Word: forde
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...search for a new story treatment began last August, when Detroit Bureau Chief William Mitchell suggested a major story on the realignments at General Motors. The idea was well received, but the editors also wanted to discuss other aspects of the business: the success of Ford's new cars, for example, and Chrysler's latest strategies. Enter the Special Report, a two-page overview of the U.S. automobile market in 1986, followed by one-page stories on each of the Big Three. Mitchell provided the substance of the stories from Detroit by interviewing, among others, the chairmen of the three...
...moment, Detroit's perennial No. 2 is enjoying a turn at being undisputed No. 1. In terms of performance and prestige, Ford is on a roll. While the automaker (1985 sales: $52.8 billion) is only about half the size of General Motors, its projected 1986 profit of $3.1 billion is expected to top GM's for the first time since 1924, probably by a margin of $350 million or so. "Ford is the shining star of the automobile industry now," says Jack Kirnan, an expert on the field for the Kidder, Peabody investment firm. The popular Ford Taurus and Mercury...
...Ford's stunning resurgence is largely the product of its 1980-82 trauma, during which the company lost $3.3 billion. Ford's dire situation inspired its leaders to make the kind of long-shot gambles that few automakers would risk under normal circumstances. The decision to cut back dramatically the company's factory capacity has succeeded in lowering Ford's fixed expenses so that its North American operations now make a profit after selling just 2.1 million vehicles a year, 30% fewer than necessary in 1980. Ford has not opened a single new U.S. plant since 1980 but has refitted...
...most visible legacy of Ford's hard times is its aerodynamic Taurus and Sable autos. At the turn of the decade, Ford's cars, like the boxy Fairmont, were literally so square that the company decided it would have to do more than just try to catch up with the European styles that most automakers were copying. Ford chose to jump way ahead, taking the risk that it might come up with another Edsel. Instead, Ford's roundish, so-called jelly- bean designs have enticed car buyers who had abandoned domestic makes for more voguish foreign nameplates. First came...
Quality is the main ingredient Petersen has in mind. While all the Big Three automakers have boosted the dependability of their cars, Ford has perhaps made the biggest issue of it. Known for turning out some inferior vehicles during its troubled years, Ford says it has increased the dependability of its autos 50% since 1980 by tightening its standards for parts suppliers and getting employees involved in decision making, among other techniques. Reliability will continue to be an important goal in Detroit, since the U.S. auto industry's quality levels still lag behind Japan's. According to the California consulting...