Mulally, As In Moolah
As much as it pains me to admit it, Ford is a company to be admired. When bailouts were handed around like doobies in the Summer of Love, they didn’t partake (argue that point amongst yourselves, but you know what I mean). Their cars are interesting (to say the least) and their reliability is now being thought of in the same vein as Toyota, Honda and Hyundai. All of this is down to one man, Mr Alan “I bet you wish to made me CEO now! Eh, Boeing?!” Mulally. He put forward a vision of Ford divisions and subsidiaries working together to create a global product. He pared down the extraneous brands. He put the axe to Mercury and he didn’t need a bankruptcy to do it. In short, Mr Mulally has done well at Ford. The question is how well?
Business Standard Motoring reports that Alan Mulally picked up $17.9 million in pay during 2009. In comparison, Aiko Toyoda earned less that $1.1 million (this is inferred, because he wasn’t named in a company filing to the Japanese Finance Ministry), Carlos Ghosn picked up $9.9 million, Honda’s Takanobu Ito walked away with $1.3 million. However, what makes this story interesting is that some people think that Mr Mulally’s pay packet is a good thing, something Japanese companies should emulate.
“Because of globalisation, competition is intensifying, and there is a greater importance placed on strong and decisive management,” said Katsuyuki Kubo, an associate professor of economics at Waseda University in Tokyo who specialises in compensation and corporate governance. “Without the pay incentive, Japan could lose out on competitiveness.” Active advocation of higher CEO salaries? Well, Toyota is struggling to keep their image of quality & reliability, Honda is struggling in North America due to its failing “Acura” brand. So maybe Mr Mulally is now starting to look like good value for money. Maybe that could be their next tagline?
“Buy a Ford, they’re great value for money. Just like our CEO!” Well, it’s better than “Drive one”…
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Robert, 3 vehicles does not a brand reputation make. I have owned several cars from different automakers. Not really having problems with any of them. It doesn't mean that as a brand, they are all on par with Toyota and Honda. Hyundai has improved, but they aren't there yet. http://businesscenter.jdpower.com/news/pressrelease.aspx?ID=2009043 http://businesscenter.jdpower.com/news/pressrelease.aspx?ID=2010034 This isn't IQS data either.
He's worth every penny, but that doesn't change the facts that the mortgage-everything loan was the ex-CFO's baby, not his. I recall that he came in after that ball was rolling (then either he or the Fords fired the CFO...). They've done great, but they only missed being in the BK lineup because of that decision to borrow as much as they could in 2005 or 2006, not because of the strong leadership of Mulally. This site, of all places, should at least report that accurately. That piece reads like a USA Today story.