Damning with faint praise. Regardless, Katie said something nice about Ford. Civilization begins to unravel….

Meanwhile, I think the idea of getting the suits at Ford to actually drive the ordinary vehicles they make is a damn fine idea. I can imagine the turned-up noses as the lords of respective fiefdoms had to drive a Focus instead of a Town Car. Gee-up! Gee-up! Mullaly should make them drive one all the time, then you might see improvements rather than bent tin cost-cutting and flappy tape wiring looms.

Imagine how government services would improve if the execs had to try out their own procedures, like applying for unemployment benefits… But then, who ever heard of a government employee losing their job?

Difference here is, the Ford Lords might lose theirs if they don’t gee-up their design procedures.

Ford, down deep, you must hate us…well, I’m going to hate you right back.

Got to go now and put gas the wife’s Acura.

I can understand why some are questioning the validity of Ford’s exercise; after all, getting the suits rev’d up about poor selling models does sound all that exciting or useful when the public appears to be the prime target.

In sales, you have to believe in your own product, and the drones at the bottom are going to be more likely to be inspired if their leadership is inspired.

I like the story about Mr McNamara. It’s that kind of thinking which gives you the edge over your competitors (though, he was on holiday and should have left his work at home!).

Personally, I don’t know why Ford execs need rallying.

Ford are in the best position to be the last man standing in Detroit and actually have some good products (at least, by NA standards) coming (albeit, not quickly enough).

Not to mention, they have the best CEO of the big 2.801 so their chances look favourable.

I think Ford concentrate less on beating Japan (they’re not in a good enough position for that…..yet!) and concentrate more on burying the two other Detroiters. I know this sounds harsh, but think about it.

I’d estimate that a lot of GM and Chrysler’s customers are die-hard “Buy American” folk. If Ford focused (see what I did there?) on winning these customers over, then Ford could achieve the economies of scale needed to sell cars at a profitable rate. Then, with a little steady organic growth (Mr Mullaly’s speciality) in about 5 years’ time Ford will be ready to take Japan on again. Only this time the match will be more even.

It’ll be bad news for GM and Chrysler (especially Chrysler, I REALLY wanted them to be the last man standing) but the more time goes on, the more I believe that Detroit isn’t big enough for 2.801. Someone has to go……permanently…..

We recently read a story of a GM exec who refused to drive a rental that was non-GM. In some ways, I think that we’d get some better domestic products if employees and management of the big 2.8 were required to drive nothing but their competitors’ models.

Supposedly, when Robert McNamara was president of Ford he rented an Opel station wagon (at his own expense) when his family took a European trip some time around 1960. This appalled the local distributor, who had met him at the airport with a big, shiny new Ford for him to use at his disposal, but McNamara apparently wanted to evaluate the pros and cons of certain features that GM was building into its Euro-compacts of the era. May have been a smart move, because while the Ford Falcon was not particularly exciting or innovative, it was reliable and handily outsold the Corvair and the Valiant.

When you use your own products as your yardstick, you run the real risk of never get any better than the best you’re currently producing.