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Ford Motor's repositioning is a tricky manoeuvre
By Bernard Simon in Toronto
Published: July 2 2007 03:00 | Last updated: July 2 2007 03:00
Car designers and engineers at Ford Motor spend a lot more time out of the office these days meeting the people who buy the vehicles they develop. Paul Randle, chief engineer for the Mustang sports car, attended a Mustang Club of America rally in Indianapolis this past weekend.
Such growing contacts with Mustang owners are part of a more open,customer-oriented culture that Alan Mulally, Ford's chief executive, has been trying to instill at the troubled carmaker since taking the helm last September.
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The 104-year-old company reported a $12.7bn loss last year. Its share of the US light vehicle market slipped to 16.6 per cent between January and May, from 18.5 per cent a year earlier, partly due to intentionally lower sales to car-rental companies.
Producing vehicles Americans want to buy is a cornerstone of the Way Forward recovery plan, which seeks to restore Ford to profitability by 2009 and to reverse its sliding market share. The strategy includes improving vehicle quality and shifting the emphasis of Ford's line-up from sport-utility vehicles and pick-up trucks to cars.
Ford has pulled out the stops to put its new approach into practice in its 2008 North American model line-up, launched on Friday.
"The focus [now] is much more on products, on getting the products right," says Eric Loeffler, chief engineer for the Escape crossover vehicle. Referring to the old regime, he adds that, with "the mindset of watching the pennies, you tend to lose sight of the customers".
Market research resulted in engineers changing the front grille of the new Taurus saloon 10 months before the car rolled off the assembly line. In days gone by, says Ben Winter, chief Taurus engineer, "we would have gone ahead with what we had".
The new Taurus, previously called the Five Hundred, was renamed this year, just three months after Ford stopped production of the original marque, once the US's best-selling car.
Mr Mulally had expressed astonishment that such a well-known brand could be allowed to die. Still, it could take a while for the fresh air blowing through Ford's notorious bureaucracy to reverse a long erosion of market share and restore the company to profitability.
Several people at last week's presentation noted that the 2008 line-up comprises refreshed versions of existing models. There is no dramatic new entry.
The pressure on Ford is illustrated by a slew of features - such as a rear-view camera - added to the F-Series pick-up truck. The current F-Series, North America's top-selling vehicle, is in the final year of its product cycle; Ford would normally have paid it little attention, but the truck is under ferocious assault from General Motors and Toyota offerings.
A glaring gap is an offering for the fast-growing US small-car market, along the lines of the Mazda 2 and European Fiesta.
Derrick Kuzak, vice-president for global product development and an emerging force in the company, says Ford is hard at work on a new model, to be launched between 2008 and 2010.
"We know we're late to market, so it will have to be an outstanding product," Mr Kuzak adds.
By Bernard Simon in Toronto
Published: July 2 2007 03:00 | Last updated: July 2 2007 03:00
Car designers and engineers at Ford Motor spend a lot more time out of the office these days meeting the people who buy the vehicles they develop. Paul Randle, chief engineer for the Mustang sports car, attended a Mustang Club of America rally in Indianapolis this past weekend.
Such growing contacts with Mustang owners are part of a more open,customer-oriented culture that Alan Mulally, Ford's chief executive, has been trying to instill at the troubled carmaker since taking the helm last September.
ADVERTISEMENT
The 104-year-old company reported a $12.7bn loss last year. Its share of the US light vehicle market slipped to 16.6 per cent between January and May, from 18.5 per cent a year earlier, partly due to intentionally lower sales to car-rental companies.
Producing vehicles Americans want to buy is a cornerstone of the Way Forward recovery plan, which seeks to restore Ford to profitability by 2009 and to reverse its sliding market share. The strategy includes improving vehicle quality and shifting the emphasis of Ford's line-up from sport-utility vehicles and pick-up trucks to cars.
Ford has pulled out the stops to put its new approach into practice in its 2008 North American model line-up, launched on Friday.
"The focus [now] is much more on products, on getting the products right," says Eric Loeffler, chief engineer for the Escape crossover vehicle. Referring to the old regime, he adds that, with "the mindset of watching the pennies, you tend to lose sight of the customers".
Market research resulted in engineers changing the front grille of the new Taurus saloon 10 months before the car rolled off the assembly line. In days gone by, says Ben Winter, chief Taurus engineer, "we would have gone ahead with what we had".
The new Taurus, previously called the Five Hundred, was renamed this year, just three months after Ford stopped production of the original marque, once the US's best-selling car.
Mr Mulally had expressed astonishment that such a well-known brand could be allowed to die. Still, it could take a while for the fresh air blowing through Ford's notorious bureaucracy to reverse a long erosion of market share and restore the company to profitability.
Several people at last week's presentation noted that the 2008 line-up comprises refreshed versions of existing models. There is no dramatic new entry.
The pressure on Ford is illustrated by a slew of features - such as a rear-view camera - added to the F-Series pick-up truck. The current F-Series, North America's top-selling vehicle, is in the final year of its product cycle; Ford would normally have paid it little attention, but the truck is under ferocious assault from General Motors and Toyota offerings.
A glaring gap is an offering for the fast-growing US small-car market, along the lines of the Mazda 2 and European Fiesta.
Derrick Kuzak, vice-president for global product development and an emerging force in the company, says Ford is hard at work on a new model, to be launched between 2008 and 2010.
"We know we're late to market, so it will have to be an outstanding product," Mr Kuzak adds.
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