PAULSTSMAN1
02-03-08, 01:18 PM
This morning on AUTOLINE DETROIT, hosted by John McElroy the special guest was Alan Mulally, President and CEO of FORD MOTOR COMPANY. On the reporter Panel was Csaba Csere, Car & Driver Magazine, and Joe White from the Wall Street Journal.
Discussed was marketing strategy, quality issues, brand focus, rebadging of products, and loyalty to customers. All these issues also affect GM and Chrysler Brands inclusively.
The major point when Mulally spoke about FORD globally was the perception of the: Mustang and F150. Though Ford produces many other Brands knowledge of them is not universal. He spoke about the Mondao, a sporty European only, sedan (which opened the new James Bond Movie). Mulally also mentioned how the Detroit AutoShow which displayed a small car from FORD Europe the Verve, generated a lot of excitement.
The reporters acknowledged that though FORD lost 3 Billion dollars last year (2007) it was down 50% in losses from 2006. So from fiscal indicators the business was doing better. However McElroy pointed out that the rebadged brand MERCURY would actually be outsold this year by LINCOLN. And he questioned the viability of keeping the Mercury Brand alive.
Panellist Joe White WSJ, made the observation that FORD marketing strategy may be suspect in their product offerings as the Luxury Markets Worldwide are growing, and the Working persons are not keeping up in income. The ratio of 8% Luxury/85% Working was given, and both White and Csaba Csere questioned the decision of FORD to sell the JAGUAR and LAND ROVER brands at this time. Mulally countered with the fact that FORD considered the 85% the core business of FMC.
An interesting bit of banter was: When White brought up that LEXUS was the top luxury brand, and that though in the lower lines it had a lot of similarity to its TOYOTA brand, the premium offerings shared NO SIMILAR parts. This created the Luxury Perception.
This forum has debated: That using similar platform architecture, and now Corporate Engines, reduces CADILLAC to a rebadge of lower lines. If this is a Global Perception, then will following similar production practices eventually hurt CADILLAC brand image? :thehand:
Mullaly shared an interesting and most important observation this morning; it was in regards to the FORD Taurus. Mulally shared how early in the initial development of what the Taurus would be (during his tenure at BOEING) the Taurus team was invited to a Voice of the Customer conference where the goal of both companies was to create World Class transportation. For the Taurus this was greatly successful, for 9 years the brand retained a 77 percentile recognition as family transportation. Due to lack of focus and innovation, it was allowed to lose this perception in its 2nd initiation. Mulally identified it a “Disrespectful to the Customer” to allow a Brand reputation to die. Is this what Cadillac has been doing to the: STS and now the DTS, after decades of name recognition? My final point; is this what should be allowed to High Margin products? What are your thoughts on these issues? :stirpot:
Discussed was marketing strategy, quality issues, brand focus, rebadging of products, and loyalty to customers. All these issues also affect GM and Chrysler Brands inclusively.
The major point when Mulally spoke about FORD globally was the perception of the: Mustang and F150. Though Ford produces many other Brands knowledge of them is not universal. He spoke about the Mondao, a sporty European only, sedan (which opened the new James Bond Movie). Mulally also mentioned how the Detroit AutoShow which displayed a small car from FORD Europe the Verve, generated a lot of excitement.
The reporters acknowledged that though FORD lost 3 Billion dollars last year (2007) it was down 50% in losses from 2006. So from fiscal indicators the business was doing better. However McElroy pointed out that the rebadged brand MERCURY would actually be outsold this year by LINCOLN. And he questioned the viability of keeping the Mercury Brand alive.
Panellist Joe White WSJ, made the observation that FORD marketing strategy may be suspect in their product offerings as the Luxury Markets Worldwide are growing, and the Working persons are not keeping up in income. The ratio of 8% Luxury/85% Working was given, and both White and Csaba Csere questioned the decision of FORD to sell the JAGUAR and LAND ROVER brands at this time. Mulally countered with the fact that FORD considered the 85% the core business of FMC.
An interesting bit of banter was: When White brought up that LEXUS was the top luxury brand, and that though in the lower lines it had a lot of similarity to its TOYOTA brand, the premium offerings shared NO SIMILAR parts. This created the Luxury Perception.
This forum has debated: That using similar platform architecture, and now Corporate Engines, reduces CADILLAC to a rebadge of lower lines. If this is a Global Perception, then will following similar production practices eventually hurt CADILLAC brand image? :thehand:
Mullaly shared an interesting and most important observation this morning; it was in regards to the FORD Taurus. Mulally shared how early in the initial development of what the Taurus would be (during his tenure at BOEING) the Taurus team was invited to a Voice of the Customer conference where the goal of both companies was to create World Class transportation. For the Taurus this was greatly successful, for 9 years the brand retained a 77 percentile recognition as family transportation. Due to lack of focus and innovation, it was allowed to lose this perception in its 2nd initiation. Mulally identified it a “Disrespectful to the Customer” to allow a Brand reputation to die. Is this what Cadillac has been doing to the: STS and now the DTS, after decades of name recognition? My final point; is this what should be allowed to High Margin products? What are your thoughts on these issues? :stirpot: