There are two ways to look at this. First, Ford CEO Alan Mulally “gets it.” He understands that he screwed the PR pooch when he flew into Washington to beg for bailout billions in a big ass corporate jet. Alternatively, someone somewhere needs to get a grip. The guy gets $25m a year, Ford burned its way through $7.7b during the last financial quarter, FoMoCo wants at least that much from your taxes in addition to its share of the $25b already allocated for retooling and we’re worrying about his travel arrangements? Yup. So, Big Al’s driving from Motown to The Big Sleazy. And down the rabbit hole we go. “Ford spokesman Mike Moran said Monday that Mulally will make the roughly 500-mile trip on the road in an undisclosed Ford vehicle,” The Detroit News reports. “Moran declined to say if Mulally would actually be behind the wheel, but noted that Mulally does have a license to drive.” Help me out here. Is Detroit News scribe David “Love Ya” Shepardson being sarcastic? Or is he actually trying to reassure readers that the head of The Ford Motor Company can drive a car? For once, Autoblog gets its right, focusing on whether or not Mulally will be driving a Focus for 10 hours straight (assuming Big Al doesn’t get high). Oh wait; Autoblog’s “WEBAD” (What Exactly Would Big Al Drive) poll doesn’t list the econobox amongst its vehicular choices. Never mind.
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Probably going to be a Taurus or Flex. Can’t imagine Al would be comfortable in a Fusion, the brands SUVs and trucks are out (for obvious reasons), and the MKS probably wouldn’t be the best choice.
Droid800 :
Escape Hybrid. Betcha bottom dollar.
Ah. I forgot about that one.
Yes, I’d agree with that. Either that, or the Fusion Hybrid, but I think you’re right and they’ll choose the Escape.
This guy makes 52 return trips a year to his home in Seattle on his personal jet that he has unlimited access to (not to mention access for his family as well)…. and, this is going to do what?
Here’s an idea worthy of a Top Gear Challenge for the D3 CEOs.
Give them $1 and have them make their way to DC.
Wasn’t it the Chrysler TC which was labeled “Chrysler TC, by Maserati”?
It’s a shame the Ford Motor Company isn’t as honest as a mid-80’s Chrysler Corporation.
…ie, the “Ford Escape Hybrid” should be honestly labeled “Ford Escape Hybrid, by Toyota”.
Truth be told, by driving a Hybrid Escape to DC, Mr. Boeing is NOT advertising American Engineering…not by a long shot.
He’s advertising the sweat, labor, research, and investment of the competitor…that is, TOYOTA.
But go ahead, Alan, you’re already on all fours begging like a dog, what’s one more bout of humiliation???
A hybrid would probably be a good idea.
Escape or Fusion Hybrid? Eh, maybe he’s above that, I don’t know. There’s always the Mariner or Milan Hybrid then.
Sure, they aren’t THAT different, but they’re a little softer riding and quieter on the inside. And besides, the Mariner Hybrid is the vehicle of choice for “eco-friendly” politicians everywhere.
I think calling the Focus “the econobox from Hell” is quite undeserved. Perhaps the Caliber and Cobalt, but the Focus’ main sin is not being attractive (i.e. Fugly). It still handles well and is well built for its class. I’d take a Focus over the new Corolla any day.
But I bought a Mazda3…
the duke :
Point taken. text amended. But mark my words: I’m not a fan.
I say that they go in a caravan that includes a security detail in Lincoln Navigators, a tour bus a la John Madden for Mulally himself to do CEO stuff in as well as take a nap and potty break, and then a Fusion Hybrid as a last leg vehicle for photo ops. Maybe Big Al could put in some time behind the wheel for rest stops and gas refills. Of course, there could be a Flex look a like that is actually a body on frame armored vehicle that is being built just for this occasion.
My two guesses are as follows:
1) unmarked private jet for the first 450 miles and then an Escape Hybrid for the last 50
or
2) a nicely appointed late model Lexus for the first 480 miles and then an Escape Hybrid for the last 20 miles
Call me a cynic, but I don’t trust any of these rat-bastards.
Well, at least he’s not blatantly gaming the system like GM and trying to hide how he is getting there.
Can these guys get any more idiotic?
–chuck
luscious,
The Ford Escape is not a Toyota hybrid. Ford developed technology similar to what Toyota held patents on, so to ensure they weren’t involved in any lawsuits, they licensed the tech.
@Luscious
Really? You actually believe that garbage?
Here’s the truth: Ford engineered 100% of the tech in the Escape and forthcoming Fusion Hybrid. Ford says so, Toyota says so, even the U.S. patent office says so. What you’re referring to is a small set of licensing fees Ford paid Toyota when the first-gen Escape Hybrid came out, because Ford did not want to risk a patent lawsuit being brought against them by Toyota. (which, if you know anything about patent law, Toyota would have been obligated to pursue to protect their intellectual property)
No technology, no parts, no engineering data was exchanged. All it was was Ford saying ‘Here. Our hybrid system is close to yours, and we don’t really have the money to pay a huge intellectual property lawsuit judgement, so we’ll pay you this small amount so you won’t sue us’.
If you’ve also been paying attention, you’ll notice that Toyota makes a big deal about the fact that they consider Ford’s system a generation or two behind theirs. If Ford was really buying HSD from Toyota, would Toyota really go to such great lengths to bad-mouth their own engineering work?
Dennis Kucinich drives a Focus. Alan Mullaly can drive one too. And like Dennis K, he should make sure it’s a made in America by union labor focus, not a hecho en mexico.
If he’s going to drive a Focus, it should be the Euro one, not the abomination we get…
Speaking of “gaming it”…imagine, just Imagine, Alan performing exercising what he learned in Game Theory…and NOT going to D.C.!
…just imagine Alan showing one OUNCE of spine, one OUNCE of fortitude….and taking his “We don’t really NEED the bailout” stance of his previous stage act…and NOW saying
“I do NOT STAND SIDE-BY-SIDE with these losers and and NOT going to ask the American public, which is already stretched at the seems, to fork over a single dollar! We, Ford Motor Company, hereby do not stoop to the same base level as GM and Chrysler.”
He would have instantly won my respect and many others. He would shine like a true AMERICAN, and not come across as some heathen-worshiping sleazebag.
Oh, to daydream….Alan, where are your cojones, my man??? Perhaps you ought to tie a set of TruckNutz to the rear of your Focus as your meander down the road of mediocrity.
Jesus Christ, don’t be a mealy-mouthed “Tribeca”….be a MAN for God’s Sake. STAND OUT!!!…stop groping the American public. You yourself said “you don’t need it”. And for your own sake, stop following Wagoner…Ford’s lack of leadership is what got them in this mess to begin with.
And if I’m wrong re. the Hybrid system, I’ll be the first to say so in front of everyone.
I’m not unwilling to admit I’m wrong.
…the question is, are these so-called “leaders”???
Hmmmmm…..
(whispering gently….”…alan, be a man….”).
If not, I’ll personally buy Alan a set of TruckNuts for his Focus road-trip.
Luscious
How do you blame a leader such as Alan Mulally for what ails Ford when he’s only been there for 2 years? What did he have to do with past bland car designs, expensive union contracts and pension obligations, a strategy relying on gas guzzlers etc.
Under Mulally, Ford has been working aggressively to bring smaller, more efficient European models to Ford, and the quality of Ford has dramatically improved according to Consumer Reports and others.
If they manage to hand him some sort of test mule (like the hybrid Fusion or Fiesta), that’d be sweet. But then again, it’ll be Hybrid Escape, as Robert mentioned.
BTW, regarding Toyota technology: there isn’t much of it in Escape. All Toyota did was agreeing not to sue Ford for plugging a couple electric motors and a gas engine into a planetary gearset (or more like, controlling the above with a computer), in exchange for Ford’s direct-injection patent licenses.
Although, I must say, Escape’s planetary gearset is made by the same company, and battery packs are done by Honda’s supplier… But then again, everyobody and their dog were using Bosch L-Jetronic in the 80’s (for which they deserve eternal damnation).
I just cant stand it any longer…..He would look GOOD driving an Aston, seriously, I wonder if they still have any pre-sale demos kicking around…Not being American, I watched Obama’s address on CNN today and couldn’t help thinking, If you really want to do something for the people of the country, figure out how to gainfully employ 3 million in something worthwhile to the planet and society and just pull the plug on “Detroit”….hopefully the babies will go out with the bathwater… When People will walk over a dying person at Wal Mart to save $100.00 on a plasma screen, you have bigger things to worry about than a domestic auto industy.
Alex who would that be Cobasys? Continental? Ovonic? A123? Panasonic?
Sanyo Electric Company. NiMH pack.
Ah
I thought it was Quantum even though I left them out of the previous list. Sanyo is hanging tough but their taking a beating for other reasons at the moment in the market. Isn’t quantum going to provide their PHEV pack. Quantum is pretty divested so those guys may be ok.
Couple things:
1) The fact that Al is driving, and what he’s driving, etc is RIDICULOUS. But moron public and moron politicians want to see image here, F*CK the substance right? Its all about image. Congress knows this better than anyone.
2) So Mulally will oblige, to show he “gets it” (because again, image shows what you do and don’t understand better than anything else…again reference Congress).
3) The car should be a Fusion hybrid, since it is one of the top rated cars for quality/reliability by all the magazines, and its hybrid system gets top fuel economy numbers that beat the Japanese cars in its class. It is also a midsize sedan, the bread-and-butter of the American car market. And it should be the Fusion because driving the Escape, while a hybrid also, is “still an SUV” and thus should be totally off limits, otherwise it could be used as fire for those who say “Detroit doesn’t get it, look, he showed up in an SUV….nobody buys SUVs anymore…Detroit needs to build cars people want to actually buy”.
4) He WILL show up in an Escape Hybrid, because the Fusion is built in Mexico. So they’ll make the trade off that showing up in an American assembled (because final assembly is the be-all-end-all gauge of an “American” car, right?) UAW made SUV will outweigh the better-rated, higher MPG Mexican assembled Fusion.
5) People focused on the stupid private jets last time, and now this time when Al shows up to Congress in his car, he’ll get ripped apart by those who say “he only did it because he got caught last time” or “he only did it because he knew the private jet looked bad” or “he should have taken the train or greyhound because driving 500 miles from Detroit burns way too much gas and is way too wasteful” or any other handful of BS items the Congress and media and public will focus on instead of the serious issue at hand. Any bets as to if “how many of you drove a vehicle here today when you could have carpooled? Let the record show no hands went up”-type grandstanding happens again. Congress loves to have all the answers and listen to themselves talk (though my post is getting awful long :) ) Then right after the hearing, half the Congress will go wherever they have to go for their 2 month holiday by taking a private limo to a private plane and disappearing until January.
6) Congress will probably tie the heads of these companies to this bailout money (among a ton of other restrictions and requirements that might as well just kill Detroit anyway) because “these morons need to be punished for the situation they created” without stopping to think that Mulally is probably the best Ford executive in 30 years and didn’t start this whole thing, or that Nardelli (who really probably should go, but for other reasons) is somehow responsible for the last 8 years of D-B mis-management. Ok, Rick should go. But again, its all about image, right? Gotta make it look like you clean house, even if you throw the best parts out along with it. At least it looks like you’re doing something, which is the most important thing.
Its disgusting the blunders these companies have made. They should NEVER have even put themselves in this position. But its here, its REALLY important to this country and its economy, and all I gotta believe is gonna happen is another dog-and-pony-show with no real action, or a bailout with so many strings attached they’re gonna go down anyway. I would love to see Mulally pull what an earlier poster suggested and say they don’t need it, but he’s not gonna do that, cuz the fact is they probably do, and definitely will if GM/Chrysler and any of their shared suppliers go under.
This stuff makes me sick, on both sides, and with the public. And people wonder why the best and brightest stay the hell out of politics…nobody wants to be a giant tool/DB and get involved in a government that does nothing, wastes OUR money, and is only concerned about looking like they do something and helping out their friends. The smartest people stay in private business, when in reality, those people should be the ones in government. But nobody is gonna kill their career for that association.
In honor of Ford’s dead, failed brands he will begin the first 1/3 of the journey leaving Detroit in an Edsel, continue the next 1/3 in a Merkur and finish the final 1/3 ending up in DC in a Mercury.
This dog and pony show is getting ridiculous. CEOs of global companies have better things to do than drive 500 miles to a meeting.
What next? Have Bob, Rick, and Alan kneel down and kiss the pinky ring?
Flying in a corporate jet was a stupid move, but driving 500 miles to Washington is just as stupid.
These guys should just fly commercial – like almost everyone else in the country – and require that all employee flights will be commercial while they are borrowing public funds. This would show that these guys are actually serious about fixing their companies.
The basic problem is that while life is good, no one ever thinks the market can shrink. Least of all, Ford and GM.
Cars cost money. Wages have been stagnant for years.
Most people buy with credit. Credit has sucked to varying degrees for 18-24 months.
Therefore … the market is shrinking. Funny, markets do that. Someone will have to sell fewer cars. Someone will have to make fewer cars (that way, you have a better chance of selling the ones you paid to build).
But, no one saw this coming. I mean, why pay a CEO multi-millions? What kinds of guys are worth that money? Guys who can see this stuff coming!!!! Bill Gates saw changes in his industry. He “didn’t get” the Internet at first, but he changed his tune awfully darned quick. Jack Welsh saw GE through nothing but corporate changes in a diversity of markets that stagger the mind. THOSE were CEO’s worth big money.
These clowns? They are really going to drive a dinky car to DC? THAT is how they will earn their keep?
Are you freaking KIDDING me?
To all who say Mulally should show some spine and not show up in Washington, I say this:
The only difference between someone who is brave and someone who is stupid is that the stupid person failed.
Am I saying all war heroes are stupid? No, not at all. I’m saying that when it comes history book writing time, people focus on the results, not the events leading up to it.
That being said, I say Mulally should go to Washington, if only to keep Ford’s suppliers alive.
Hey, I have an idea. Top management needs to live hear wherever headquarters just like the secretaries do. Ford spending an ongoing fortune to have Mulally and Fields commuting from their homes in Seattle and Florida is just one more example of the we-don’t-live-like-mortals mindset which has become commonplace in the halls of America’s executive suites.
I just hope that the CEOs show a little spine, like Charlie Wilson. 40% of Americans may hate the Detroit car companies but they hate politicians (who are shoveling money at the big banks as fast as they can) but 100% of Americans hate politicians even more. Go up to Capitol Hill equipped with all the facts on every member of those committees and don’t be afraid to call out those grandstanding demagogues. If any of them has gotten so much as a dime of money tied directly or indirectly to the transplants lay it on the table. Go right over their heads and speak forthrightly and directly to the American public. The congresscritters are expecting the CEOs to be meek. This is not a time for the meek. If a congresscritter asks them if they’ll work for a dollar the response should be, “I’ll work for a dollar when you donate your senatorial/congressional salary to charity. Deal?”
Red Ink Rick vs Engine Charlie
Ronnie,
That sort of thing is just not in the DNA of most modern CEO’s. One of my favorites was Gordon Bethune. When he was challenged for requesting government money after 9-11 he was happy to point out that they would not need the money had the government not shut them down for so long.
Maybe the 3 chiefs could point out all the government interference helping them along their way to BK.
@John Horner
Fields gave up the private jet long ago. (January of 2007) Ford still pays for his commercial flights, but those are less than 10% the cost of the private jet. (and that assumes that he flies home every weekend) His rationale is justifiable; he has small children and they’ve already moved around a lot. He didn’t want to move again, especially with Ford’s precarious situation. Those flights area also part of his compensation; he gets taxed on them just as if Ford was putting the money right into his pocket.
Mulally, well, that’s harder to justify. He still uses the private jet, but Ford’s rationale is that he needs to travel private for security issues. (maybe they’re worried about their cash going down the toilet if something happens to him?) At least for the first two years he lived in Michigan, but there’s no information from the last year about how often he flies home. (unlike Fields, which flew home every weekend) The most recent data was from 6 months after he was hired, and even then, the total cost was less than half of what Fields’ travel cost Ford before he switched over. (meaning he likely only traveled home once or twice a month)
From what I understand Mulally has actually put quite a bit of pressure on Fields to move to Michigan, and Mulally himself has spent quite a bit more time in Dearborn than Fields has. (still not sure why he hasn’t done it himself, but I’m sure he has his reasons) It’s harder and harder to justify the company paying for their travel considering how much they get paid, but at least they’ve been trying to cut down the costs. (and lets be honest here, $120,000 a year on travel isn’t the cause of their problems, and it certainly isn’t going to have any noticeable impact on anything)
I’d be interesting to see them drive the 500 miles with no refill up on a fusion hybrid. The Focus in not too comfy, the MKS a little more numb probably. The Mustang too busy and the Escape all of the above. The Fusion wins. Although 2010 Mustang?
Anyhow, I agree substance over image. Private jet sometimes, commercial others, and cars other times. Boats maybe too. I believe taking more popular transit serves to offer the execs better perspective of the lives of the individuals that buy and use the vehicles that are sold. Although the companies seem to think/say that their vehicles have nothing to do with their financial situation. Uu! ouch! Talk about issues. They are technically in the public’s eye not very good at relating to others. Still if they project a symbolic image they will earn love and money. Ahh, Classic, in love with the image of the automaker not the true automaker. Back to square one, but with more experience. 12 steps here we come.
Higher power (not congress I hope) grant me the serenity to accept the automakers I cannot change, the willingness and courage to change my behaviors and attitudes, and the wisdom and clarity to know the difference.
1,2,3
1. Quit trying to control, to force an outcome – let go, surrender, accept.
2. Remember that I can’t do it alone
3. Ask for help – from my Higher Power, from another person, look up something on the internet, whatever. Have the humility to remember I am not in control, I am not writing the script.
Maybe if SecTreas Paulson wasn’t so anal about only helping out his old Wall Street buddies and would slice off a mere 3.5% of his $700B slush fund for the D3, no one would need to travel anywhere.
But, like the retards in D.C., he doesn’t “get it”, either.
Memo to Mulally: go with the Fusion Hybrid, paint it many different shades of green, with a big, arty “Hybrid!” graphic plastered all over it. Ditch the “Hecho en Mexico” stickers, though the retards in D.C. wouldn’t know any better. Have your handlers follow in a train of Fiestas and Euro Focuses to show them that, “Yes, we have a plan.”
What’s wrong with coach, or first on a regular commuter jet?
These guys worry me – they are “pendulum stupid,” a term I was introduced to in the military: equally stupid either way, and always wrong.
Didn’t they see the SNL parody?
What they should have done, is either defend the fact that someone running a business with hundreds of thousands of employees, and shifting the equivalent of oil tanker sized loads of metal every day, has the right to have efficient transport for himself and his advisers.
Or – go buy a regular ticket to save travel time.
Now I really worry about Detroit. When today’s sales numbers come out I guess we can consider this roadkill moot.
Is this really the main issue this week.
For the record:
Dennis Kucinich is the idiot that drove Cleveland into receivership. He has as much business acumen as a rotten tree stump.
He might as well spend 10+ hours on the road before that meeting. That feeble grandstand play is probably of more value than saying the same old words over again. So he can be smart and use the meeting as an opportunity to have a nap. The outcome has nothing to do with the TV soap opera anyway.
I think he should drive a G8 GT/GXP. Then he would know what it feels like to drive a good car.
Or he could drive his Falcon…and rub that in our faces.
this just in via NPR: Mulally will be driving to Sodom-on-th’-Potomac in a hybrid. didn’t specify which one
Is it me or is having your CEO – whose time is of the utmost importance – be constrained in a car for 10 hours for a business trip not the smartest idea. I’ve heard you can get a 1st class flight pretty cheap if you have a corporate account. The Det – DC flight will take 2 hours including getting through security versus 10 hours sitting in a car. No wonder these guys are in trouble.
@rmwill:
Wrong about Kucinich. The city was already headed toward bankruptcy when Kucinich took office, and financial advisers were telling him to sell the city-owned electric company to stave it off. He refused this power play and the banks called in the city’s loans, triggering bankruptcy. But the utility remains public, and, according to a study by Cleveland magazine, the utility’s low rates saved customers about $195 million over the past 10 years. In fact, he got back into Congress in 2002 campaigning on the success of his effort to keep that utility.
jaje:
He’ll most definitely have an entourage with him, and perhaps a driver in the car for most of the trip to do the hard work. Repast of the highest quality available at the slightest whim. And, stops at undoubtedly the finest hotels for slumber.
Me, I’d be boozing it up on Pierre Ferrand. Since you know, as a CEO of a failing company unwilling to take a pay-cut, I can afford that…
He’ll be in one car, then a couple of more cars with other staff, finally a couple of more cars with security.
HAH!
I agree with the previous poster….since he is engaging in this farce, he has to go all in and drive a Made in USA Hybrid Escape, not the Hecho in Me-hico Fushion.
And to the previous poster who said that a CEO saving $120k by traveling commercial wouldn’t have an impact. The SIGNAL sent out by that CEO to troops who make financial decisions hourly, about being FRUGAL, even in the tiniest of details, would cause that $120k to be saved exponentially more throughout the organization.
Well, that’s depressingly populist. I had some hopes for Mullaly based on his performance at the hearings. The “I’m fine where I am” was much better than Nardelli’s empty gesture or Wagoner’s out-of-touch (or clueless) prevarication. I may not think he’s worth it, but he’s worth more than the sum of Wagoner and Nardelli (pre-dollar) combined.
And now we pull another empty gesture. Ford pays a lot for Mullaly, and if the jet gets him where he needs to go quickly, good. Sure, he can fly commercial, but at fifty grand or more per day, I don’t want him waiting around.
If he shows in an Escape Hybrid (the car to drive when you don’t want to offend anyone), he deserves a slapping.
I hate to say this, judging from the above comment, but he’ll indeed show up in a Escape Hybrid. Crap, I wanted him to show up in a Mustang…
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/12/02/mulally-chooses-escape-hybrid-for-d-c-road-trip/
Also, Red Ink Rick will show up in a Malibu mild hybrid…
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28015687/
You know, I almost think it doesn’t matter what he drives, escape hybrid, focus, fusion, whatever. What I want to know is, will it break down and he’ll be stuck on the side of the road … personally, I think i’d resign ;)
Ok if it were me working at any plant I would want to get everyone to work together. Everyone take a cut in pay NOW! TODAY!! The big guys can take a bigger cut than the line workers but I would want to think that all workers blue and white collar would want to make less money than no money at all
We need to work as a team. I am offering my site http://www.iwannatrade.com to list autos free. spread the walls of the dealers and sell cars and trucks at move the inventory prices, What ever it takes to create cash flow. The loss of jobs in the auto indrusty today reminds me of the days when the steel workers thought that Japan was stealing the industry when we were not putting enough back into the mills. To busy buying big office buildings with hugh wooden desks and plush carpet. Big is not better. Solid slow growth with CEOs making good money not becoming millionairs for a couple of years work. Any qusetions about content or my site my name is Jon Varley,Apple Valley Ca, 909-499-8076 jvarley69@hotmail.com
Lets work on our own bail out!! TOGETHER