Word: forde
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...Ford, which marks its centennial in June, is in deeper trouble. It lost nearly $6 billion in the past two years, and since 2000 its North American market share has fallen 2.8 percentage points (GM's is down 1.5 points). CEO William Clay Ford Jr., the founder's great-grandson, is focused on cutting new-vehicle development time from the current three years (a full year longer than industry leader Toyota) and increasing parts-and-platform sharing. Ford's new Futura sedan, due in 2005 to replace the outgoing Taurus, will use a Mazda platform that Ford plans to leverage...
Chrysler, Ford and GM take an average of eight more hours to make a vehicle at their North American plants than do Honda, Nissan and Toyota. Nissan is fastest at 18 hours a vehicle, and Chrysler (the U.S.-based unit of DaimlerChrysler) is slowest at 31 hours, according to the Harbour Report, an annual productivity guide. These times translate into an extra expense of $300 to $500 a vehicle for the Big Three as compared with the transplants, which in a tough market can kill already slim profit potential...
...technologies and practices, and upgrades continue. But execution is key. "It takes tremendous discipline to keep everything organized as you switch between models and to maintain the right quantities of supplies at the line," says Jeff Liker, an engineering professor at the University of Michigan. "In that regard, GM, Ford and Chrysler aren't as advanced...
...workers help support each retiree. Worldwide, GM's underfunded pension and health-care obligations stand at around $77 billion, which shaves an estimated $1,700 in potential profit off every sale (Ford's and Chrysler's liabilities are less severe). GM says the problem is manageable--assuming the stock market rallies and GM hits its cost-savings and revenue targets. Transplants' legacy costs aren't as high, in part because they haven't had to downsize in North America and because their governments pick up more of the costs of health care and pensions at home...
...European transplants. GM scores close to the industry average, and Chrysler's new models show improvement over the vehicles they replaced, according to the latest survey by J.D. Power and Associates. GM, the Big Three's lowest-cost producer in terms of materials, is ahead of Chrysler and Ford in standardizing platforms across models, which reduces development costs. The influence of its North American chairman and product guru, former Chrysler and Ford executive Robert Lutz, 71, is emerging: Cadillacs are rolling out with bold designs and high performance, Chevy is launching the SSR pickup convertible, and Pontiac is reviving...