DEARBORN, MI: History suggests that the plan to turn Ford a deeper shade of green probably won't work out the way its CEO and chairman proposed recently (these things almost never do), but it's interesting to see Bill Ford make this pledge.
In a huge employee meeting in Ford's Scientific Research Laboratory here,
the CEO promised that the company that bears his name would use innovation as its compass point from now on.
"Innovation -- in safety, in the environment, in design and in technological solutions to real world problems -- is going to be reclaimed as our natural birthright," Ford told his receptive audience of scientists and engineers. "It will be the lens through which we view our budgets and our capital investments, our people and programs, and the way in which we rank our most essential priorities."
The "natural birthright" he referred to involved those times when the 102-year-old firm did things before anyone else and benefited mightily. Most famously, his great-grandfather invented the automotive assembly line and created a vehicle -- the Model T -- that was named Car of The Century in late 1999 by a global committee of auto journalists (which included me) because it effectively created the world of mass personal mobility.
Today Ford is struggling, as its recent drop from second to third in global sales quite clearly shows. There is more than a little irony in the fact that its troubles largely came from a period of innovation under the leadership of Jac Nasser, whom Ford replaced with a promise that the company was going "back to basics."
Among other things, that promise caused Ford to go slow on work to develop hybrids, a technology which is of course a prominent feature of the newest corporate manifest.
Ford told the crowd about several actions to underscore the commitment to innovation were unveiled, including a global plan to produce 250,000
hybrid vehicles annually by 2010, a new corporate advertising campaign that will begin in the fall, and increasing the number of Flexible Fuel Vehicles it produces to as many as 280,000 units in 2006. Other, as yet unspecified, actions will follow.
By 2008, said Ford, the company would have five hybrids on the road, including the Ford Escape, Mercury Mariner, Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Mazda Tribute. By 2010, Ford plans to increase hybrid production to approximately 250,000 units annually -- with more than half of the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury lineup having hybrid capability.
In his speech, Ford made it perfectly clear that his this was much more than a marketing effort geared to boost sales, that it was instead a plea to employees to help him save the company by redirecting it.
"I am asking these things of you and of myself at a time when our company faces daunting challenges," he said, "a time when our competition is as fierce as it is strong, a time when others would gladly grant us our place in history, but would raise questions about our role in the future."
Ford Motor Company's fortunes waxed and waned at least in part because of the strength or weakness of its products, Ford allowed, but "we have succeeded when we found ways to let the innovative spirit of our people soar. And we have failed when we allowed that spirit to be harnessed. We have done that in the most innocent ways and with the best of intentions. But we've done it -- and that must end now."
Along with being the first company to "deliver stylish products to out customers -- stylish in design, safer for our families, first in technology that uses new fuels and offers new service to customers," Ford will "continue to cut our costs and improve our efficiency."
In a huge employee meeting in Ford's Scientific Research Laboratory here,
 |
| Bill Ford (Photo: Ford Motor Company) |
"Innovation -- in safety, in the environment, in design and in technological solutions to real world problems -- is going to be reclaimed as our natural birthright," Ford told his receptive audience of scientists and engineers. "It will be the lens through which we view our budgets and our capital investments, our people and programs, and the way in which we rank our most essential priorities."
The "natural birthright" he referred to involved those times when the 102-year-old firm did things before anyone else and benefited mightily. Most famously, his great-grandfather invented the automotive assembly line and created a vehicle -- the Model T -- that was named Car of The Century in late 1999 by a global committee of auto journalists (which included me) because it effectively created the world of mass personal mobility.
Today Ford is struggling, as its recent drop from second to third in global sales quite clearly shows. There is more than a little irony in the fact that its troubles largely came from a period of innovation under the leadership of Jac Nasser, whom Ford replaced with a promise that the company was going "back to basics."
Among other things, that promise caused Ford to go slow on work to develop hybrids, a technology which is of course a prominent feature of the newest corporate manifest.
Ford told the crowd about several actions to underscore the commitment to innovation were unveiled, including a global plan to produce 250,000
 |
| Ford Escape Hybrid (Photo: Ford Motor Company) |
By 2008, said Ford, the company would have five hybrids on the road, including the Ford Escape, Mercury Mariner, Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Mazda Tribute. By 2010, Ford plans to increase hybrid production to approximately 250,000 units annually -- with more than half of the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury lineup having hybrid capability.
In his speech, Ford made it perfectly clear that his this was much more than a marketing effort geared to boost sales, that it was instead a plea to employees to help him save the company by redirecting it.
"I am asking these things of you and of myself at a time when our company faces daunting challenges," he said, "a time when our competition is as fierce as it is strong, a time when others would gladly grant us our place in history, but would raise questions about our role in the future."
Ford Motor Company's fortunes waxed and waned at least in part because of the strength or weakness of its products, Ford allowed, but "we have succeeded when we found ways to let the innovative spirit of our people soar. And we have failed when we allowed that spirit to be harnessed. We have done that in the most innocent ways and with the best of intentions. But we've done it -- and that must end now."
Along with being the first company to "deliver stylish products to out customers -- stylish in design, safer for our families, first in technology that uses new fuels and offers new service to customers," Ford will "continue to cut our costs and improve our efficiency."