Word: forde
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...doesn't take a leap of faith to imagine a healthy Ford Motor. Chrysler bounced back under Dieter Zetsche, who emphasized distinctive design and management discipline. Now he's a TV star. And Nissan was nearly bankrupt when Renault's Carlos Ghosn flew in and orchestrated a stunning turnaround (he declined overtures from outgoing CEO Bill Ford to try the same trick in Dearborn). Central to both revivals, however, is something Ford has too often forgotten: it's all about the car, stupid. "No automotive turnaround has been successful without a steady flow of strong products," notes General Motors chief...
...that Ford suffers from a lack of talented employees. Scores of ace designers and engineers toil in the ranks, and you can see their work in a handful of recently launched models, like the Mustang, the Mercury Milan and the Ford Fusion, all critical and commercial hits. Ford also became the first American automaker to sell a hybrid SUV, with the Escape model...
...Ford Motor needs the kind of head-knocking leadership that, undermined by endless management shuffles and power struggles, Bill Ford didn't provide. Ford's product-development staff has been reorganized half a dozen times since the early '90s. John Mendel, a former sales executive, recalls a management meeting in the late '90s at which an analyst warned that Ford needed to invest in next-generation car designs and engineering. "The overwhelming response was that Ford is making more money than ever," he recalls, "and 'How could we be in trouble...
Sadly, while Ford hit the jackpot in the '90s, earning $40 billion, the windfall wasn't always managed well or spent wisely. Ford elected to keep plowing money into pickup trucks and SUV lines, surrendering the heart of the car market to the Japanese and the Koreans. Today the company that invented the Model T relies on platforms developed by Mazda and Volvo, in-house foreign brands, for its new cars. In an interview with TIME, Mulally said that before he joined Ford, his perception of the company "was one of innovation." But Ford's innovative years seem as faded...
...blame all of Ford's woes on mishaps in Dearborn. Soaring gas prices are killing two of Ford's strongest segments: pickup trucks and SUVs. And like GM, Ford pays crippling "legacy" costs for retiree benefits. David Cole, head of the Center for Automotive Research, estimates that Ford's disadvantage against foreign automakers amounts to an average of $2,500 a vehicle--money that could otherwise go into features like armrests in base models, keeping Ford competitive. "When you're constrained by that level of difference," he says, "it compromises your ability to do things...