Obviously, Ford’s got a lot of patching up to do. And its execs can pretty well attest to that fact.
FoMoCo's slide to a 22-year- low in its stock price reflects “concern about the state of the U.S. economy,'' said the company’s CEO Alan Mulally. “Clearly, most of the parameters of our economy are associated with a real slowdown,'' he explained at a dinner in Dearborn. “Everything has deteriorated more than we anticipated,'' which “puts a lot of pressure on confidence of consumers.'' Mulally did not divulge whether the United States was in a recession.
The Dearborn-based automaker “wouldn't do anything different because of the stock price,'' Mulally said. The company will adjust production to lower vehicle demand and remains committed to returning to profitability in 2009, he said.
At present, Ford is in strict compliance with its turnaround plan. It has entertained a significant number of job cuts, plant closures, and other cost-cutting measures to defray the expenses of its plan. In 2006, the Dearborn automaker lost $12.6 billion. This is the main reason why the Ford clan recruited the 62-year-old Mulally in September of 2006 to lead the company into profitability.
"We do want to stabilize share," Mulally told the Free Press, referring to Ford's steadily declining car and truck sales since 2000, "and then we want to start growing it again. But we're not going to draw an arbitrary line about where that happens."
Mulally said that he is particularly impressed with how quickly Ford's culture has changed from one of historically feuding fiefdoms to that of a concerted team focused on one plan worldwide. "We are one-and-a-half to two years ahead of where I thought we'd be on the culture," he added.
Mulally intends to stabilize the American share of its main Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands at 14-15%. Last year, the brands compose 14.8% of the domestic market.
Ford was surpassed by Toyota for no. 2 in U.S. vehicle sales, behind General Motors. To stress, the automaker had held the slot since 1931 and hadn't been no. 3 or worse since 1905. Ford hasn't posted a U.S. market share gain since 1995, when it accounted for one in every 4 cars and trucks sold, Bloomberg said.
If Ford achieves its 2009 profitability goal, the automaker “will be rewarded,'' Mulally said. Ford's sales in China rose 30% helped by sales of the Focus sedan, he added. Ford also released a statement saying its China sales totaled to 216,324 vehicles in the previous year.
FoMoCo's slide to a 22-year- low in its stock price reflects “concern about the state of the U.S. economy,'' said the company’s CEO Alan Mulally. “Clearly, most of the parameters of our economy are associated with a real slowdown,'' he explained at a dinner in Dearborn. “Everything has deteriorated more than we anticipated,'' which “puts a lot of pressure on confidence of consumers.'' Mulally did not divulge whether the United States was in a recession.
The Dearborn-based automaker “wouldn't do anything different because of the stock price,'' Mulally said. The company will adjust production to lower vehicle demand and remains committed to returning to profitability in 2009, he said.
At present, Ford is in strict compliance with its turnaround plan. It has entertained a significant number of job cuts, plant closures, and other cost-cutting measures to defray the expenses of its plan. In 2006, the Dearborn automaker lost $12.6 billion. This is the main reason why the Ford clan recruited the 62-year-old Mulally in September of 2006 to lead the company into profitability.
"We do want to stabilize share," Mulally told the Free Press, referring to Ford's steadily declining car and truck sales since 2000, "and then we want to start growing it again. But we're not going to draw an arbitrary line about where that happens."
Mulally said that he is particularly impressed with how quickly Ford's culture has changed from one of historically feuding fiefdoms to that of a concerted team focused on one plan worldwide. "We are one-and-a-half to two years ahead of where I thought we'd be on the culture," he added.
Mulally intends to stabilize the American share of its main Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands at 14-15%. Last year, the brands compose 14.8% of the domestic market.
Ford was surpassed by Toyota for no. 2 in U.S. vehicle sales, behind General Motors. To stress, the automaker had held the slot since 1931 and hadn't been no. 3 or worse since 1905. Ford hasn't posted a U.S. market share gain since 1995, when it accounted for one in every 4 cars and trucks sold, Bloomberg said.
If Ford achieves its 2009 profitability goal, the automaker “will be rewarded,'' Mulally said. Ford's sales in China rose 30% helped by sales of the Focus sedan, he added. Ford also released a statement saying its China sales totaled to 216,324 vehicles in the previous year.
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