Bill Ford steps down

[Joe Frito]

It just came through on my news wire that Bill Ford stepped down today as Ford CEO. He will be replaced by Alan Mulally, who was the head at Boeing. Billy will be staying on as executive chairman. I wonder what this will do to any products currently being planned in the pipeline???

Quote:
"Analysts said they expected Mulally's arrival would mean that Ford would reexamine all its assets, including the struggling Lincoln division and other nameplates such as Land Rover and Jaguar.

Mulally, who told reporters he drives a Lexus from Toyota Motor Corp., said everything was on the table for review.

"Ford has a great set of brands and as we go forward, we'll be making decisions about that family. (At Boeing), we treasured fuel efficiency, reliability and safety. The fundamentals are exactly the same," he said

 

[GodStang]

Darn. This is not good.

 

[Ry_Trapp0]

so they look at dropping lincoln instead of mercury?!?!?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!?!?! im sure everyone would tell you that lincoln has a HELL of a lot more going for it than mercury. and land rovers are selling too. if it wasnt for ford we dont even know if land rover would still be alive. jaguar, though, keeps showing off awesome concepts then cutting them right before production. they have potential but it appears no budget. im glad ol' billy stepped down, but no one wants to see stupid changes made either(atleast drop mercury before lincoln).

 

[Joe Frito]

Mercury

I agree with you about Lincoln, however it would be nice to see them really take a shift away from geezer cars, and start competing against the Caddy -V's etc. Mercury has been gone for a few years in Canada, and probably the only car they could make that we would really miss out on would be a Cougar Eliminator, if they built one off the Mustang chassis.

 

[JEllis]

I am not sure if this is good or bad... should we fear change?

Jason

 

[ON D BIT]

(At Boeing), we treasured fuel efficiency,...he said

this is the part that scares me. will we see another supercar? will we see high horsepower rear wheel drive cars anymore from ford? are all ford trucks and suv's dead?

i sure hope not.:??:

 

[Turkish]

Saw this coming. He lasted a bit over 5 years and he's a FORD! Anxious to see what aspires from this.

 

[JEllis]

On the upside the aircraft business requires products that are extremely reliable, durable, and inexpensive (relatively speaking). In the aircraft business, if you cant build it better, faster, and cheaper than the other guy then you lose (Boeing knows this well with their loss of the Joint Strike Fighter contract). In a lot of ways this kind of thinking is good for Ford. Ford needs to build cars that are just as good as the competitors but make them cheaper or at least similar in price. Right now most Ford cars do not compete well with oversees automakers like the Japanese and Germans. A Ford sports sedan that could actually compete with the BMW 3 series would be an awesome thing. Thinking like this could also lead to the resurrection of SVT since its only natural to fight fire with fire...I.E. SRT, M, AMG etc etc...

Jason

 

[05GTVert]

I am not sure if this is good or bad... should we fear change?

Jason

Yes

 

[PhotonSabreX]

On the upside the aircraft business requires products that are extremely reliable, durable, and inexpensive (relatively speaking). In the aircraft business, if you cant build it better, faster, and cheaper than the other guy then you lose (Boeing knows this well with their loss of the Joint Strike Fighter contract). In a lot of ways this kind of thinking is good for Ford. Ford needs to build cars that are just as good as the competitors but make them cheaper or at least similar in price. Right now most Ford cars do not compete well with oversees automakers like the Japanese and Germans. A Ford sports sedan that could actually compete with the BMW 3 series would be an awesome thing. Thinking like this could also lead to the resurrection of SVT since its only natural to fight fire with fire...I.E. SRT, M, AMG etc etc...


Jason

I agree. Hopefully his presence will be viewed by people that normally don't have experience with Ford as a good thing. They desperately need to start converting buyers. They might lose a few of the good old loyalists by making drastic changes, but you gotta break eggs to make an omelette.

 

[Jpjr]

A few thoughts...

It was a very positive move for Bill Ford to step down. He is a like-able guy, but as someone who spent the last few years at WHQ (at least from my vantage point) he was running the company into the ground. Not because he had bad intentions, but because he didn't have the experience to run a global company. He didn't possess the foresight to distrust his managers who had been feeding him garbage the last 5 years. He knew that from a 'buck stops here' perspective he was part of the problem and not the solution. So it was admirable for him to show that he has the company's best interest in mind.

What does that mean for the Shelby? I think it will mean great things, personally. The new CEO will hopefully start with a clean sheet of paper, forget the brands, and chart out which *vehicles* are a key to the companies success. The Mustang is clearly one of the best assets possessed by Ford. I expect the new guy to capitalize off its success by pumping even more money into the brand.

 

[BlackBolt9]

Since he is from the aerospace field and says he is looking for fuel efficiency, reliability and safety, will this mean Ford diving more into polymer and aluminum (i.e. lightweight) struture in their future cars? Is this maybe the answer for all of the people that have been bitching about the weight of the GT500? Doubt it since they will probably just find something else to complain about. Regardless I think he will do fine as long as he doesn't lose Ford's racing heritage and muscle car ideologies.

 

[GTSpartan]

He still has Billy looking over his shoulder, which is a bad thing if you are a new CEO trying to save a company.

I think he should have also stepped down from his Chairman position, but there is no way that the Ford's are going to give up control of the company. IMO, the entire Ford family needs to step aside and let the experienced professionals do their thing.

 

[swlacobra]

question? is the new guy interested in performance cars? or is he a car guy at all? or just a bean counter? i guess we will see.

 

[HISSMAN]

The first thing they should do is kill all of the re badged Ford cars. ie Mercury, Lincoln. They then need to reinvent the Lincoln brand like GM did Cadi. It is one thing to share a common chassis, but ford has been sharing nearly every body panel for years. Mercury needs killed regardless. There is no reason for it to be around. You will either be a Ford guy, or a Lincoln guy. Other than that I think that the overall quality and styling of Ford's vehicles are moving in the right direction.

-Jeff

 

[Badasp5.0]

Well he drives a lexus so probally no....But I hope he is.

 

[1995COBRA-R]

Bill Ford isn't going anywhere. He continues to be the top dog at Ford: Chairman of the Board of Directors. His family controls 40% of the voting stock and 5% of the common stock.

B. Ford hired Alan Mulally as CEO. Mulally turned Boeing around by firing 70,000 (120,000 > 50,000) employees which helped turn Boeing from a struggling airline manufacturer to a world-class global player. He also reduced the time to build a jet by 50% and introduced the fastest-selling new airplane ever.

He received a large raise in order to lure him away from Boeing. The negotiations have been going on for several months.

I predict he will severely thin out the bureaucratic mess which Bill Ford didn't have the guts to do. He will fix the production process and hopefully turn around FMC to a profitable and healthy company.

 

[Jpjr]

I predict he will severely thin out the bureaucratic mess which Bill Ford didn't have the guts to do. He will fix the production process and hopefully turn around FMC to a profitable and healthy company.

Totally agreed on that... there is plenty of fat in the white collar ranks to cut. The problem has always been Bill Ford not being competent enough to make those decisions, since he trusts the same managers that aren't adding any value to make his decisions for him.

 

[OrangeRocket]

jaguar, though, keeps showing off awesome concepts then cutting them right before production.

The new XK (their 2dr new sports car, can't remember exact name, might not be for sale just yet not sure) only has 300hp. A jaguar sports car that runs a 14.2 in the 1/4, has 300hp at the CRANK, and runs mid-14's in the quarter. For the sticker price of $80k I can't see how they can release it with less than 400hp. Yes, some silly decisions being made.

 

[ON D BIT]

The new XK (their 2dr new sports car, can't remember exact name, might not be for sale just yet not sure) only has 300hp. A jaguar sports car that runs a 14.2 in the 1/4, has 300hp at the CRANK, and runs mid-14's in the quarter. For the sticker price of $80k I can't see how they can release it with less than 400hp. Yes, some silly decisions being made.

so we got the

07 xk
07 6 series
07 sl500

what do you buy? sadly we all know what will come in last.

the new xk is an awesome car as well. the look is breathtaking, but the car is too big. take some length off, add power, and the quality steering wheel shift levers at the same price point and you have your self a sweet car to take on all others.