REPORT: Stand-alone Lincoln-Mercury dealers being scaled out of existence originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Gallery: One Millionth SYNC

Continue reading Microsoft CEO gets 1,000,000th Ford with SYNC

Microsoft CEO gets 1,000,000th Ford with SYNC originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 28 May 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Mulally on Ford: "We are competitive now." originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 30 Mar 2009 19:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Mulally confirms Ford isn't seeking federal funds originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 25 Jan 2009 19:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Gallery: CES 2008: Cadillac Provoq Live reveal

Ford CEO Alan Mulally to keynote CES originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Tracinda meets with Bill and Al, talks turnaround originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ford's recent announcement to reduce its white collar workforce costs by 15% shows that Mulally & Co. are dead-serious about turning around the Dearborn, MI automaker. The newest twist in the FoMoCo saga takes the situation from serious to near desperate, as plant managers and union leadership are convening in Dearborn to discuss switching factories from truck to car production. Such a move is much easier to make in one of Toyota or Honda's flexible manufacturing plants, but Ford has plenty of facilities that are hardwired to build only one or two products. Analysts say that costs could be $250 million a year or more, which would make for a huge dent in Ford's already shrinking bank account.

The good news is that Ford is looking at its European products as the vehicles it needs to build State-side. We enthusiasts have been drooling over the Euro Focus, Fiesta, Mondeo, S-Max and Kuga for quite a while, but their fuel-efficient ways will have the masses finally thinking Ford first if they come here.

Ford won't announce its plans until July, and some details will be held back for months more, but The Detroit News has it on good authority that the Michigan Truck and Louisville plants will be part of the shift away from gas guzzlers. Louisville, which currently produces the Explorer, would shift to a unibody facility that produces cars and CUVs. Michigan Truck, which produces the Navigator and Expedition, will make room for the F-100, which will be smaller and likely more efficient than the F-150 on which it's based.

It's amazing what $4 per gallon gasoline can do to U.S. manufacturing, no? Ford just may be on the verge of the largest shift in the company's 105-year history, and we're all here to witness it. Here's hoping the plan works.

[Source: The Detroit News, Photo by JEFF HAYNES/AFP/Getty]

Desperate times: Ford will retool truck plants to build cars originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ford's "effing" problem needs a fix originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 18 Feb 2008 19:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Business Week grades Mulally's first year originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 07 Sep 2007 18:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Mulally suggests a return to "Have You Driven A Ford Lately?"

Mulally suggests a return to "Have You Driven A Ford Lately?" originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 27 Aug 2007 10:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Mulally makes it official: Next Focus and Fusion based on global platforms originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 23 Aug 2007 14:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The hallmark of the environmental debate is that there are so many important players on so many different sides. Eminent scientists and intellectuals have taken every side of the debate, challenging their eminent colleagues. When it comes to the two most involved and highly charged players, the automakers and politicians, things get even more curious. On the same day that Bush opposed a gas tax to give states more money to repair bridges, Alan Mulally said he supports the idea of a gas tax to encourage customers to buy more fuel efficient vehicles.

Mulally believes Congress' CAFE standards represent failed policy and has hurt automakers. Regulating fuel efficiency has, in his opinion, only lead to consumers buying more cars and driving more. While making sure to stress that he and Ford are all in favor of fuel efficient vehicles and environmental health, he wants some of the onus put back on consumers. He said, "I just think it's so important that we all join in this debate and we really decide what we want to do about energy security and global warming. A piece of that could be a tax."

[Source: Detroit News]

Continue reading Mulally not proposing a gas tax - but he's not against it

Mulally not proposing a gas tax - but he's not against it originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 09 Aug 2007 18:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The talks with Fiat -- held between Ford of Europe head Lewis Booth and Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne -- fell through last month. Fiat was interested in Land Rover because of the pace of SUV sales, and the fact that its "five brands are almost nonexistent in the growing global SUV market." Fiat was also interested in Land Rover's US dealership network, thinking Alfa might be able to pair up with them. Jaguar interested Fiat for its RWD platforms and V6 and V8 engines. But Marchionne ended the talks over fears its credit rating would be adversely affected by acquiring Jaguar and Land Rover.

PAG lost $327 million last year, but could be in the black this year, overall, having reported a $402 million pre-tax profit in the first quarter. Jaguar, however, has held things back: it has lost $500 million to $1 billion every year for the last six years, and Jag itself says it will be in the red this year and next. Neither Ford nor Fiat would admit to the talks, but Ford said it "is continuing to assess a number of strategic options for all of its operations. We're not specifying what they are and what we're evaluating."

[Source: Automotive News]

From the "That Was Yesterday" files: Jag, Land Rover, Volvo are on the block originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 11 Jun 2007 12:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Autoblog Podcast #63 [Enhanced]

Autoblog Podcast #63 [Enhanced] originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 19 Apr 2007 13:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ford, Mulally, and Ford. Unlike the Three Musketeers, in this case it's all for two -- Bill Ford, Jr. and Alan Mulally -- and those two for one: Ford Motor Company. An eye-opening article called "Driven to the Brink" in the first issue of Portfolio magazine features a lengthy look at Ford and an interview with Bill Ford, Jr. on what he's been through, where the company is, and where he has to make sure it goes.

The initial numbers are staggering: a $12.7 billion loss in 2006, more than 38,000 jobs gone, a dozen plants shuttered, and of course, the $28 million paid to Mulally. Behind those numbers are others: $23 billion to finance a 2-year restructuring, $17 billion in expenditures over the next two years, nine more plant closures, 70% of all models new or improved by 2009. And behind those numbers is the scion held responsible for an American institution who wanted to create an environmentally responsible company before he was forced to, who had to fight his own company bureaucracy, and who, when turned down by Mulally the first time, said he was "silent and devastated. I had no Plan B." The quote about selling the company that some outlets attribute to Ford wasn't actually spoken by him (that was actually his former chief of staff), but on the subject of the future, he did admit, "We felt the best thing we could do was get our house in order. That doesn't preclude anything down the road."

The article dangles a number of fascinating possibilities. No matter what happens now, though, the company and the family are all in: to get the company that restructuring loan, Ford mortgaged absolutely everything -- even its own logo. As Anne Ford said, "If we lose, we lose everything." You can read the full article here.

[Source: eGM Car Tech]

Bill Ford, Jr. on FoMoCo's Way Forward: everything still on the table originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 18 Apr 2007 18:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Autoblog Podcast #63 originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 18 Apr 2007 11:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Plain and simple, Alan Mulally is keeping the cat in the house. While admitting that there is a ways to go in the Ford turnaround plan, he asserts that, unlike Aston Martin, Jaguar will remain in the stable, citing the fact that "Jaguar is on a really good plan" as the reason "why we're investing in them."

It's been really hard to get a solid bearing on the future of Ford's leaping feline. Mulally's Ford, which is clearly not afraid to make ruthless cuts, sold Aston just as it climbed into profitability and began unveiling stunning future models. Jaguar, however -- in spite of last year's recall of every 2006-2007 XJ, the marque's 62% drop in sales from 2002-2006, and a 26.8% drop in year-on-year sales up to now -- is envisioned as a high-end niche maker with high-end niche profits. Jaguar remains a critical darling, like a movie showered with awards but seen by only four people: the new XJ, XK and C-XF are awash in trophies, and the brand still wins quality and sales satisfaction surveys.

While the brand new XJ and the production XF can't come soon enough, if they don't come correct, it is hard to believe Mulally won't rid the PAG of its house pet.

[Source: The Car Connection]

Ford keeping Jaguar in the house: Mullaly says "We're 100 percent behind them" originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 11 Apr 2007 15:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Alan Mulally, super hero: Ford CEO saves President Bush's life originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 09 Apr 2007 08:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ford Motor Company CEO Alan Mulally wants Ford to succeed, and he'll do anything in his power to make sure it will happen. When he's not busy selling cars at the local Ford dealership, Mulally has been occupied talking to other automakers regarding possible component and plant sharing. In an interview with Automotive News, Mulally singled out powertrain engineering and manufacturing as areas where collaboration makes sense (particularly if its going to save the company money) .

Ford already has a better track record with regard to inter-automaker component sharing than many other OEMs, as evidenced by extensive partnerships with Mazda and Volvo. It does help that Ford has controlling interests in both companies, but now Mulally and co. are looking beyond their own backyard. We like the fact that Mulally seems to be open to anything that can help Ford prosper, and his style and panache have already left a mark on the automaker.

[Source: Automotive News (subscription req'd)]

Mulally sees salvation in working with others originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 28 Mar 2007 19:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that surfaced yesterday, Ford estimated that it the accelerated restructuring plan announced last September will cost $11.2 billion when the books are finally balanced. In other words, it will cost Ford$11.2 billion to let go of 38,000 hourly and 10,000 salaried workers. The estimate includes ongoing costs for health care for any workers that didn't take the lump-sum buyout. Who knew it was that expensive to reduce your workforce?

If there is any good news here, it's that Ford has already accounted for $10 billion of that cost in 2006. The rest of the associated costs of the restructuring plan will be billed to the first quarter of 2007. Nothing like pulling the Band-Aid off quickly.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

Ford's cost of recovery: Over $11 Billion for accelerated restructuring originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 02 Mar 2007 19:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.