courtesy of
Fox Business.com
FORD MOTOR COMPANY CEO ALAN MULALLY TALKS WITH FOX BUSINESS NETWORK’S LIZ CLAMAN ABOUT TALKS TO SELL LAND ROVER, JAGUAR AND PLANS TO HOLD ONTO VOLVO
On ongoing job cuts at Ford Motor Company“[Further job cuts] will depend on where we take production and that gets into what we think is going to happen with the economy this year and consumer confidence. But we are going to keep taking the action to size our production, for the good of our customers, to the real demand.”
On $15.3B in losses over the last two years:“In a way, nobody did anything wrong at Ford. Ford had a strategy of focusing on big trucks and SUVs and creating a lot of value, a lot of new products for a lot of people but clearly the world changed with fuel prices up and our concern for energy security and independence. People really do want neat, small and medium-sized vehicles to compliment the trucks.”
On Tata of India possibly purchasing Land Rover Jaguar“I think it will be great. Whoever buys Jaguar and Land Rover, they really are going to care about those brands – they’re terrific brands, they’re global brands and need to be invested in. We are going to focus on integrating Ford around the world, and creating an exciting viable Ford.”
“We’re making great progress with TaTa.”
On whether Ford Motor Company will shed Volvo:“I think redefining [Volvo] is the appropriate action now. It’s a great brand, it has a great cache of safety over the years, we just need to improve the cost structure and re-establish the brand.”
“We hold on to Volvo.”
On Increasing Ford’s share price:“I think we absolutely stay on our plan for value creation. That means restructuring the near term with this environment, to get the production lined up with demand; accelerate the development and introduction of the new vehicles that people really want and value; and get financing and liquidity in place and the last one, which may be the most important, is to leverage the blue oval assets around the world, especially bring in the neat, new small and medium-sized vehicles in the United States.”
Response to GM’S Bob Lutz comment that global warming is a ‘crock’ and why Ford is becoming more environmental“I think the companies that can provide fuel efficiency, reduction in CO2, make great products with minimum resources are the ones that are going to have a competitive advantage.”
“82% of the Ford vehicles today are recyclable. This is not just about business, this is about using the resources of the world in a very appropriate way.”
“The biggest contribution we are going to make is what we call Eco-boost in the Powertrains and that’s a combination of turbo-charging and direct fuel injection that is going to allow us to nearly a 20% improvement in fuel economy and reduce CO2 by nearly 15%. But neat thing is, it’s affordable and we can do it in great volume. Within a couple of years, we will be up to 500,000 vehicles with the technology included and available to everybody across all the vehicles. I think the underlying technology of fuel efficiency and performance and CO2 is going to change the auto industry.:
On Reducing Dependence on Oil“I think there’s pretty much a consensus that the oil that can be found most easily has been found. It’s not that we have a shortage of fossil fuel, but it’s getting more expensive to bring it to the market plus the fact that we want to use less resources.”
I could have written out his answers two days before he gave them but I liked them anyway. He needs to manage both sides. 1. Make as many cars as people want. 2. Get the costs of those cars in check. Easier to say than do. I like Ford's chances more than GM. They have a clue and don't blame everyone else like GM.
