News — July 20, 2010 15:38 — 0 Comments
Mulally’s plan for success at Ford: Keep it simple
~ By BRENT SNAVELY, FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
More than four years into its turnaround plan, Ford has not only exceeded many of its own goals, it is now breaking through as a global industry leader — especially on image and quality.
Credit has largely gone to President and CEO Alan Mulally, who believes that a big, global corporation must be guided by a clear plan with just a few basic goals.
“The more than you can have a point of view about the future and clarify what you are about … the more it just unleashes all the creativity,” Mulally told the Free Press in an exclusive interview Wednesday.
Mulally has driven Ford to simplify almost everything since arriving in 2006: communications, management, brands and even the cars and trucks sold in showrooms. By the end of this year, Ford — the nation’s second largest automaker by sales — will consist of a very simple business: Ford and Lincoln.
That has sharpened the focus for a company once consumed with eight brands, Ford, Mercury, Lincoln, Jaguar, Land Rover, Aston Martin, Volvo and Mazda.
Said Mark Fields, Ford president of the Americas: “When we walk in the door in the morning, we are thinking now about Ford and Lincoln.”
Plans for Lincoln are growing, too. “It could go worldwide,” Mulally said.
Ford still has challenges. It must catch up to rivals in Asia and pay down nearly $27 billion in debt.
But for now, Ford is on track to be solidly profitable in 2010 — a year ahead of plan, despite a tough economy.
On Friday, analysts estimate Ford will report a second-quarter profit of $1.37 billion, before special charges, which would bring Ford’s first-half profits to $3.45 billion.
Rod Lache, an automotive analyst for Deutsche Bank, said Ford’s turnaround is “the most dramatic” he’s seen. “Ford is not only profitable — I think it is actually the most-profitable mass-market automaker in the world.”
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