Maybe Henry Ford’s conquest of the automotive world with one model in one color is a little too ambitious a goal to repeat, but Alan Mulally is determined to take Ford further (back) in that direction. From 97 unique models in 2006, Alan’s goal is to keep reducing the body count: “there will be less than 30, on our way to 20 to 25”.
Selling off Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin obviously play a big part in that reduction. And killing Mercury didn’t hurt either. In an article at Automotive News [sub], Mulally said: “fewer brands means you can put more focus into improving the quality of the engineering”. And its not just about reducing models, but increasing the degree of component sharing globally. According to Mulally, the Fiesta now shares 65% of its parts worldwide.
Well VW does it don’t they? As long as they keep Ford Quality and keep moving forward, they’ll be fine. The old question becomes can you make the vehicles feel different?
BTW and FWIW, the Model T was offered in “special order” colors during it’s final years of production. You could get “red” for example.
Is that man…..kissing….that car?
Disturbing on too many levels.
Ummmmmmmm…. Paul can show you some even more NSFW images of people who “love” their cars… But I dare not even post the link here to a CC that he did.
If that picture of Alan Mulally kissing a Figo freaks you out, then this will send you over the edge…
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/ask-the-best-and-brightest-how-would-you-roast-bob-lutz/
I guess the Mercury Mistress won’t be part of Ford’s lineup anymore:
20-25 is what’s left once you remove the three remaining Mercurys, the Sport Trac, the Ranger, the Focus Coupe, the Town Car and add in the Lincoln C-car and crossover. Old news to us enthusiasts who follow Ford everyday.
OK, makes sense.
FORD brand. All cars to be sold in all markets.
#1 Small car. Gas, diesel and Hybrid FIESTA
#2 Slightly larger small ca. Gas, diesel and hybrid-FOCUS
#3 Mid Size Sedan/Wagon-Gas, diesel and hybrid-Fusion/Mondeo
#4 Smaller 2 dr Sport car/convertible- Probe?
#5 Mustang
#6 Large Sedan/wagon-Taurus. And for Police cars as well.
#7 Small 4 cyl Pickup Truck- like the older Ranger
#8 Smaller SUV-Gas, diesel and hybrid. Escape
#9 Pickups-150/250
#10 Big Ass SUV-Diesel and hybrid ONLY
#11 Some sort of electric thing for pr purposes The Start, I guess.
#12 A real sports car. Corvette class. But not built out of recycled pop bottles.
#13 A mini van. They have to get it right someday.
LINCOLN
#14 A non-Fusion/Mondeo Smaller car.RWD/AWD A 3 series type. With Hybrid and Diesel options
#15 A Large/mid sized RWD/AWD Sedan 5 series size. But Softer. V-6 and V-8
#16 A Luxury/Sports Car. Convertible also.
#17 Conntinental. A very large luxurious high tech flagship.
See, That didn’t even fill the 20 limit!
You forgot:
+ Ka
+ Explorer
+ T-bird
+ Transit ( + Tourneo) (but – Econoline)
+ T4 Ranger ( – P150 Ranger)
+ Transit Connect (+ Tourneo Connect)
+ Falcon
+ F-series MD trucks (F-600 and up)
Your #4 is more likely to be called Capri and based on the Focus platform.
I did forget the giant pickups. So that is #18. T-Bird could be my #12. Although my #16 is more of what I had in mind. And yes, full size vans. Those I forgot as well. So #19. No Explorer. Let it die. IF people want car based large box, get the minivan.
And the Lincolns have to have NAMES. Not number/letter combos.
Wonderful plan. Just the reduction in training (sales, service) will save a FORTUNE, never mind the fact that you’ll probably gain customers who are no longer intimidated/confused/angry by an excessive vehicle lineup.
He’s missed @ Boeing, that’s for sure.
Is the 20-25 figure for models sold in the US or is it worldwide? If this is a worldwide number, it would not give Ford much ability to tailor for local tastes, no matter how big the market. Worldwide, this may be better in theory than in practice.
20-25 models in the US would seem about right, though, including trucks.
Mulally is convinced that in most markets, buyer needs and tastes have converged, and the fractionation of market segments has stopped or may even be reversing (and, to a large extent, one does not have to play in all segments if the vehicle doesn’t add incremental profit.)
Given this viewpoint, a reduced portfolio of vehicles with broader appeal brings economies of scale, lower prices, stronger ability to adjust prices and to make profit.
I would guess that Mulally is obliquely referring to the reduction in the number of platforms Ford uses. Obviously the market has fragmented and Ford will want to compete in most of the various niches.
While I would love to disagree with you, I bet that’s where it goes. As long as other manufacturers continue to stupidly sub-segment each class into 2-3 models (where 1 car would have historically sufficed), the competition almost always follows suit in the name of market share.
Not profit. Segment market share.
Great ‘idea’ tbh. I’ve become more and more lost in the whole ‘one model for every personality’ thing all manufacturers have been doing for the last 10-15 years or so. Even in such a car-hating country as Norway there’s just too much to keep up with. Just look back to ‘the good old days’ for the big 3. I’d much prefer to have two or three passenger car choices, with huge amounts of options. Having 8 ‘completely different’ (based on the same platform and mechanicals) models who does more or less the same job is meaningless to me.
Whilst I agree with a lot of what Ford is doing I have to say I only agree because they are a company incapable of running themselves as effectively as VW which manages 12 or 13 brands these days.
VW by comparison to Ford sells numerous model lines from Skoda, to Audi to Bentley and Bugatti they are also diverse. VW spreads components and makes money on every brand, aside from Seat which ONLY breaks even. It grows and develops them and then adds more brands.
Now look at Ford. It buy’s 5 good brands, Jaguar, Land Rover, Range Rover, Volvo and Aston Martin and fixes them all up (well fixes Volvo and then unfixes it). Just at the point the mega bucks are about to start flowing from Aston it sells it. It spends a fortune fixing Jaguar and then just as it’s about to make real money, it sells it and throws in highly profitable Land Rover/ Range Rover. 3 for the price of 1.
The point is Ford fans shouldn’t be rejoicing they should be looking at the management of Ford and asking why the hell can’t it run itself like VW?
Wait – this is the same VW we’re talking about that is slaughtering it’s quality standards in the name of expansion and it’s grail quest to become the largest automaker in the world…and you’re using them to chastise Ford, the only American car company with the stones to adjust to a new market, to balance their own books and to refuse government handouts? At a time when Ford is making some very impressive cars for comparitively short money? I think you’re seeing VW with some rose-colored glasses, there.
Big, in this market, isnt really much better.
A great start would be killing Lincoln and the mediocre rebadges of mediocre Fords they sell.
Next would be the Flex failure, we already know the Ranger and Crown Vic are going away. The E-Series will eventually go away…hell…that’s 9 right there.
Why don’t you do us all a favor and YOU go away? And take that POS Z71 with you….
@zbnutcase. Are you new here? We try to remain civil to one another. Silvy rubs a lot of people the wrong way. If you don’t like it, don’t read it.
Small, medium and large for the cars ( sedan and hatch on small, sedan and wagon on medium)
Small, medium and large for SUV/CUV.
Small and large for trucks.
Small and medium People Mover (like the Galaxie)
Sport coupes (one cheap and one world class)
JOB ONE: Get the quality, handling and ride in line with the best in the world. And make them as durable as an old Mercedes. 200K miles minimum.
Some folk bemoan the loss of the family station wagon – but there is the Escape, Edge, Flex, Explorer and Expedition in Ford’s North American current line up sans Lincoln.
Next would be the Flex failure
My suspicions are that the Flex, while hardly Mr. Popular, has in 3 years outsold the beautiful Aztek. Without the howls of derision.
Any numerologists out there?
Through August 2009, the Flex sold a pitiful 78,392 units.
If we take what it has sold so far in 2010 (25,218) and divide it by 8 (number of months we have data for) you get 3,152. Multiply that by 9 (estimating September’s sales) and you get 28,370. Add that to the previous years and you have 81,554.
81,554 total sales…in 27 months.
Ford has yet to put a decent, good selling vehicle on that terrible D3 platform…
78,392 + 28,370 is actually 106,762.
The Flex, for all of its slow sales, has garnered an incredible amount of positive press for Ford. Reviewers love it, and customers love it. It would be nice if more people could get past the design, but the refreshed model should take care of that and shoot sales up accordingly.
Yep…my mistake…78,392 is what it sold through August 2010.
So much for the 100K a year Ford said it would sell…it hasn’t move that in over TWO years.
To say nothing of chastising any company for slow sales (which is hilarious to start with) during this economy and the current clime of the automotive market in the country.
I don’t care for the Flex, I’m generally down on suburban people shufflers, but Silvy’s deep hatred for it certainly makes it more appealing to me. I humbly request a Flex appreciation week.
well, as long as they keep their current NA lineup and bring over the falcon platform from AUS, i dont care what happens to the rest. also, seconded on having a high end sports car (yeah, the new BOSS and GT350 pretty much fill that, but a smaller, lighter car would be cool. something like a fiero, but with the eco boost engines.)
Just so long as they make one of the 20 models a decent station wagon – oh wait, they couldn’t even manage that when they had 97 models. Never mind.
There might be a 2012 version of the Focus Wagon, we’ll know more after the Paris auto show, but the rumors are it could come to the US.
The Flex is the best full size+ wagon on the US market. Yes, it is sort of a CUV, but it is the ideological successor to the Country Squire of old, and if you need to move a lot of people and a lot of stuff, there is nothing more comfortable to do it in for the price.
I wouldn’t get excited about the chances of a midsize sport wagon, the US market just doesn’t seem to buy them. Don’t blame Ford, blame your fellow auto shoppers who would rather buy a sedan that blends in than a wagon that is more practical and more stylish.
The “One Ford” plan is about to kill off one of the few good wagons Ford did make. The Falcon. It’s a pity the plan will almost certainly eventually kill off the Falcon completely – the range offers everything the US market seems to want, a decent mid-size RWD sedan, wagon, and utility.
The appeal should work on the same levels as the Holden Commodore and Statesman (Chevy Caprice, Pontiac G8).
Focus wagon ecoboost would be nice – just about all the car I need.
20 is still too many.
Honda has 15 and that is still too many:
Fit, Civic, Accord, CRV, Element, Pilot, Ridgeline, CRZ and Insight
CSX, TSX, TL, RL, RDX, MDX, ZDX
10 should be about right for any auto maker.
Mulally is the worst Ford CEO since Nasser. Except this time, Ford won’t be able to recover. The man is kissing a car, what a loser.