Bill steps down from CEO post

[630land]

Get ready for the annocuncement that the Panthers/Taurus die sooner than planned.

 

And maybe much better cars & trucks will come too

Edited September 6, 2006 by 630land

[RichardJensen]

When he backs off and proves this is not a Detroit Lions move I will have much more respect.

Even Henry the first who I have the greatest respect for messed up. It is a Ford tradition for the Fords to mess up, the company. I offered an olive branch and still you attack. I wish the Ford Motor Company the greatest success.

 

I don't hate Billl Ford Junior, I hate what he has done to the company.

You said he deserved respect, I suggested that you actively demonstrate the respect you profess to feel by repudiating a past filled with unjustified character assasination. You change the subject.

 

Status quo ante-olive branch, I see.

[156n3rd]

I never thought Mr. Ford would allow his family company to wither away. He's being pro-active. Refreshing.

[KinneticBrian]

well well well, now is a good time to own Ford stock. I think I'll buy 5000 more shares tomorrow.

 

Lincoln and Mercury, your days are numbered now!

 

RIP Badge Engineering!

 

 

Nonsense - Lincoln and Mercury are two good brands with high market potential - Kiss Jag, Land Rover and Aston good bye if anything...

[focus05]

What a surprise! Mullaly did preside over Boeing's resurgence in the Commercial Airplane biz. However, somebody did point out that a lot of out-sourcing happened. I have expected that, if the blind adherance to the disastrous globalization agenda persists, Ford will end up a badge and marketing arm for Chinese manufactures. This is liable to hasten that future.

 

Mulally finagled $3.2 billion in tax breaks on the backs of Washington taxpayers to locate 7E7 production (or rather final assembly) in Washington State - which is expected to generate between 800 and 1200 new jobs (in other words, Washington taxpayers paid between $2.6 million and $4 million for each of those jobs).

 

It should be interesting times ahead for Ford, but a word of advice for Michigan taxpayers: If you drop your soap in the shower, leave it lie.

 

The truth is that this is what Toyota has been doing for years with its parts sourcing and plant locations. $300 million in tax credits for the plant in San Antonio. Something like $250 million from Indiana. Georgetown has basically tax-free status, probably adding up to like $20-30 million per year. I think Ford has only begun to realize the power of job creation and tax incentives (used before, but never at the level of Toyota), and if Mullaly can do something like that at Boeing, I'm sure Ford will be on competitive footing with the other foreign manufacturers in the U.S. in this arena.

[Bluecon]

You said he deserved respect, I suggested that you actively demonstrate the respect you profess to feel by repudiating a past filled with unjustified character assasination. You change the subject.

 

Status quo ante-olive branch, I see.

Maybee it is time for a bluecon was right post.

 

I love the Ford company.

 

Bluecon, your behavior here makes any olive branch highly suspicious. I particularly like the sub-moronic "ostriches" crap when you have nothing to debate with. You're a poor loser, and, I feel, incapable of ever being any kind of winner.

 

Why should anyone here assume you're doing anything but the latest in a long string of "spin" moves?

Loser?

I was right.

The proof is in the pudding.

The attack ostriches were wrong.

Edited September 6, 2006 by Bluecon

[turbo_diesel_focus]

Makes alot of sense.

 

Alan Mullay wont take any shit, he will turn this company around. AS LONG as he is left to run the company then Ford can get back on track, increase its market share, be more efficiant and make LOADS of money!!

 

Good Luck Alan

[J-150]

I never thought Mr. Ford would allow his family company to wither away. He's being pro-active. Refreshing.

 

 

pro-aactive would have meant doing this 5 years ago.

 

Doing it now is RE-active

 

And being reactionary will guarantee a last place finish.

[inteller]

Nonsense - Lincoln and Mercury are two good brands with high market potential - Kiss Jag, Land Rover and Aston good bye if anything...

 

 

fords with more sound dampening material and $$$ on the sticker are good "brands"? give me a break. When the only difference between the Fusion and the Milan are the badges on the outside, it doesn't make the Milan a better "brand".

 

As an engineer, I expect the new CEO to get rid of lazy engineering practices....badge engineering will be the first practice to go.

 

Panther platform going away will be a good thing too.

[Stray Kat]

I swear I am getting worn out reading the negativism on this board. Bill Ford did something that takes a ton of character to do. How many of you naysayers have replaced yourselves for anything important to you? Reactive vs proactive??? Ahhh bullshit!!! Say anything to make Ford look bad. This is major and timely. I doubt Mulaly was available five years ago. Whatever, Ford will succeed regardless of the naysayers so why don't you guys think positive for a change?

[turbo_diesel_focus]

I wonder how much they are going to pay him? Must be more then the $12 million they paid Nasser?!!!

[silvrsvt]

fords with more sound dampening material and $$$ on the sticker are good "brands"? give me a break. When the only difference between the Fusion and the Milan are the badges on the outside, it doesn't make the Milan a better "brand".

 

Different Front and Rear end clips also...

 

Is a Lexus ES330 any better then a loaded Camry? Not really...But They can charge more for the Name, just like Ford can charge more for the Milan and MKZ, because of the name.

 

Not all cars are bought for engineering...if that was the case, the Mustang should have been shot and killed along time ago with its "Horse and Buggy" solid rear suspension..Theres a thing called Image and style, which the Milan has over the Fusion...

[judge]

Having worked at Boeing during the really busy years, I can say that as a line worker our job every day was to find ways to IMPROVE the product. Not to make it cheaper, not to save a buck, but to make it better every week. That's what quality control is all about. Bring in about 100 retired Boeing QC inspectors and turn them loose - you will get some changes in a hurry. Good luck to the new CEO, he'l need it.

[Mark B. Morrow]

I swear I am getting worn out reading the negativism on this board. Bill Ford did something that takes a ton of character to do. How many of you naysayers have replaced yourselves for anything important to you? Reactive vs proactive??? Ahhh bullshit!!! Say anything to make Ford look bad. This is major and timely. I doubt Mulaly was available five years ago. Whatever, Ford will succeed regardless of the naysayers so why don't you guys think positive for a change?

 

 

Amen!

[retro-man]

Having worked at Boeing during the really busy years, I can say that as a line worker our job every day was to find ways to IMPROVE the product. Not to make it cheaper, not to save a buck, but to make it better every week. That's what quality control is all about. Bring in about 100 retired Boeing QC inspectors and turn them loose - you will get some changes in a hurry. Good luck to the new CEO, he'l need it.

Funny you should mention that. Years ago, I was a riveter on the 747 wing line in Everett. I finished 2nd in my class of prospective riveters in Boeing training, and was rewarded with a job on the wing line - one of the toughest. Of the 2 bottom finishers in the class, one got a job as a plant bus driver. The other, as a QC Inspector!!! For riveting!!!. On my job, every 3 days the wing would move from station to station (and every 3 days, a new Jumbo would roll out the door). Every time the wing would come to me, there would be mis-installed shims, epoxied between the frame flange and the wing skin, which evidently had passed inpection from the station before. Every time, I would point this out to my supervisor. Every time, I would have to chisel these things out and reinstall them properly before I could do my own job, which was more than enough in itself to fill up 60 hours / week. 'Course that was in the 70's. I'm sure things at the auto plants were a bit different then too.

 

Vignette 'B': Years later, as an Architect, I worked on several projects with Boeing as client. I remember one in particular, where there was clearly a turf war within Boeing Facilities over ownership of the project. One side attempted to wrest control of the project from the other by portraying it as a complete fiasco - which threatened to make us as the Architects "collateral damage". They didn't succeed: in the end, the project was completed successfully, and we were praised for our work on it. Did give me an insight into corporate politics though.

 

None of this maybe has much, if anything, to do with Mulally. In fact, to the extent that he can take credit for success in such an environment, paints him in a good light.

 

2 more thoughts:

- Tax breaks: Yeah, everybody does it. Corporate Welfare. Doesn't make it right.

- Negativism re. Bill Ford: Personally I have nothing but respect for the man. I don't understand all the hatred for him. I think this was a bold, generous (not ego-driven), and smart move. I think it bodes well for Ford (as a brand). I wish them well.

Edited September 6, 2006 by retro-man

[inteller]

Different Front and Rear end clips also...

 

Is a Lexus ES330 any better then a loaded Camry? Not really...But They can charge more for the Name, just like Ford can charge more for the Milan and MKZ, because of the name.

 

Not all cars are bought for engineering...if that was the case, the Mustang should have been shot and killed along time ago with its "Horse and Buggy" solid rear suspension..Theres a thing called Image and style, which the Milan has over the Fusion...

 

 

last time I priced a Milan it came out EXACTLY the same price as a fusion ... oh wait thats because it has the exact same options. Nothing is different from the fusion and milan (bumpers and body kits are a dime a dozen) I guess that says something about the name Mercury....not worth anything more than Ford.

 

I think as an engineer the new CEO will recognize quality versus quantity and mercury/lincoln will be getting the axe unless they get new original design.

[focus05]

2 more thoughts:

- Tax breaks: Yeah, everybody does it. Corporate Welfare. Doesn't make it right.

 

 

You're right, it doesn't make it right, but it is what it is. Unless there were a law forbidding it, people are going to do it because we're talking about potentially billions of dollars. So, Ford has two options: 1) It can continue to get clocked by Toyota who not only has lower overhead costs but receives probably a quarter of a billion a year in tax breaks or 2) It can join the game until someone makes it illegal.

 

I think we've clearly established that no one cares what Toyota does - heck, they can do no wrong! So, even if Ford took the high-ground, they would be criticized, debased and ultimately, the buyer would go to the Toyota dealership.

[silvrsvt]

last time I priced a Milan it came out EXACTLY the same price as a fusion ... oh wait thats because it has the exact same options. Nothing is different from the fusion and milan (bumpers and body kits are a dime a dozen) I guess that says something about the name Mercury....not worth anything more than Ford.

 

I dunno where you went, but if you goto KBB.com, The Milan is roughly $800 more for a Preimer Model vs a SEL Fusion base price and about $500 more when Fully Loaded vs a fully loaded SEL Fusion :dunno:

[dr511scj]

Nice advice. Loved the advice to spend two days visiting dealerships every week.

 

I'm sure, what with his CEO type duties, his schedule will be wide open for the kind of deep meaningful insights that come from hearing "well, my car was due for the 15,000 mile maintenance, and so here I am. I wish it wasn't so expensive, since the warranty requires it. At least this place has cookies while I wait to pick the car up, and nice coffee. I hear they don't let the sales reps drink this coffee, at least that's what a guy told me. So what's your car here for? Oh, the CEO. Listen, I really wanna give kudos to Stan, the sales rep over there--did a stand up job selling me this car. If anyone deserves a pat on tha back it's him."

 

All in all, our blogger has assigned 2 days per week to visiting Ford dealerships, a day a week on the shop floors, a day a week with the engineers, and most weekends at Ford events. Gee. So what two days a week does Mr. Mulally do his CEO work? Oh, that's right, being a CEO is not demanding at all. Because they don't actually do the legwork that keeps the company running, their job could be compressed into a pair of 8-hour workdays, and the rest of the time can be spent 'keeping it 'real'.

 

 

I partially agree that speedzzter's approach may be naive. Being a CEO is an 18+ hour a day job, even for office hermits.

 

But Bill Ford failed in part because he wasn't close enough to the customers, relied way too much on consensus, and he reportedly got snowed a lot.

 

On the other hand, if the President of the U.S. or U.S. Senators can spend a few months campaigning in the heartland, how would it hurt for Mullally to spend some of his days out in the field and his evenings reading all that crap CEOs have to review.

 

The more insulated CEOs are from the "real world," the more likely they are to start believing the lies and distortions generated by various special interests inside and out of the organization (not to mention the worthless gibberish they pick up from other know-it-all executives on the golf course.

 

Besides, fewer lengthy CYA reports, fewer committee meetings and quicker decisions based on an empowered management structure (disciplined by a Management Committee and a CEO with a bold overall vision and simple benchmarks for success) surely couldn't make things any worse.

[KinneticBrian]

fords with more sound dampening material and $$$ on the sticker are good "brands"? give me a break. When the only difference between the Fusion and the Milan are the badges on the outside, it doesn't make the Milan a better "brand".

 

As an engineer, I expect the new CEO to get rid of lazy engineering practices....badge engineering will be the first practice to go.

 

Panther platform going away will be a good thing too.

 

 

I agree with lazy engineering practices being done away with, but not axing entire brands because of it. Lincoln and Mercury are strong brands in the American Marketplace, they're just at a point right now where Cadillac was just a few years ago. Look at GM now - Pontiac is in an arguably worse slump than Mercury, and Buick has one truly strong product in the Lucerne with the rest of their lineup being more or less a crashing bore which is about on par with Lincoln at the moment. You don't throw a brand out simply because it's in a slump when it's one, or in this case two with a loyal following.

 

My feeling with the Panther platform is that it needs to be evolved and updated. At a time when reliability is crucial, why simply discontinue a proven, solid platform that could be profitable for the sake of bringing out something different when most people wouldn't know the difference anyway. Update the platform, re-skin the cars and roll out three real contenders for the marketplace.

 

If he axes anything at all, Jag, Aston and Land Rover need to go. Dump this dead weight, focus on rebuilding the American Brands while bringing Volvo and Mazda along.

Edited September 6, 2006 by KinneticBrian

[StevenJ]

Brian you just said what I was thinking all along. If anything PAG has been the biggest money pit for the Ford motor company. Ford has spent how many billions on Jaguar and never seen return? It would be stupid to kill Lincoln and Mercury. Look what happened to Ford when they dropped Mercury in Canada. They went from 1st in sales to below 3rd. The same would more than likely happen in the US. Also, Mercury isn't just rebadging. Mercury dealers tend to put a higher focus on cars and gives a much better service experience than a comparable Ford dealer.

[ml]

This is nothing but good news. I do not think there is a better person to head up Ford right now.

After the turn around Alan generated at Boeing and the lessons and the took from the Peterson Days at Ford.

This can only be good news.

 

Glad to see Bill was smart ehough to realize that he alone did not have the stuff to move Ford in the direction it needs to go. Takes a big man to realize he does not have the skills to do it, and requires out side help. Obviuosly Ford's prosperity is important enough to Bill that he will do what it takes to achieve it, even if it means stepping down from being the top dog and turning the reins over to some one else. I see nothign but good times ahead after the transition period.

 

We seen what you could do at Boeing Allan, lets see the same or better performance at Ford.

 

Now maybe we can see some more of Billy on the tube to counter some of those goofy Dr Z ads.

Matthew

 

100pct agree!

[inteller]

Brian you just said what I was thinking all along. If anything PAG has been the biggest money pit for the Ford motor company. Ford has spent how many billions on Jaguar and never seen return? It would be stupid to kill Lincoln and Mercury. Look what happened to Ford when they dropped Mercury in Canada. They went from 1st in sales to below 3rd. The same would more than likely happen in the US. Also, Mercury isn't just rebadging. Mercury dealers tend to put a higher focus on cars and gives a much better service experience than a comparable Ford dealer.

 

 

well I guess FLM delaerships must be schizophrenic then. If I walk into a FLM dealership and suddenly they are better to me because I want a Mercury something is wrong there.

 

 

Mercury had something going with the Cougar (even the last one) It shared a platform but you couldn't tell it because of the skin. In order for Mercury to stay that needs to happen with every one of their vehicles.

[KinneticBrian]

Brian you just said what I was thinking all along. If anything PAG has been the biggest money pit for the Ford motor company. Ford has spent how many billions on Jaguar and never seen return? It would be stupid to kill Lincoln and Mercury. Look what happened to Ford when they dropped Mercury in Canada. They went from 1st in sales to below 3rd. The same would more than likely happen in the US. Also, Mercury isn't just rebadging. Mercury dealers tend to put a higher focus on cars and gives a much better service experience than a comparable Ford dealer.

 

 

It just seems to me that Ford really needs to go back to the basics. The cars that have made Ford a legend are simply rugged, distinctly American cars. From a marketing and brand perspective, killing Lincoln and Mercury would be a disaster. It would be tantamount to apologizing for building the very cars that not only made this a great company, but that have empassioned enthusiasts the world over.

 

I'll be the first to admit that the "something special" has gone by the wayside at Lincoln, and Mercury's line has a ways to go, but the up-side potential here to bring these brands charging hard out of the gate is tremendous, and simultaneously non-existent in the PAG. Ford needs to face it - Jag still has the image of being a world class POS, Land Rover is and will forever be a dismal seller in the US, unable to compete with the Jeep brand and Aston, although perhaps the best of the three is such a small niche market car that it hardly seems worth it. I'd say if Ford keeps any of the PAG, keep Aston.

 

Where Ford can really start blowing the competition away is on the level of service. Ford needs to bring all service to an "above and beyond" level at all dealerships from the point of sale on. Crack down on bad service and bad dealers and make the customer experience the envy of the rest of the industry.

[CPManx]

I see two basic problems with LM. First, it leads to three-way badge enginnering (Explorer/Mountaineer/Aviator, Fusion/Milan/MKZ). Second, it slices the pie too thin: Lincoln is effectively a near-luxury brand these days, and Mercury is...what? Near-near luxury? Premium ordinary? On the other hand, Ford needs all the volume it can get, and Mercury kicks in a decent chunk of sales.

 

So why not axe the Mercury brand but absorb some of the models and adjust the pricing structure as a stopgap measure, with a long-term goal of rebuilding Lincoln into a near-luxury to full-luxury brand? MKZ could go down to $25K. MKS could come in around $35K. If the costs and plant availability work out, a Falcon-based large RWD sedan could take over in the $45K zone. There's more volume at these prices, and they more realistically reflect where Lincoln is right now.

 

The biggest near-term hit would be losing the Grand Marquis so here's a radical suggestion: Why not keep is as a lower-level Lincoln companion to the Town Car as long as TC production hangs on? It could perhaps be very slightly restyled and marketed as a Lincoln Marquis or even a Lincoln Mercury. Honestly, even the revised 2008 Mariner could work as a Lincoln with some smart reworking, including MKX cues, to position it against the RDX and Q5 (would the 3.5 V6 fit?). Farther ahead, the Lincoln-badged version of the Fairlaine (with actual, distinctive sheetmetal), a reworked version of the Mark LT (ditto), and a Lincoln coupe/convertible based on the Mustang would round out the lineup.

 

Not the most elegant solution, perhaps, but it would add some product and marketing clarity in the near term without sacrificing too much volume, and in the long term it would position Lincoln to become more distinct from Ford. Promoting Lincoln-Volvo dealerships (somebody else suggested this) seems smart, too.