Autoextremist: Ford in Free Fall

[Harley Lover]

Finally, the straight story from behind the scenes:

 

 

 

Ford happens to have the best sales team at its disposal, led by one of the savviest executives in the business – Mark LaNeve – and it’s because of him and his team, the consistent excellence of the F-150 and the fact that Ford has some of the finest dealers in the industry that the Ford cash machine keeps going, month after month and year after year. But take away the F-150, and Ford would be just another car company struggling to keep the enterprise afloat.

 

 

the resolute and intransigent bureaucratic fiefdoms that have always defined Ford have reared their ugly heads again, but then again that was to be expected. After Alan Mulally left, they just dusted off their pitchforks and resumed their narrow-minded shit disturbing, company goals be damned.

 

 

I mentioned the notion of "cutting to prosperity" last week, which never, ever works in this industry. But unfortunately the internal climate at Ford right now is exactly that: cutting, cutting and more cutting, which is a giant bowl of Not Good. You would have to assume that what to do with Hackett would be Bill Ford’s most pressing problem and it certainly is, because many now view the selection of Hackett as being an interim choice. And whether Bill Ford is willing to admit that to himself or not, the difficult decision about who will lead Ford into the future is now front and center, as well it should be.

 

But another situation is roiling Bill Ford’s decision making at this very moment, and it involves the rise of another executive, one who is unfettered by rational thought and untethered by accountability, and who has gone completely off the rails.

 

Read it all here: http://www.autoextremist.com/

Edited May 8, 2018 by Harley Lover

[jpd80]

It gets better....

 

But another situation is roiling Bill Ford’s decision making at this very moment, and it involves the rise of another executive,

one who is unfettered by rational thought and untethered by accountability, and who has gone completely off the rails.

 

Jim Farley, the former Toyota wunderkind who was responsible for the launch of the Scion brand, was brought in by Alan Mulally

to be Chief Marketing Officer way back when. And not unexpectedly, his debut at Ford didn’t exactly get off to an auspicious start.

 

Farley didn’t waste any time transforming himself into an enfant terrible right out of the gate. Displaying a prodigiously short attention

span and burdened by an excruciatingly painful interpersonal awkwardness, Farley’s belligerent, condescending style of dealing

with underlings, along with his classic “parachute in, helicopter out” M.O. that has defined bad actor executives for decades in this

business, became his calling card. Internally, Farley became known as "The Two Jims," and interactions with him became a crap shoot,

hinging upon whether people encountered the "good" Jim or the "bad" Jim on that particular day. Needless to say when the "bad"

Jim was unleashed, Farley left a trail of bad feelings and highly questionable decisions in his wake.

 

And then there was the “we’re going to get out of the car business” decision that turned out to be an unmitigated PR disaster,

because it was handled poorly and came off as a knee-jerk pronouncement that hadn’t been thought through. It turns out that

the idea was Farley’s (no big surprise), wittingly or unwittingly aided and abetted by CFO Bob Shanks. And internally it bore the

signature of a classic Machiavellian move by Farley as well, because Joe Hinrichs wasn’t even aware that it was going down

until after the fact, which is almost beyond comprehension. (Editor-in-Chief's Note: I spoke with Mark Truby, Ford's PR Chief,

and he said that Joe Hinrichs was aware of the car decision. I stand corrected. -PMD)

 

Edited May 8, 2018 by jpd80

[Anthony]

Holy crap. The political maneuvering going on in there right now at the expense of the company is downright scary.

[jpd80]

Holy crap. The political maneuvering going on in there right now at the expense of the company is downright scary.

Am I wrong in thinking this looks like a Jac Nasser type power play behind the scenes,

they're trying to treat Ford Motor like a Dot com start up and juice the crap out of returns.

 

Farley has got into Hackett's ear and told him what he wants to hear, a way to bring

even higher profits by going all on on Utilities and leaving cars behind.

 

Hold onto your hats boys, we're in for a wild ride..

Edited May 8, 2018 by jpd80

[fuzzymoomoo]

If that is true about Jim Farely, it reminds me a lot of Donald Trump. Thinks hes a genius and doesnt listen to any advice ever.

 

That is downright scary.

[fuzzymoomoo]

Ok... um not sure what happened there

Edited May 8, 2018 by fuzzymoomoo

[twintornados]

If that is true about Jim Farely, it reminds me a lot of Donald Trump. Thinks hes a genius and doesnt listen to any advice ever.

 

That is downright scary.

 

 

Ok... um not sure what happened there

.

Uh oh..."The two Fuzzies".....

[jcartwright99]

This isn't a surprise. I think the bigger a company gets, the executive management teams more and more dysfunctional (there are exceptions). I amazed that anything gets done in large companies. The amount of decision making with gut feelings or skewed stats is astounding. Once you get to a certain level, your compensation and exit package give you no incentive to care what happens in the future. Regardless of what happens, you will be set financially. Once you have that on your resume and you have some connections, it will be easy to get another executive management job again regardless of results.

 

The surprise for me was that Farley was a egomaniac. Ford definitely has their work cut out for them.

[akirby]

I also didn’t know Farley was that bad, but it explains a lot of what we’ve seen the last couple of years.

[2b2]

does Everyone trust PDL that much?

[ZanatWork]

If the article is accurate-and I find his stuff to be, more often than not-then I hope Bill read it, and combined its content with information of his own en route to making his next BIG POSITIVE DECISION.

I was very much in his corner when he punted Nasser, and seemed determined to shore up quality while looking for a good CEO. He got that in Mulally, though Alan supposedly wanted Lincoln to die off...something I wouldn't agree with.

In any case, I hope that Bill can find someone worthy of the job (again), because Hackett has done nothing to build my confidence and it sounds like Farley is a complete nightmare.

[akirby]

does Everyone trust PDL that much?

 

For this kind of stuff - absolutely. Besides, it matches everything we've seen or heard recently.

[mackinaw]

Interesting. I always thought Farley was highly regarded throughout the industry. I remember the accolades that abounded when he jumped ship from Toyota to Ford. Now he's a pariah. I suspect the truth lies somewhere between the two extremes.

[blksn8k2]

This all sounds like the newest CEO cleaning house of the old guard and bringing in "his" people. Nair then Hameedi and now it sounds like Farley is on the hot seat. Who did I miss and who else is next? The sad part is that the people who are gone or on the way out were the ones who cared about making cars that people wanted to drive. Looks like the only excitement left in the Ford lineup will be if you get shocked by the battery in your BEV.

[Anthony]

does Everyone trust PDL that much?

 

PDL normally has historically been a HUGE Ford supporter. For him to write this stuff it has to be true.

[mackinaw]

 

PDL normally has historically been a HUGE Ford supporter. For him to write this stuff it has to be true.

 

Peter has his sources within Ford who may not like Farley. There very well may be a pro-Farley contingent he's not talking to. Still, this news is unsettling.

[atomcat68]

I have to agree with autoextremist. My opinion is that the choice to walk away from cars completely is insane. I can see cutting down to a couple of sedans, but completely eliminating them is crazy.

[grbeck]

does Everyone trust PDL that much?

 

When it comes to his take on what is happening inside one of the old "Big Three" - yes.

[Assimilator]

I'm sorry but this is NOT the way business works in real life. Ford has a million moving pieces and a board of directors. It's incredibly reductive to believe it's actually a simple soap opera.

 

And PDL makes money stirring shit up.

 

Ford is doing all the right things after years of deliberation and analysis, this doesn't just happen.

Edited May 8, 2018 by Assimilator

[bzcat]

PDL has been dogging Farley since his days at Toyota.

 

I tend to dismiss PDL when he gets personal... like in this piece. But he is generally right on the mark about the auto business and Ford's decision to "end cars" has turned out to be bad PR (which is basically PDL's point, ignoring his personal hate for Farley in the piece).

[akirby]

I tend to dismiss PDL when he gets personal... like in this piece. But he is generally right on the mark about the auto business and Ford's decision to "end cars" has turned out to be bad PR (which is basically PDL's point, ignoring his personal hate for Farley in the piece).

 

 

Exactly. This is more about how the message is being delivered than what Ford is actually doing. And I think we all agree that has sucked.

[jpd80]

Peter gets hung up on this:

I mentioned the notion of "cutting to prosperity" last week, which never, ever works in this industry. But unfortunately the internal climate at Ford right now is exactly that: cutting, cutting and more cutting, which is a giant bowl of Not Good.

 

Alan Mulally in right sizing Ford cut to prosperity by eliminating 14 plants and reducing staff by 40,000

Right sizing production and sales to true market need is cutting to prosperity..

It worked, it saved Ford and put them on the road to strong profits.

 

So when Ford tries to take that to the next level by changing to higher profit products in existing plants,

well that's seen as cutting to prosperity. So if Ford had said it would import cars from China and Europe

things would be different somehow?

 

I think Peter has taken the reported $25 Billion saving as coming mostly from stopping car sales

but is it really or is it Ford just sharpening the pen across everything it does in automotive?

Edited May 8, 2018 by jpd80

[rmc523]

This all sounds like the newest CEO cleaning house of the old guard and bringing in "his" people. Nair then Hameedi and now it sounds like Farley is on the hot seat. Who did I miss and who else is next? The sad part is that the people who are gone or on the way out were the ones who cared about making cars that people wanted to drive. Looks like the only excitement left in the Ford lineup will be if you get shocked by the battery in your BEV.

 

If Farley is on the hot seat, why would Hackett green light Farley's idea to drop sedans?

 

I have to agree with autoextremist. My opinion is that the choice to walk away from cars completely is insane. I can see cutting down to a couple of sedans, but completely eliminating them is crazy.

 

I agree......BUT......I'm willing to give Ford a bit of the benefit of the doubt here. Here's my rationale:

 

Farley (whether PDL's article is true or not) specifically mentioned additional white space models will be added. I do believe that some of these will be "reworked" sedans in the form of raised sportback type models, trying to straddle the line between a traditional sedan and crossover. With how TERRIBLE they've been with PR over the last couple of years (last year's NAIAS, Expy launch, CES this year, NAIAS this year, and now this sedan announcement), it's not at all surprising that they made this announcement without the "backup" of announcing a variety of other models to replace the sedan lineup to ease consumer fears/concerns. They could have been more specific without giving away specifics, or hell, have some sort of concept ready to show - even if it's just a concept not intended for production - something positive to give people to talk about, rather than nonstop talk about cut this, cut that, increase cuts from 15 to 25 Billion, blah blah blah. People don't want to hear that. People want to hear about what they're doing to increase quality (yet to be mentioned by Hackett), what they're doing for the future to move products forward....in a positive manner....not dropping this and that model.

 

Brand it as Ford re-inventing the sedan.....here's how I'd have the presentation go:

 

"At Ford, we're going to be at the forefront of the reinvention of the family vehicle, whether it be one of our excellent crossovers and SUVs - with the new Expedition, new Edge and all new Escape and Explorer, or coming Bronco all available in the next two years - one of our fantastic F-series or Ranger trucks or workhorse Transit and E-series vans, or our cars - Mustang and Focus Active, coming next year.....you all know about those products already, though. What we're here to discuss today is how Ford takes another step forward. We're ending the age of 'me too' sedans, we're moving away from the traditional sedan silhouette. We believe the market is ready for a new type of vehicle - one that blends the efficiency and aerodynamics of a car, with the functionality and adaptability of a crossover. With that formula in mind, here is the "Ford Future" concept (whatever you want to call it). This is a concept showing our vision of the future American family vehicle, and we fully expect it to inspire our next generation of vehicles. We will have more details coming on further product plans at a later date."

 

Presenting it like that presents a negative (moving away from traditional sedans), wrapped in a positive - giving people something to look forward to instead.

[rmc523]

Peter gets hung up on this:

 

Alan Mulally in right sizing Ford cut to prosperity by eliminating 14 plants and reducing staff by 40,000

Right sizing production and sales to true market need is cutting to prosperity..

It worked, it saved Ford and put them on the road to strong profits.

 

I agree with him to an extent, though. Strategic cutting in a dire situation like Ford was in back then made sense. Ford is hardly in a dire situation now, and all we've heard about is cut, cut, cut.

[630land]

Somewhere, Farley referred to the Honda Crosstour as something like the "white space" vehicles, but "better looking". Anyone else see that?