mettech Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 "...At the top of the first blank sheet, Mulally wrote "Our World." Beneath it he drew a simple chart plotting the decline of Detroit's Big Three and the rise of their Japanese competitors. "All three companies have been going out of business for decades. When they finally do, they'll take the UAW down with them," Mulally told the union leaders. "We've got to deal with this reality." Of course, this was not news to either Gettelfinger or King. The UAW had its own financial advisers. They had reached the same conclusion. The only question was what to do about it. Mulally said he had some ideas. We're going to run out of time," he said. Gettelfinger and King complained that Ford was investing too much in its money-losing foreign brands. Why not start there? Mulally smiled, and wrote the initials of each brand on the bottom of the sheet, starting with "F" for Ford, followed by "L" for Lincoln, "M" for Mercury, "J" for Jaguar, "LR" for Land Rover, "V" for Volvo, "AM" for Aston Martin, and another "M" for Mazda. Then he crossed all of them out, except for the "F" and the "L." The union men were stunned. "This is our plan. We're going to do this to invest in Ford," Mulally said with a grin. The only question was where to make that investment. The answer was up to the UAW. Right now Ford was losing money on almost every vehicle it made in America. It could keep doing that and go out of business, or it could use the money freed up by selling off the foreign brands to build new factories in Mexico, where it could build cars at a profit. "What would you do?" Mulally asked. Neither Gettelfinger nor King answered...." Detroit News 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
probowler Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 How the hell could they have been loosing money on EVERY car they built in America? That to me is a huge problem, and I think that's pretty much been corrected now right? It would be very interesting to find out how that started... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 How the hell could they have been loosing money on EVERY car they built in America? That to me is a huge problem, and I think that's pretty much been corrected now right? It would be very interesting to find out how that started... Where did you see that? The where losing money or breaking even on most car products and made the most money on Explorer and F-series at the time. As for when it started...I'd venture to say at least 25-30 years ago or so...they had no interest in even trying to make small cars profitable since they where viewed as CAFE offsets and bigger cars where fleeted in huge numbers just to get sales titles or keep factories busy. And yes the problem has been fixed for the most part...might want to argue that the Flex and MKT don't pull their weight, but they are more or less new tophats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddysystem Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 "...At the top of the first blank sheet, Mulally wrote "Our World." Beneath it he drew a simple chart plotting the decline of Detroit's Big Three and the rise of their Japanese competitors. "All three companies have been going out of business for decades. When they finally do, they'll take the UAW down with them," Mulally told the union leaders. "We've got to deal with this reality." Of course, this was not news to either Gettelfinger or King. The UAW had its own financial advisers. They had reached the same conclusion. The only question was what to do about it. Mulally said he had some ideas. We're going to run out of time," he said. Gettelfinger and King complained that Ford was investing too much in its money-losing foreign brands. Why not start there? Mulally smiled, and wrote the initials of each brand on the bottom of the sheet, starting with "F" for Ford, followed by "L" for Lincoln, "M" for Mercury, "J" for Jaguar, "LR" for Land Rover, "V" for Volvo, "AM" for Aston Martin, and another "M" for Mazda. Then he crossed all of them out, except for the "F" and the "L." The union men were stunned. "This is our plan. We're going to do this to invest in Ford," Mulally said with a grin. The only question was where to make that investment. The answer was up to the UAW. Right now Ford was losing money on almost every vehicle it made in America. It could keep doing that and go out of business, or it could use the money freed up by selling off the foreign brands to build new factories in Mexico, where it could build cars at a profit. "What would you do?" Mulally asked. Neither Gettelfinger nor King answered...." Detroit News Stop posting excerpts from the book! My book arrives Saturday from Amazon....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 How the hell could they have been loosing money on EVERY car they built in America? That to me is a huge problem, and I think that's pretty much been corrected now right? It would be very interesting to find out how that started... That was the very problem that confronted Jac Nasser , only F Truck and Explorer were making money. I don't agree with his policies but can understand why he tried to generate another income stream but instead of solving Ford;s basic problems, he compounded them. I'm so glad that Mulally and the UAW wre able to get the deal done, at least those members who voted against it still have a job.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 It would be interesting to see (if anyone has the time and inclination) to find the old posts here to see if it ties in with the book. I'd like to see who was close and who was way off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 (edited) I thought it was a UAW initiative to for go some VEBA payments from Ford in return for Focus production in the USA, now it seems like Mulally and Ford were geared to build Focus in Mexico unless the UAW could work with Ford and bring costs under control. So was it actually Mulally driven initiative but, did the UAW agree to cuts as well as swapping VEBA payments to Ford for more work for US plants....I hope UAW members here can clear up that part of the equation... Edited March 15, 2012 by jpd80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
controller Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 Stop posting excerpts from the book! My book arrives Saturday from Amazon....... Really? Got mine today. And yeah, stop posting excerpts. Can't wait to read this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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