Bill steps down from CEO post

[jasik]

The thing that worries me most about Ford's future is lack of a clear vision. Where is Ford going? What should Ford's product mix be in the future? Does Ford want to become a low cost manufacturer? Does it want to be a manufacturer of high end (PAG ?) products? Does Ford want to become a manufacturer of quality cars? Does Ford want to be known as an innovator? (An innovator of what?).

 

Ford's plans for the future are so murky (The Way Forward (to what?) as to be useless to the employee troops trying to take Ford forward. Ford's main direction now seems to be to try and get back to NA profitability. But is that a good enough goal for the long term? Where is the product and product mix vision? If such a plan exists should not it be shared with employees and the public to give them confidence that Ford management knows what it is doing and has a proactive (looking forward) plan rather than a reactive (looking backward) plan?

 

I think many of Ford's problems result from having "bean counters" running the company rather than "car guys". Now that we that a "61 year old plane guy" running Ford, will things improve? It remains to be seen. Can Mulally learn fast enough in his remaining 4 years of tenure (I believe there is a mandatory retirement age of 65 for Ford management, with some exceptions.) Four years is not a long time to learn the ins and outs of a complex industry like automotive. Look at how long the Japanese train and nuture their executives.

[inteller]

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.

 

 

here where I live we have a lincoln mercury Jaguar dealership....so I guess they go my the motto of Luxury, near Luxury and near near luxury. Funny though I always thought Lincoln was a luxury line, not near luxury. But I definitely think mercury is "Premium ordinary" and for that reason it needs to go away.

 

I think if you had a lincoln volvo mercury dealership youd have Near luxur, near near luxury, near near luxury. And here in the states americans have a very euro only stance when it comes to volvo, so I think they'd have a hard sell putting them next to american brands.

[Edstock]

"Four years is not a long time to learn the ins and outs of a complex industry like automotive."

 

One of the problems has been that those 'ins and outs' of the biz have been changing over the last few years, as how cars are built, and the systems and technology required to create the tooling to do this changes. This opens the field more than ever — a "plane guy" might fit in better than you might think. Think of a 777 as an assembly of contracted-out sub-systems. Think of a Fusion as an assembly of contracted-out sub-systems.

 

A lot has been said of the "lifer" mind-set in Ford, which has been a hindrance in engineering and product development. If ever this is to change, Mull's the man for the job. I'll just be happy if we see no more Powerstroke/manifold-type problems.

[kevinb120]

And we thought the F-150 was too big now...wait until the ex-Boeing man gets his hands on it. The 2009 F-150 Jumbo Cab!

 

 

It would probably be called the F150, series 800LR, the super long bed version with super-cool winglets! :P

 

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.

 

I hate the Lexus concept myself, but if you go sit in a new 2007 ES it oozes enough quality into the air that it gives you a little buzz...Its quite a difference these days.

 

 

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.

 

The Panther needs to go away forever. Pretty soon the Charger will be the face of the police car and taxi as they are by far superior cars. Not to get into any stupid arguments about about the Panther who's blueprints are lettered in sandscript. If they discontinue it now, in a couple years it may be a collectable and then someone will buy the last of our 2005 Vics still on our lot...