Ford's future?

[shogun32]

Their processes put their engineers in boxes and their product strategy and much of their marketing team are nearly useless.

I read the book about Mullaly coming to town and the utter dysfunction and petty squabbling disaster that was (is again?) Ford. Unfortunately it's a truism of human nature - once an organization grows to a certain size it's primary motivation becomes protecting itself from (internal) organizational threats, not serving the original goal - building cars. When "professional management" runs the place it goes to sh*t really fast. Unfortunately most engineers make lousy managers but if you can strike a balance between 'get shit done and I don't give a damn about you excuses or feelings' and 'boys, play nice' you can do amazing things.

The Mustang Mach-E fiasco aside, it might not be such a bad idea to loosely spin-off an EV division and make them responsible for their own survival. They can leverage Ford corporate plants and engineering precursors but chop the headcount to something small and free them from the soul-sucking accounting and legal interference. I'll give Hackinsack credit that he tore up their dead-end EV 'compliance car' nonsense and lit a fire under their asses. Good management knows when to bash heads and bury boots in butts and cut thru the BS. They may not win any congeniality awards but your coworkers and bosses are not your friends.

Steve Jobs was a class-A a$$h*ole but he demanded his workers meet his non-negotiable demands. Apple products were (mostly) quite good during his reign. Now they've reverted to institutional, lazy designs and appalling quality.

> Do you think the electric car market will bring Ford new wealth

By itself, no. Tesla's considerable lead in shipments aside and Nissan and Honda to a lesser extent, I think the EV market is wide open. The Mach-E is an inspired choice (just don't call it a Mustang) but execution is what matters. Tesla as a company is not viable and I don't see it ever getting it's act together before the Banks pull the plug and the "serious car builders" pick it's carcass clean. Or maybe Tesla manages to save the company by licensing his technology to a big enough consortium.

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[Robracer]

At 73 years old I hope I die before all is available are the E cars

 

[BmacIL]

I read the book about Mullaly coming to town and the utter dysfunction and petty squabbling disaster that was (is again?) Ford. Unfortunately it's a truism of human nature - once an organization grows to a certain size it's primary motivation becomes protecting itself from (internal) organizational threats, not serving the original goal - building cars. When "professional management" runs the place it goes to sh*t really fast. Unfortunately most engineers make lousy managers but if you can strike a balance between 'get shit done and I don't give a damn about you excuses or feelings' and 'boys, play nice' you can do amazing things.

The Mustang Mach-E fiasco aside, it might not be such a bad idea to loosely spin-off an EV division and make them responsible for their own survival. They can leverage Ford corporate plants and engineering precursors but chop the headcount to something small and free them from the soul-sucking accounting and legal interference. I'll give Hackinsack credit that he tore up their dead-end EV 'compliance car' nonsense and lit a fire under their asses. Good management knows when to bash heads and bury boots in butts and cut thru the BS. They may not win any congeniality awards but your coworkers and bosses are not your friends.

Steve Jobs was a class-A a$$h*ole but he demanded his workers meet his non-negotiable demands. Apple products were (mostly) quite good during his reign. Now they've reverted to institutional, lazy designs and appalling quality.

> Do you think the electric car market will bring Ford new wealth

By itself, no. Tesla's considerable lead in shipments aside and Nissan and Honda to a lesser extent, I think the EV market is wide open. The Mach-E is an inspired choice (just don't call it a Mustang) but execution is what matters. Tesla as a company is not viable and I don't see it ever getting it's act together before the Banks pull the plug and the "serious car builders" pick it's carcass clean. Or maybe Tesla manages to save the company by licensing his technology to a big enough consortium.

Mullaly was amazing. I feel glad to have known and talked with him on several occasions. The culture of the company changed within a few months of his departure. It was noticeable.

 

[Bikeman315]

I will be replacing my wife's Escape in 2021. First though was the new Escape Hybrid. The Mach-E is a definite maybe at this point. Plenty of time to see what happens.

 

[Bikeman315]

At 73 years old I hope I die before all is available are the E cars

I hope you live to at least 100. And still driving a Mustang. hopefully a 2 door coupe

 

[Robracer]

I hope you live to at least 100. And still driving a Mustang. hopefully a 2 door coupe

You left off with a 6 speed trans.

 

[1MEAN18]

With 86% of people saying no to e cars in this poll....I'm wondering if those idiots in the upper level management at Ford are even paying attention to the fact that most of us, especially those of us older and able to afford to buy their cars, we don't want this at all! And Ford has really pissed a lot of us off by bastardizing our venerated Mustang name when they co-opt it for their trendy agenda... Unless Ford starts building decent cars again, then I already know I bought my last new Ford ever, and it sits in my garage riding out the winter months right now as I type.

 

[EcoVert]

With 86% of people saying no to e cars in this poll....I'm wondering if those idiots in the upper level management at Ford are even paying attention to the fact that most of us, especially those of us older and able to afford to buy their cars, we don't want this at all! And Ford has really pissed a lot of us off by bastardizing our venerated Mustang name when they co-opt it for their trendy agenda... Unless Ford starts building decent cars again, then I already know I bought my last new Ford ever, and it sits in my garage riding out the winter months right now as I type.

This is such a laser beam narrow poll it means nothing.

 

[EcoVert]

I will be replacing my wife's Escape in 2021. First though was the new Escape Hybrid. The Mach-E is a definite maybe at this point. Plenty of time to see what happens.

I'm eyeing replacing the wife's '18 Edge in 2022 and I will give the Mach E a hard look.

 

[1MEAN18]

This is such a laser beam narrow pole it means nothing.

Yeah, I see your point. But I'd still be a betting man it fairly closely approximates people's feelings for this new POS Ford is trying to hoist on us and co-opting an iconic name to try and do so. If you want one, that's fine with me, I 100% believe in rights to choose. But, that said just know I'm in a large majority of current Mustang owners who doesn't like the games Ford is playing with our iconic names. A very large majority in fact...

 

[Bikeman315]

Yeah, I see your point. But I'd still be a betting man it fairly closely approximates people's feelings for this new POS Ford is trying to hoist on us and co-opting an iconic name to try and do so. If you want one, that's fine with me, I 100% believe in rights to choose. But, that said just know I'm in a large majority of current Mustang owners who doesn't like the games Ford is playing with our iconic names. A very large majority in fact...

So true, but.........What is Ford going to do about all of this negative press? They are a public company and I'm betting that there are a number of shareholders that do not like this. Wonder how much, if any say they have. I'm not giving up hope. There is still plenty of time to do an about face on this. i'm even sure that Ford PR could put a positive spin on it, i.e. "you spoke and we listened".

 

[1MEAN18]

So true, but.........What is Ford going to do about all of this negative press? They are a public company and I'm betting that there are a number of shareholders that do not like this. Wonder how much, if any say they have. I'm not giving up hope. There is still plenty of time to do an about face on this. i'm even sure that Ford PR could put a positive spin on it, i.e. "you spoke and we listened".

If they'd show the character to do a "you spoke and boy oh boy did we listen" about face...it would save them. But if you really wanna get down to it, as a business, a lot of quality issues and personnel issues need addressing and are sub par currently. And trying to trod out what's turning into a not popular roll out for E vehicles based partly on using legacy names in the process is already tanking and truly upsetting what a lot of us long standing members in the community (Ford has been my favorite brand since 1990 when I bought my foxbody, my 1st Mustang) think of our brand. I now can't say that I agree with the future of the company, or what I see as its disrespect for its iconic past. That's a brand killer right there, that one thing in itself.

 

[CrashOverride]

Ford's decision was a smart one, but I probably won't buy it. Not because it's electric, but because it's not a 2-door coupe. To be honest, I kind of think the better bet would have been to electrify a 4-door ranger. Nobody has a 4-door truck electric out right now. Yeah Tesla's got their expensive stuff, but nobody has a working man's truck. With the torque the motors put out, they would be perfectly suited for a truck. Plus the batteries could be sandwiched underneith the bed of the pickup between the rails.

But, SUV/Crossover/Truck is where to go with electrification because smaller vehicles (kind of) have that covered already. Plus, for whatever reason, people are willing to open their wallets really wide to get a non-car.

 

[1MEAN18]

I can't help but wonder, are any Ford mid to upper level management types reading any of these conversation threads? The Ford die hard's who've been buying Ford new cars for years are telling you about how distasteful we find it when you use iconic names for new vehicles that most of us simply do not want!?! Or will Ford just simply ignore us, the way they've ignored us when we complain about the lack of quality and the poor fit and finish of body panels and paintwork that is shoddy straight out of the factory? So far it seems to go in one ear and out the other...

 

[Robracer]

I think Ford should have named it EDSEL MARK 1

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