Right Lane Cruiser
04-01-2009, 10:20 AM
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/AmericanFlag.jpg Both innovated production methods that set standards for the industry. (http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2009-03-31-automaker-toyota-ford_N.htm)
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2010_Ford_Fusion_Hybrid1.jpgChris Woodyard - USA TODAY (http://www.usatoday.com) - April 1, 2009
Can Ford rise to the top? --Ed.
With its crosstown rivals on the ropes, Ford Motor (F) is painting itself as Detroit's standout — the only U.S. automaker weathering the auto sales depression without taxpayer life support.
While that may be a short-term accomplishment, Ford is reaching for much more. CEO Alan Mulally is trying to guide the 105-year-old company closer to the model of a foreign rival he makes no secret of having long admired: Toyota. (TM) In doing so, the company is anticipating how the auto world may be realigned by the time the global economy finally rebounds.
"I would love people in the future to say, 'There's Toyota and Honda (HMC) and Ford,' " says Ford's North American chief Mark Fields. "We have the goods to do it."
In more than two years on the job, Mulally has tried to instill in Ford Toyota-like discipline and global product integration. He is intent on polishing into a jewel the Ford brand that had been allowed to become ho-hum. Like the Japanese company's famously long view, Mulally wants to look decades down the road, not months.
Make no mistake: Ford's emulation of the industry's halo company doesn't mean it's in the same league, yet. Not with the heavy debt load it still is trying to cut, a product portfolio in the U.S. still lacking in highly profitable small cars, and improved reliability still... http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2009-03-31-automaker-toyota-ford_N.htm
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2010_Ford_Fusion_Hybrid1.jpgChris Woodyard - USA TODAY (http://www.usatoday.com) - April 1, 2009
Can Ford rise to the top? --Ed.
With its crosstown rivals on the ropes, Ford Motor (F) is painting itself as Detroit's standout — the only U.S. automaker weathering the auto sales depression without taxpayer life support.
While that may be a short-term accomplishment, Ford is reaching for much more. CEO Alan Mulally is trying to guide the 105-year-old company closer to the model of a foreign rival he makes no secret of having long admired: Toyota. (TM) In doing so, the company is anticipating how the auto world may be realigned by the time the global economy finally rebounds.
"I would love people in the future to say, 'There's Toyota and Honda (HMC) and Ford,' " says Ford's North American chief Mark Fields. "We have the goods to do it."
In more than two years on the job, Mulally has tried to instill in Ford Toyota-like discipline and global product integration. He is intent on polishing into a jewel the Ford brand that had been allowed to become ho-hum. Like the Japanese company's famously long view, Mulally wants to look decades down the road, not months.
Make no mistake: Ford's emulation of the industry's halo company doesn't mean it's in the same league, yet. Not with the heavy debt load it still is trying to cut, a product portfolio in the U.S. still lacking in highly profitable small cars, and improved reliability still... http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2009-03-31-automaker-toyota-ford_N.htm