Microsoft Teams Up With Ford
January 7th, 2007
Ford Motor Co. is planning to offer an in-vehicle communication and entertainment system from Microsoft Corp. as an option in a dozen Ford models beginning later this year and in almost all of its vehicles next year. The companies say they will debute the plan Sunday at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit confirming earlier reports of an impending agreement. It is the first such agreement between Microsoft and a U.S. automaker part of the Redmond company’s effort to expand into new areas of digital entertainment and consumer information systems.
Mulally New Ford CEO
September 5th, 2006
Bill Ford lost his job as chief executive of his family’s car company on Tuesday. And he seemed downright giddy about it all. He joked that the Lexus 430 driven by his replacement, former Boeing executive Alan Mulally, would be keyed. He joked that Mulally’s youthful looks would be quickly degraded by the stress of the problems at Ford Motor.
Bill Ford was yucking it up because he is relieved. He was clearly overworked and overwhelmed, and he finally got some help. Bill Ford never warmed up to the task of chief executive in the five years he served. And because of years of management turmoil, Ford was left with a young and thin management team. The man who didn’t even want to be chief executive also was standing in as chief operating officer because that post was vacant.
Meanwhile, the family’s company, under his watch, has slid into one of the most difficult periods of its 100-year life. Its North American auto operations lost $2.5 billion in 2005 and $1.3 billion through the first half of this year. And Ford’s (nyse: F - news - people ) market share has been eroding steadily for years. So far this year, Ford has lost another point of market share, to about 18%. A decade ago, Ford had 25% of the auto market. Read the rest of this entry »
Ford Slashes 4th Quarter Production
August 18th, 2006
Ford Motor Company on Friday announced sharp cuts in its North American production that would force it to partially shut down plants in the United States and Canada in the fourth quarter.
The company said fourth-quarter production would be down 21 percent, or 168,000 units, from last year. Third-quarter production will be 20,000 units below what was previously announced. For the full year, Ford plans to produce about 9 percent fewer vehicles than last year.
“We know this decision will have a dramatic impact on our employees, as well as our suppliers,” Chairman and Chief Executive Bill Ford said in a note to employees. “This is, however, the right call for our customers, our dealers and our long-term future.”