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Alan Mulally Retirement Plans - Good or Bad for Ford? - READ ONLY

101 messages,  Last post on Nov 02, 2012 at 9:41 AM

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#1 of 101 Alan Mullaly - Is He Making the Grade? by hpmctorque

Dec 15, 2006 (3:57 pm)

Okay, it's too early to evaluate Ford's new CEO, but given Ford's importance in the automotive industry, and the huge challenge Mullaly faces, I thought it would be a good idea to open a topic to discuss how he's doing. I'm sure there are many Edmunds readers who, like me, wish him much success.

#2 of 101 Still to soon to tell. by euphonium

Dec 18, 2006 (1:31 pm)

As a player in the market, I see where Ford's stock is still diving, but IMO ARM is the best out there to be effective for the future.

#3 of 101 Still to soon to tell. by euphonium... by hpmctorque

Dec 18, 2006 (7:17 pm)

It looks as though investors who wish to speculate on Ford's tunraround are buying the bonds and prefered stock.

#4 of 101 From Today's CBS Marketwatch... by hpmctorque

Dec 19, 2006 (8:33 pm)

"F7.18, +0.15, +2.1%) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley, which cited ample liquidity as well as a greater sense of urgency by the automaker's management to engineer a turnaround."

#5 of 101 Wall Street Journal Article by hpmctorque

Dec 22, 2006 (8:12 am)

Today's WSJ features an interesting front page article entitled "Inside Mulally's 'War Room': A Radical Overhaul of Ford."

#6 of 101 Re: Wall Street Journal Article [hpmctorque] by grbeck

Dec 22, 2006 (9:54 pm)

Replying to: hpmctorque (Dec 22, 2006 8:12 am)
That article was an interesting read. My main concern is whether the market will give him enough time to make the changes necessary to permanently redirect Ford. While Ford is taking a different path than GM, it still took GM over a decade to revamp its plants, align global platforms and streamline its vehicle development processes. And it STILL isn't out of the woods.
 
Ford does NOT have a decade to get this done.
 
One interesting paragraph noted that in the past, when Ford hit a crisis, it started to make the changes now being pushed by Mulally, but a hugely successful model (F-150, original Taurus and Explorer) removed the urgency. The success was welcomed, but it encouraged Ford to return to "business as usual."
 
The article also hinted at the need to drop brands, but it only mentioned a possible sale of Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin. It did say that a big test would be what Ford does with Volvo. I hope that Ford doesn't sell it, because much of what is good about the Five Hundred and Freestyle came from the Volvo DNA. This is a connection worth exploiting. There was no mention of jettisoning Mercury.
 
In the past, when Ford had its back up against the wall, it came up with a winner - the Model A, the 1949 model, the Taurus, the Explorer - in the nick of time.
 
In today's crowded and brutally competitive market, it is a lot harder for any company to come up with a big hit, let alone one that can save the company. Ford needs to fix its vehicle development processes, streamline its brands, get costs under control and leverage its global resources.
 
Oh, and change its corporate culture to facilitate these moves.
 
Mr. Mulally, I want you to succeed, but you'll be needing all the luck you can get...

#7 of 101 Re: Wall Street Journal Article (by grbeck)... by hpmctorque

Dec 23, 2006 (7:57 am)

Well said, grbeck. I'm thinking that any plan to shut down Mercury may hinge on how well the current marketing effort, appealing to women, works, and perhaps plans to import some European Fords as rebadged Mercurys.

#8 of 101 To Host: Please... by hpmctorque

Jan 16, 2007 (8:36 am)

...change the spelling in the title to Mulally from Mullaly (incorrect). Sorry.
 
Thanks.

#9 of 101 Ahead of schedule by hpmctorque

Jan 16, 2007 (1:27 pm)

On Friday Mulally said that Ford is moving faster than expected on its plan to shrink U.S. capacity to better match market demand. He also committed to strengthen the company's products on an annual basis, which is similar to Toyota's practice.
 
Of course, the real test of Ford's turnaround will be in how its new products are received in the marketplace, since the company can't shrink itself into prosperity.

#10 of 101 Its too early to tell by carguy58

Jan 22, 2007 (3:49 pm)

how he;s going to do. Give him a few years.

Messages Page 1 of 10

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