter... whether by action or inaction... when the Interceptors were getting the rep of catching fire after an 80mph impact... what did Bill Ford do? "You wanna sue us for a car? fine... we are cancelling your orders... go drive an Impala" Nasser would have just canned the Crown Vic... and maybe he did... Before Firestone there were plans to reskin the Crown Vic to make the interceptor totally different from the regular Crown Vic... 12 billion and 8 years later? Not a single change...

 

I appreciate the things he did do... Volvo was a spectacular purchase, Land Rover, Aston Martin... were just something to spend cash on to improve Brand image... Thats what he was there for... find something to spend money on because no one else knew what to do with it!! Problem is he didn't spend money on things that mattered... Development so that we could KEEP making more money... he squeezed every turnip he could...

 

Mulaly? Not a car guy... he's a brand guy and worth every damned penny we pay him... though I am curious about one statement he has made... I remember reading something about "We are no longer going to use one platform to fund another" ie... keep the profits where they are being made... Even on one shift and downweeks out the wazoo Crown Vic is still making a handsome profit... my question is, where is all THAT profit going..??

Edited June 16, 2009 by StapRoboSitter

[twintornados]

Jack Nasser will always be JACK nASSer for what he did to Ford.....the whole Firestone / Explorer debacle was his fault....sure, Firestone made the tires, but they were made to Fords spec (aka...black, round, and cheap....and the 1st two don't really matter) All they needed to do was add one more belt and make it an "extra load" range tire and this would never have happened.

 

His buying spree also was a huge mistake, all because he didn't want to be seen in just a Lincoln.......Jack nASSer can go Jack Off as far as I am concerned....he did enough damage while at Ford.....I am glad Bill Jr canned his Jack Ass......

[Joe771476]

Volvo and Land Rover weren't bad purchases in themselves, but Ford paid WAAAAY too much for them! I think he paid at least three times what they were worth.

[silvrsvt]

though I am curious about one statement he has made... I remember reading something about "We are no longer going to use one platform to fund another" ie... keep the profits where they are being made... Even on one shift and downweeks out the wazoo Crown Vic is still making a handsome profit... my question is, where is all THAT profit going..??

 

If the CV was making that much of a profit, there would be upgrades done to it, but also consider this...the ONLY reason the Panther Platform makes money is that all the tooling etc has been long paid for (much like the Ranger) and spending a couple billion dollars on a new platform or making whole sale changes to it would destroy that profit. The only reason the Ranger is getting redesigned is that the platform will be used around the world, spreading the costs out. The Panther doesn't have that option.

 

Its more or less your damned if you and damned if you don't.

 

Another reason for Mullay's comments come from Ford being far too dependent on F-series and Explorer sales like they where in the past and the excuse of Small cars can't make a profit in USA thats been prepertated by Detroit since Small Cars have came out. All platforms have to carry their weight and make money. The days of designing a car to sell 400K units a year then cheapening them up/rental fleeting them out to make the numbers are done for. They have to figure out to make $$$ on a platform that sells about 100-200K units a year...which leads us back to the Panther, which would be lucky to do those numbers on a new plaform. The Taurus gets a pass since its platform is shared with the MKS, Flex and the '11 Explorer, which puts the total D4 platform close to 300K or more units a year.

[theoldwizard]

Nasser KNEW that Ford's passenger car ops were in serious trouble.

 

So he did the following:

 

1) Created a poisonous atmosphere for white collar workers.

Correct. He mandated that 10% of the MR had to rated as "under preform", regardless if it was true.. 2 strikes and you were out ! He also started the "You should get a new job every 2 years." This is still in place in a few areas of Ford today. Net results, no one is in a job long enough to really understand all of the details or to be able to say "We tried that before and it did not work !" (I had 5 engineering managers in less than 2 years before retiring in 2007. Since then it has changed twice more !)

 

2) Tried to undermine Ford's dealership network

Correct. Bought a bunch of dealership (in Oklahoma ?) and put them all under one pseudo name so that most folks did not even know they were company stores.

 

3) Bought a bunch of ancillary crap (Quick Fit and British junkyards being particularly noteworthy examples)

Correct. Although perhaps you should not call Aston and Jag "junkyards". My mistake, he did buy some "automotive recycling centers" !

 

And did not do the following:

 

1) Structure Ford's PD units to work like Honda's and Toyota's.

I don't know what their structure was/is, but it took until about 2 or 3 years ago to undo the last of the structure that was put in place during Ford 2000 by Alex Trotman.

Edited June 16, 2009 by theoldwizard

[theoldwizard]

He DID care about putting an Analog clock in the middle of Lincoln's... that had to have a sweeping hand but didn't want it to cost anything so... they eliminated the Vanity lights and a Map pocket...

I don't remember the clock thing, but I do remember the elimination of the "map pocket" on the rear of the seats. The passenger seat map pocket had an umbrella pocket sewn in, very handy !

 

I always said, they should have left the pockets and placed a Lincoln logo umbrella in the pocket. It is little things like that that luxury car owner remember !

[theoldwizard]

Volvo and Land Rover weren't bad purchases in themselves, but Ford paid WAAAAY too much for them! I think he paid at least three times what they were worth.

Although we will never know for certain (separate records were never published) but most folks inside the company would say that neither Astom Martin or Land Rover ever came CLOSE to making a profit.

 

Several engineers sed to call jaguar/Land Rover/Aston Martin "British Welfare".

 

At least Ford got some good engineering from Volvo (best/safest seats in the business !)

[DUCKRACER]

I was just thinking about this...maybe having Nassar as the CEO of Ford in the late 1990's was the best thing that happened to them in the light of current events? Ford pretty much went through the same thing that both GM and Chrysler are going through now, sans the Credit Crisis and having to go through bankruptcy.

 

All the mismanagement of the 1990's lead to Ford bringing in Alan in 2005/6 and him cleaning house, which prob the biggest difference between what GM and Chrysler are currently doing.

 

Basically, if Nassar didn't happen, Ford wouldn't be in the position it is now...which prob the best of the big 2.5 and quite possibly become the largest Domestic manufature in a couple years?

 

Kind of like if Carter did not happen we would not have gotten Reagan.

[twintornados]

Volvo and Land Rover weren't bad purchases in themselves, but Ford paid WAAAAY too much for them! I think he paid at least three times what they were worth.

Volvo......maybe, Land Rover.....not at all worth the time. Profits from the truck division and lines like Taurus and Explorer should've been plowed back into Ford to beat the competition soundly....something the Alan Mulally is doing now, but with secured loans seeing as Jack nASSer squandered the company coffers.....he is to Ford what the anti-Christ is to Christians.....

[theoldwizard]

Nassar sold off Ford HD Truck Division because it was "not profitable enough".

 

IIRC he said something like, "If you can only get 3-5% return on your investment, you should just put the money in the bank !"

 

I sure wish he had put the money in the bank !!

[twintornados]

Nassar sold off Ford HD Truck Division because it was "not profitable enough".

 

IIRC he said something like, "If you can only get 3-5% return on your investment, you should just put the money in the bank !"

 

I sure wish he had put the money in the bank !!

+1

[Big_Mack]

Ya know, because of this thread bringing up Nasser, I decided to ask a co-worker who used to be a Ford engineer what he thought of Nasser.....

 

Suprisingly he said that if Nasser wouldnt have been fired, he might have still wanted to work there. He had some positive things to say about him, and believed that it was a lot of the guys around him that were the biggest problems. He even said that "his biggest enemies were all around him," meaning a lot of guys wanted to see him fail from the start.

 

Take it with a grain of salt I guess, but a lot of Ford's demise over the past couple years has undoubtedly been a team effort. From directors that don't tell the truth about different project status updates, to quality issues left unsolved, to losing money on too many models, not everything was his fault. And from what I've heard, a lot of the upper management level guys are still there...hopefully Mulally can change things though...

[ironhorse]

As a dealer,here is what nASSar brought....He pissed down a rat hole 20+ billion dollars of Ford's money for nothing(Volvo,LR,Aston Martin commodies like palladium and platinum and junk yards) He tried to be in the dealer's retail business,spent billions,and got his ass handed to him. HE cripled Ford Motor Company with his corporate gutting of experienced engineers and executives. He bought into the internet paper tigers like the globe.com,Michael Dell and the rest of the guys at the time that was making billions on "paper".

Edited June 17, 2009 by ironhorse

[SVT_MAN]

No offense to anyone, but I'm not sure I care why or where we were at this point. The only thing I care about is where we going in the future since we can't change the past. As long as things are secured for the long-term future, I could care less what Ford was. I know Ford was making piece of crap cars in the 90s. I owned a 1995 Mercury Sable that was living proof of this. Now, their cars are top tier quality. That's all I care about.