Mark Fields
Mark Fields
build including increasing investment product truck
We will build on our strengths, including increasing our product investment to fortify our F-Series truck leadership.
add focused ford innovation investment loss market near product rate share sights slow
With more focused brands, new product investment and innovation, Ford will slow the rate of loss and then stabilize our U.S. market share in the near term, even as competitors add new models. From there, we can set our sights on the future.
cars deliver largest offense plan products small trucks
We know how to play offense and play to win. Our plan will deliver more products - from small cars to our largest trucks - that are unmistakably Fords.
flexible investment number production reducing thanks
We are reducing the number of plants, not necessarily production capacity, thanks to our investment in flexible manufacturing.
clearly closer future looking plans product talk
As we come closer to idling, we'll talk about future product plans for the Ranger. Clearly we're looking at our product plans.
approach customers dealer earn forward good point products quality represent shave strong thinking value view
Our approach is not thinking how much do we shave dealer margins. Our approach is that as we come up with our products going forward that they have a strong point of view in the marketplace, that they represent good value and good quality to customers so that dealers can earn a good (margin) on them.
business decision deeply easy families ford impact mindful move necessary plant production steps
A decision to end production at a plant is not an easy one, and I'm deeply mindful of the impact this decision has on Ford employees, families and communities. Unfortunately, these are necessary steps we must take to move the business forward.
build customer efficient products question rather reflect
There's no question that some of our new products reflect what was efficient for us to build rather than what the customer may want.
agenda asked best bill brand brightest business emotional ford ground group hit innovative jim knows leaders north operation people product running strong team turn wins work
I asked Bill Ford and Jim Padilla for not only the best and the brightest leaders in our company, but for the kind of people who can work as one team on one agenda. That agenda is to turn around our North American operation with a team that knows how to win, an innovative product line-up that wins in the marketplace and a brand that has strong emotional appeal. We now have in place an outstanding group of leaders in The Americas, and they already have hit the ground running to turn the business around.
believe plan progress starting work
We believe our plan is comprehensive and we are starting to make progress. We know there's still a lot of work to do.
achieve capacity closing facilities including seven
To achieve the right capacity at this level, we are closing 14 facilities by 2012, including seven vehicle-assembly plants.
hitting lower objective sticking
We are still sticking to our objective of hitting the lower end of the milestone.
buy cars chrysler command deeper ford given huge insight larger likely market percent potential remains research roughly share together using vehicle
Who's most likely to buy our products, who's least likely to buy them and who's up for grabs. This has given us a much deeper insight than we've ever had before using traditional demographic or vehicle segment-based models. One of the most important findings from this research is that there remains a huge market for American cars in this country. And the potential is significantly larger than the roughly 55 percent market share than GM, Ford and Chrysler together command today.
actions business decisions difficult help idling later necessary north obviously plants reducing restore staff
Idling plants and reducing staff are obviously very difficult decisions for all of us, but they also are necessary actions to help restore our North American business to profitability no later than 2008.