"Mules" and "prototype" are auto industry standard jargons with precise meanings. So Farley using the word "prototype" in an interview with auto journalist was very specific messaging to people who know what that means.   Lots of internal process and communication with supplier changes when you go from mule stage to prototype stage. Basically, you go from "still working on design" to "now working on getting it to production". The vehicle development program switches from being designer/engineers lead to production planning/procurement lead. 

Only if they have fake exhausts on them 😂 

Latest updates to the car include a new power window motor in the driver's door, restored Marchal driving lights and a 90 day temporary plate. The driving light covers came from an '86 Capri 5.0L that I had years ago. I still need to adjust the aiming of the driving lights but there's no hurry for that, especially with the nasty weather we're having right now. It was -5°F here this morning and we are supposed to get 6-10" of snow  starting tonight.        

Yeah, he was pretty disgusted to see how the company culture had changed in recent decades. He spent basically his entire career at Boeing from the 50s to the 80s, and worked on things like engine testing and development for the original 747 before retiring and becoming an air crash investigator.    During his time there, Boeing was almost kinda seen as the engineering standard of the world, or one of them. The engineers at the time really cared about making respected airplanes. So to see their reputation and commitment to quality going down the tubes in more recent years was really frustrating for him. 

Not sure if they got canned, but the team leaders got a big-time dress down by management,  MN-12 came in overweight and over budget.

Executives are compensated heavily with stock and stock rewards short term performance.  Takes discipline to play the long game.   Boeing has a lot more at stake and they used to do it the right way. But after the MD merger the MD execs took over and started pumping and dumping - massive cost cutting and stock buybacks to pump up prices with no regard for public safety or long term viability.  It's really sad to see.

Culture. Remember this saying?   Technical problems can be remediated. A dishonest corporate culture is much harder to fix.   Dishonest corporate culture is what I experienced the entire time I worked at Ford and Visteon in the 1990s and 2000s, though that rotten culture actually goes back several decades prior.    As mentioned in other forum threads, the lessons learned from Ford's skunkworks might finally introduce at least a partial "fix" that Ford's corporate culture overall so desperately needs.      

This is the reason it’s going to be difficult to get a deal. Any time good ole lord Trump feels like he’s getting slighted a threat is issued. This is pure stupidity and weaponization in regards to tariffs.   

Yeah, like I understand why they made that particular decision, just to clarify, when I say I don't understand, I just mean I don't understand why that system was put into place to begin with. Why some companies just have such stupid, short sighted policies like that in the first place. It just feels like a lot of American companies can't see past the end of their nose.    Back when my grandfather was an engineer at Boeing, the engineers very much so had a mentality of do it right, however long it takes, regardless of how expensive it is. Because that's usually what it takes to create a solid end product, taking shortcuts never ends well when you're engineering a complex product. You would think the people running these companies understood that from the begging, so they would avoid the sort of systems and policies that lead to that sort of decision making.    Basically it's a case where I understand why Ford engineers and execs made the choices they did, in the context of trying to satisfy the flawed standards in place. But it's just idiotic to me that systems like that were ever put in place to begin with. Like someone, supposedly well educated, and reasonably intelligent, came up with that system, and didn't think of all the problems it would cause long term. 

While Canada and U.S. duke it out, them Chinese companies are movin' forward with their expansion plants in both countries no matter what "deals" arise.