Ford Management Shakeup Puts Detroit in Control of Europe
https://fordauthority.com/2024/06/ford-management-shakeup-puts-detroit-in-control-of-europe/
Ford Europe has been in the midst of a major shakeup over the past couple of years, which began back in 2022, when The Blue Oval announced that it would no longer operate as its own separate entity after 55 years of doing precisely that. Instead, Ford has ended its regional earnings reporting and is instead reporting financial results from its five total businesses – Ford Blue, Model e, Ford Credit, Ford Pro, and Ford Drive. Now, a recent management shakeup at the automaker has resulted in an even bigger change, it seems.
According to Automotive News, Ford plans to downsize its management team in Europe – from nine directors to four – following the departure of Martin Sander, general manager of Ford Model e Europe, who is heading back to Volkswagen next month. Rather than replace Sander, Ford will eliminate his position and the deputy role, leaving FoMoCo’s U.S.-based management team in charge of its European operations.
Thus far, Ford has only two of those four European director roles sorted – Rene Wolf will remain manufacturing director of the automaker’s European plants, while Christian Weingaertner will continue to oversee marketing and sales in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. A third position will be filled internally, while Ford will look outside the company for the fourth. Additionally, personnel manager Rainer Ludwig will retire, and all remaining, lower-tier executives will now report to Dearborn. All of these changes are set to take place on the first of July.
“This change simplifies our administrative and management structure in Germany, gives us more speed of action and allows the management team to concentrate fully on its operational tasks and lead Ford into a successful future,” Ford Germany Supervisory board chairman Kieran Cahill said in a statement.
In the meantime, Ford’s future in Europe is a bit murky at the moment after the automaker nixed its plans to go all-electric across that region’s lineup by 2030 or sooner. At the same time, Ford has been trimming its European workforce for months now, but it reportedly isn’t done laying off workers there, either.
120,000 miles is far from low mileage. Old panthers were simple machines that would go several hundred thousand miles but the Continental is a more complex machine with turbos, AWD, and more electronics. I would inspect it VERY carefully and want to see service records. I wouldn't be concerned about the engine but I would want to know if the PTU lube had been changed, any transmission service done, etc. A thorough evaluation and test drive would be critical. Listen for any strange noises and any unusual smells. This is a case where having the car inspected by a professional mechanic might be a good idea.
Like others, mine was flawless but I only had around 50,000 miles on it when I sold it.
Seems like Ford is backing off EVs for Lincoln for the time being, I think part of it is that the demographic that Lincoln caters to is pretty conservative and isn't really interested in them.
As for the Ford EVs, I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt till we actually see what it looks like, looking different normally turns off people.
It’s the right strategy for those products. Why continually reinvent the wheel when buyers have proven they don’t care?
I see no reason to make drastic changes to any of Ford’s current platforms for the next 20 years. And that includes powertrains. Just make incremental improvements. That will also reduce recalls and repair costs.
I had both a cd3 and cd4 fusion and the only difference I noticed is cd4 was heavier (which didn’t help mpg) and it was harder to work on. On my cd3 fusion a cabin air filter change took about 2 minutes and no tools. On cd4 it took 15 minutes with a screwdriver and nut driver.
I have the 3.0T AWD in my MKZ and it has been flawless as well. I have 55k miles on mine. I agree with what @mustang84isu said about the electronics. While nothing has gone wrong on mine, I have seen in the MKZ group about the LED headlights going out on the Z as well and the panoramic sunroof shade breaking.
I really think this whole debacle is just a case of really bad timing with everything. Looking back 2 years ago, EVs seemed like they would continue their parabolic growth, but interest rates, inflation and the economy got in the way of that. I'm guessing that it is cheaper to delay and not make product for a few years to come out with something that will (hopefully) be profitable 12 months after launch, going by Ford's plan.
They went for low initial cost and ease of implementation rather than biting the bullet and doing it right once.
It’s the same way GM makes product decisions.
You can look at multiple platforms or in GM’s case multiple models like Canyorado and easily make an individual business case for each one on its own.
So let’s say keeping platforms 1 and 2 separate nets $1B each over their lifespan. Positive ROI so the individual projects get approved.
But if somebody at a higher level looked at it they see if we spend a little more up front and consolidate to one platform it will delay the 2 projects by a year but in the long run it will net the company $4B. Then it takes a decree from higher up to make that happen.
Mulally was limited on time and money so he did the best he could to consolidate existing platforms so I don’t really blame him. It never should have gotten to that point.
Understood. You've made this point before, and it is a good reminder. Your final comment is also well made, which underscores the series of bonehead decisions that is going to leave their huge Oakville assembly complex idle for up to 3 years.