Mulally says Ford's path to profitability based on electrification

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2009/06/27/mulally-fords-path-to-profitability-based-on-electrification/

He is also sounding more bullish about EVs in 10 years than Fritz Henderson who said "The Lion's share of GM's lineup will still be conventional ICE vehicles". Obviously both are extremely vague, but it sounds like Fritz still thinks of EVs as niche vehicles, and Mulally is not real confident that gas prices will sustain "business as usual" in 10 years.

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2009/03/05/ford-ceo-mullaly-expects-many-fords-to-be-electric-in-a-decade?icid=sphere_blogsmith_inpage_autobloggreen

I gotta say Mulally sounds like someone who might actually earn his paycheck.

By the way. On a side note, read comments 9 and 10 in that 2nd article. I wouldn't believe half that stuff but I have a good friend who had similar problems in his '98 Ford Expedition.

You realize he has to say that?, he may need to get money from the tax payers very soon... so it is very important to say the "right" things. He may or not mean it.

Will electrics pull the company thru?.. it all depends on the cost of batteries, gas and man-made global warming consensus (all three in flux right now).. on the other hand electrics will allow a flood of new low cost manufactures to come on line, perhaps very few of the traditional auto makes will survive. Let me polish my glass ball some more.

Ford has to sell decent $12k cars in the US, and MAKE A PROFIT doing it.

Ford must restructure through bankruptcy or they can't compete.

By the way. On a side note, read comments 9 and 10 in that 2nd article. I wouldn't believe half that stuff but I have a good friend who had similar problems in his '98 Ford Expedition.

I've mostly owned Ford vehicles personally and always found them to be of good quality and safely.

That said, and this is pure anecdote, I've kept a mental running note of vehicles I've seen burning on the side of the road and they have mostly been Fords, newer ones too. Not talking about accidents, just the spontaneous combustors.

The most appropriate saying I've heard is, "Fords are not known for not catching on fire."

I do know a couple people whose Fords burned spontaneously. But it's not an every day occurrence. Thankfully.

Anyway, I think Mullally has been good for Ford but they're still in a tough spot. I give Billy Ford credit, too, for not letting his ego get in the way of putting somebody else in charge to lead Ford.

In the market, right now, their biggest weakness is probably that their main line vehicles are starting to look to be overpriced. And I don't think they're meeting Toyota on the cost-management they need to be profitable in hybrids. They've got credible hybrids at credible prices but I think it very unlikely they're making money on them. The volumes are too low, for one thing.

If things keep progressing for Ford, maybe they'll even lose their rep for cars that can double as campfires.

In the market, right now, their biggest weakness is probably that their main line vehicles are starting to look to be overpriced.

Unfortunately, that's going to be the case when you are selling UAW built cars and trucks and expect a realistic profit. It cost more to do business the way Ford and other domestics do it mostly because of legacy costs and Union compensation. Ford is actually trying to sell their products at a more realistic price point and to the consumer, that doesn't appear competitive. On the other hand, it's part of the reason that Ford isn't looking for hand outs... yet.

In the market, right now, their biggest weakness is probably that their main line vehicles are starting to look to be overpriced. And I don't think they're meeting Toyota on the cost-management they need to be profitable in hybrids. They've got credible hybrids at credible prices but I think it very unlikely they're making money on them. The volumes are too low, for one thing.

http://www.ford.com/vehicles/vehicle-showroom#/ford/ford-fusion-hybrid-2010

$27,270 base cost?

The Fusion Hybrid has a $5,000 price premium over the Prius and $7,000 on the Honda Insight. Add to the that the fact the Prius's 50 mpg smokes the 39 combined mpg of the Fusion Hybrid.

I'm sure it's a nice car, and I'd love to have one, but they need to get that cost down, especially for a company beginning to be known for tortuously burning people alive.

http://www.ford.com/vehicles/vehicle-showroom#/ford/ford-fusion-hybrid-2010

$27,270 base cost?

The Fusion Hybrid has a $5,000 price premium over the Prius and $7,000 on the Honda Insight. Add to the that the fact the Prius's 50 mpg smokes the 39 combined mpg of the Fusion Hybrid.

I'm sure it's a nice car, and I'd love to have one, but they need to get that cost down, especially for a company beginning to be known for tortuously burning people alive.

The Fusion hybrid and the Escape hybrid I think are excellent examples of how Ford can work with what they have and not try to go head to head with the Japanese. If Ford were to build a purpose built hybrid like the Prius and the Insight, it might be competitive, or even exceed mileage, but the price difference would be huge and they still wouldn't have the advantage of Toyota and Honda's reliability and resale prestige.

By creating an alternative to the hybrid leaders, they can pick up all the customers that would like to have a hybrid but either can't stand the way the Prinsight looks or just want a bigger car with more utility. When it comes to hybrids, this is the best way for the domestics to compete with the Japanese, not head to head, but rather an alternative. In this, I believe Ford has succeeded.

Yeah, I think the Ford Fusion is definitely a nice looking and practical car, and it's a great move to build on one of their already best selling cars, but to me, it's competing more with the Camry Hybrid, and with that, it does a great job. They have the same passenger volume, cost roughly the same, and the Fusion Hybrid has more trunk space 16 cubic feet vs. the Camry's 11 cubic feet), and is 5 mpg more efficient.

Still, how well is the Toyota Camry Hybrid selling? They are flirting with 50,000 sales (in the US) vs ~170,000 Prius sales, and I bet it doesn't hold a candle to Prius sales in Japan (if they even bother selling it there).

I'm just saying whether you like it or not, there is not much of a market for people who want a hybrid, yet are willing to pay the extra and take the efficiency hit to get a non hybrid looking car.

As far as utility, it's hard to beat the monstrous 22 cubic foot trunk in the 3rd gen Prius unless you are commonly carrying people in the back seat big enough to warrant the sacrifice, but most kids would be fine in the back of a Prius.

But it's a start. The domestic autos won't be able to win unless they can take the Japanese head on eventually. It's like the Matrix. Eventually to win the war, someone will have to fight them. "They are the Gate Keepers and they hold all the keys to The Matrix." :-)

Obviously Ford has some kind of plans for the $5.9 billion of DOE money. I'm interested to see what they do with it.

Obviously Ford has some kind of plans for the $5.9 billion of DOE money. I'm interested to see what they do with it.






"But it was a line from Rocky Mountain Institute founder and energy efficiency guru Amory Lovins that, to me, best reflected the spirit of this conference – and conveyed a key message for anyone involved in meeting the world's energy challenges in these most troubled and perilous of times. Describing Ford Motor's 2006 hiring of CEO Alan Mulally, who had spearheaded Boeing's decision to focus on energy- efficient aircraft with the Dreamliner and other projects, Lovins said Mulally had come to Ford with "transformational intent.""


http://www.cleanedge.com/views/index.php?id=5621


I do believe Mulally came to Ford with the idea to use the lightweighting technology he helped bring to the 787 Dreamliner. I'm sure he fully understands RMI's concepts of lightweighting and will be one of the first auto manufacturers to bring carbon fiber composites to mass production.

Unfortunately, the global economic crisis hit and that will delay things as Ford just tries to stop the bleeding. However, I am confident that Mulally has that pet project in the works (even if it's a small effort) and we will see something in the next few years. Someone is going to crack that nut and when they do, things are really going to change.