Retiring Vice Chairman Dominates Ford News
Ford, the iconic car company with a history spanning nearly a century, has had two CEOs since July 2000. A great deal of change has taken place in the automotive industry since then. Ford has kept up with industry trends, but it wasn't enough to prevent over a decade of declining sales and first-time losses in more than three decades. In desperation, on May 1st 2017 Ford announced that its board had asked vice chairman Bill Ford Jr., great-grandson of Henry Ford (founder), to also take on the chairman's role. That step created a rare dual leadership structure and raised questions about what that would mean for top executives including CEO Mark Fields and CFO Bob Shanks...At first glance, the high-level changes at Ford look fairly minor, even though they effectively shift the company back to a one-man show. Fields is staying on for now, and he becomes the longest tenured CEO in Ford history; his father, Bill Fields Sr. was CEO from 1971 through 1984...Ford's competitors have grown significantly over the past decade as well. General Motors and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles were both struggling to survive before 2008, but since then they have become some of the industry's most profitable automakers. Ford has been moving in the opposite direction, losing money every year since its last profitable year in 2011. Past leaders have cited Ford's focus on cars as a big reason for its problems. Ford is still heavily reliant on its sedan and crossover lineup, which are mainly aimed at the domestic US market. That has placed Ford at a disadvantage against foreign rivals that don't make sedans, like BMW, and overseas rivals that focus on cars popular in China or Europe...Ford's plan to fix the company involves investing heavily in electric vehicles. Ford recently said it would add 13 electric models to its lineup by 2020 and spend $4.5 billion to build them at three plants in Michigan, Ohio, and Mexico...But a new article ( March 3, 2018 ) in Business Insider highlights Ford's difficulties with the rollout of the first couple of electric models. The article claims that over a million Ford vehicles were delivered from 2015 to 2017 without any electrification. For comparison, Tesla rolled out its entire lineup of cars in 2016. With overall sales falling for nine straight months during the first three quarters of 2017, Ford has been criticized for not meeting its previous targets and falling behind competitors...Another part of Ford's plan hinges on autonomous vehicles (AVs)...Ford has begun testing AVs in various locations around Pittsburgh; it was revealed recently that they have been testing AVs at their Oakville Technical Center facility outside Toronto as well. To that end, Ford's new CEO has another similarity to Tesla's Elon Musk: He is a strong proponent of AVs...Bill Ford Jr. was quoted this month as saying that "we're not in the business of building a million cars a year." Despite the losses, it seems that Ford is hoping to return to profitability on the back of its next-generation lineup, which will include momentum-building new electric vehicles. That's a lot like Tesla is doing; only time will tell if they are successful...
Posted by MS at 10:01 PM
Founder & President of The Alliance for American Automotive Manufacturers (AAMA) - the trade association representing America's automakers. Member of the President's Automotive Task Force - a group of renowned executives from the US and Canada who established the Detroit Three, Volvo, and others to build a "new" industry in North America. Published author and co-author of automotive industry trade publications for over 35 years. Member of AAMA's Board of Governors for 16 years. Represents UAW at AAMA member companies as Chairman, President & CEO
Ownership Interests: Canadian Auto Parts; Fueling Systems; EVS (electric vehicle supply); Innovative Manufacturing Solutions Group; Integrated Engineering & Manufacturing Services (IEMS) AAMA Member Company; Kato USA Inc.; Kristin Industries Inc.; Lucas Oil Products Company Ltd.; Niro Industries Inc. AAMA Partner Company; Priority One Technologies Inc., P1 Industries, LLC; Sonic Automotive, Inc. AAMA Associate Member Company; Smith Fueling Systems - AAMA General Member; TEC Auto LLC - AAMA Associate Member Company IEMS Group holds interest in OE Direct Parts and Vehivate.com
Posted by MS at 9:59 PM
The electrification of the automobile is one of the biggest transformations to hit our transportation system since the Model T Ford put America on wheels more than 100 years ago. Tesla, Apple, Google and other major players are targeting 2020 to bring the first of their electric vehicles to market. And that's just the start of it. The very future of transportation is now at stake. You see, on the horizon are autonomous vehicles - cars that drive themselves and require no human drivers. In fact, they will be so advanced and so adept at running themselves that they will become "transportation-as-a-service" - a service you subscribe to and use as needed, like a mobile phone or a video streaming service. That's why automakers around the world are counting on getting electric vehicles off the ground early in order to maintain their leadership positions in tomorrow's game-changing mobility world. Electric vehicles will be the future of mobility, and that fact is key to understanding the complex and intertwined issues that are plaguing today's automakers, unions, governments and other stakeholders. You see, there is an all-too-often overlooked factor in today's electric vehicle debate: oil. Yes, we know that most EVs will run on hydrogen - a fuel of the future. But despite the overall trend toward "greener" alternative fuel sources like natural gas and ethanol, oil will continue to play an important role in our transportation system for many years to come - especially as we transition to the next generation of advanced electric vehicles... But it's not all about oil. The auto industry will be forever changed by the advent of autonomous vehicles and ride-sharing services, and these factors will also have an impact on our economy, our environment and our overall quality of life. It's just that the impacts won't be what many people - especially today's automakers - think they will be. So where are we right now? The fact is that most major automotive players are falling behind in their electric vehicle rollout plans. For example, almost a century after Henry Ford promised to put an affordable electric car on the market, today's automakers have yet to bring such a vehicle to market. Nor do they seem to understand that reality has passed them by...
Conclusion: Electric vehicles will have to compete with hydrogen fuel cell cars, which are better for the environment.
The reality is that electric vehicles are not the answer for solving today's energy problems.
A study by experts at Stanford University and Argonne National Laboratory found that, without a dramatic increase in battery costs or breakthroughs in battery technology, electric vehicles will not help reduce greenhouse gas emissions enough to satisfy leaders of major environmental groups. And electric vehicles can't win over drivers who want to pay less for transportation and save money on fuel, because they're too expensive to be affordable. The solution is to focus on developing hydrogen car technology for the future - something both General Motors and Ford have already started doing...