Ford Saves Ford?
Nobody asked me but . . .
Ford CEO Bill Ford’s announcement that he was remaining as Executive Chairman but replacing himself as President and CEO with Alan Mulally from Boeing could be a good news bad news scenario.
Mulally led the turnaround of the commercial airplane division of The Boeing Company. He has a record of success in customer satisfaction, manufacturing, product development, labor relations and supplier management.
But nowhere in his resume do I detect the words CAR ENTHUSIAST.
And while Ford needs to trim costs, I would suggest that the other 80 percent of what’s wrong with Ford is PRODUCT.
Ford doesn’t have to look too far back in its checkered flag past to remember the name Don Peterson. Peterson may be the last car guy in power at Ford. Don liked cars. He understood the words “car enthusiast.” He even took a Bob Bondurant high-performance driving course (At a time when Bob was using Ford products, not GM cars as he does today.) to better understand why some of the nut cases he had to deal with (such as yours truly) enjoyed driving fast in fun cars.
It is my not so humble opinion that the first thing Ford should do for Alan Mulally is not stick him in an office in Dearborn, but to send him on the road so that he can meet with automotive enthusiasts who have been around long enough to understand when a Ford was last a Ford and the difference between a car and a truck. People who understand the difference between having gasoline coursing through their veins instead of blood.
He'll get plenty of advice from within Ford.
Ford CEO Bill Ford’s announcement that he was remaining as Executive Chairman but replacing himself as President and CEO with Alan Mulally from Boeing could be a good news bad news scenario.
Mulally led the turnaround of the commercial airplane division of The Boeing Company. He has a record of success in customer satisfaction, manufacturing, product development, labor relations and supplier management.
But nowhere in his resume do I detect the words CAR ENTHUSIAST.
And while Ford needs to trim costs, I would suggest that the other 80 percent of what’s wrong with Ford is PRODUCT.
Ford doesn’t have to look too far back in its checkered flag past to remember the name Don Peterson. Peterson may be the last car guy in power at Ford. Don liked cars. He understood the words “car enthusiast.” He even took a Bob Bondurant high-performance driving course (At a time when Bob was using Ford products, not GM cars as he does today.) to better understand why some of the nut cases he had to deal with (such as yours truly) enjoyed driving fast in fun cars.
It is my not so humble opinion that the first thing Ford should do for Alan Mulally is not stick him in an office in Dearborn, but to send him on the road so that he can meet with automotive enthusiasts who have been around long enough to understand when a Ford was last a Ford and the difference between a car and a truck. People who understand the difference between having gasoline coursing through their veins instead of blood.
He'll get plenty of advice from within Ford.
posted by The Carmudgeon at
1:48 PM
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