Ford CEO Alan Mulally said yesterday that global-use platforms would be the way of the future for the company, and that the dramatic overlaps in Ford's global lineup were the biggest surprise he'd encountered since taking over last year.
Now, shared global vehicles comprise the centre of Mulally's strategy to turn Ford around. According to Automotive News, they've already agreed to create a global B-segment or subcompact car, while Mulally has also announced that the next-generation Fusion and Focus would be global as well.
"We all kind of had to suck it up and say, this is an opportunity rather than a problem," said Mulally about the complex product lineup.
Expect to see the new global Focus around 2010, with a global Fusion following later. The vehicles built from the global platforms won't be exactly the same in every country though- as each will be tuned and customized differently depending on region.
To save even more money and reduce complexity even further, Ford is also planning reduce engine architectures in the V6 family from 8 to 2 over the next five years, while the number of seat structures will also be reduced from 20 to 2.
photo:Ford
Now, shared global vehicles comprise the centre of Mulally's strategy to turn Ford around. According to Automotive News, they've already agreed to create a global B-segment or subcompact car, while Mulally has also announced that the next-generation Fusion and Focus would be global as well.
"We all kind of had to suck it up and say, this is an opportunity rather than a problem," said Mulally about the complex product lineup.
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| European 2007 Ford Focus S |
Expect to see the new global Focus around 2010, with a global Fusion following later. The vehicles built from the global platforms won't be exactly the same in every country though- as each will be tuned and customized differently depending on region.
To save even more money and reduce complexity even further, Ford is also planning reduce engine architectures in the V6 family from 8 to 2 over the next five years, while the number of seat structures will also be reduced from 20 to 2.
photo:Ford