Ch. 5 - Developing a Global Vision

This is the decade that Ford has decided to make their push into the Chinese market place. While Ford has seen great success in other countries such as Europe and South America, they have yet to really make any dent in one of the largest markets in the world, China.

 

Ford’s introduction to China was in full swing this year at the Shanghai International Auto Show. There Ford laid out plans to introduce fifteen new vehicles to market in the next four years. Alongside this there will be fifty new products and powertrains introduced as well. Among the automobiles that will be offered will be the Kuga, which will be built in China and the Focus. By building the bridge from the U.S. to China and manufacturing some of what they sell, Ford is hoping to build a closer relationship to the people of China, therefore boosting brand recognition. Ford also plans on doubling the amount of dealerships by the end of the decade.

Ford Kuga to be produced in China

By showcasing the above automobiles to the people of China, Ford’s green initiative with electric cars and the creation of jobs for the people of China, Ford is hoping that they will be able to penetrate what could become a huge profit maker.

Ch. 4 - The Marketing Environment

Ford has several different target markets to focus on. They certainly know that offering a variety of well priced, high quality vehicles is important. When looking at Ford as a whole though, you must compartmentalize the company; SUV/Trucks, Sedans/Full Size cars and the Small/Compact line. Ford targets consumers for their product lines based on such things as race, age, education, etc. 

The best example of this is the campaign for 2011 is the Fiesta compact car. The slogan “It’s a pretty big deal” set out to attract the young African American and Hispanic buyers though social media and webinars. By offering these methods to reach the market, Ford was able to also introduce features the Fiesta has that other small cars in the market do not. In a market where fuel efficiency, cost and practicality are an absolute to an automakers survival and to a buyers happiness with the product they are purchasing, Fords target market plan for their compact line seems to be well thought out and moving in the right direction.

Ch. 3 - Ethics & Social Responsibility

Ford has made significant changes in reforming its ethical standards over the past several decades. In fact, just last year Ford was honored as being one of the worlds most ethical companies by the Ethisphere Institute, which is a leading business ethics think tank. Ethisphere Institute "Ford's promotion of a sound ethical environment shines within its industry and shows a clear understanding that operating under the highest standards for business behavior goes beyond goodwill and lip service and is intimately linked to performance and profitability.”

Once frowned upon for internal ethics within the company regarding the Pinto, it has been documented that internal documents showed that Ford was aware that a rear end collision in certain spots could cause a fire due to gas tank separation. Ford Pinto The more recent Firestone Tire roller over accidents with their Explorer line is another example of another ethical inside issue at Ford, again it has been documented that Ford was aware of the rollover issue this line was having. Firestone Controversy   Ford has forged ahead to show transparency as well as commitment to their customers safety.

Today, Ford is the only car company to receive such accolades when it comes to ethical standards. In the US auto market, Ford is viewed as a leader above its competition. Over the past several years, their innovation, dedication and drive to become the best is really starting to pay off. 

* A search conducted on Ford's Corporate site shows the following company Ethics Ford Corporate Ethics

Ch. 2 – Strategic Planning for Competitive Advantage

Over the past decade, car sales in the United States and around the world have seen a dramatic decline. American auto makers have especially felt the impact here in the States due to aggressive marketing plans of foreign auto makers such as Toyota. Over the past several years, Ford Motor Company has used to their advantage that they never borrowed money from the government as their US competitors GM and Chrysler did for a bailout. They also started restructuring the entire company earlier on and have over the past few years started to focus on the compact and mid size sedan car market.

 

Ford Motor Company has over the past two years pushed small to compact cars into the market with sleek new designs, better gas mileage and price points that rivaled other makers. By doing this, they were able to offer cars that attracted certain markets; young professionals, parents purchasing cars for their children or people just looking to save on the cost of gas with a smaller more gas friendly car.

Not only just the compact market, Ford pushed to revamp its Ford Taurus which was once the best selling mid size sedan in the market. This push to market a sleek, new and exciting midsize sedan was significant to Ford. At this time Toyota was having significant design flaws with Taurus’s rival, the Camry. Because of the timing, Ford was able to see a 96% increase in sales of its Taurus brand. This is a perfect example of Strategic Planning on Ford’s part; mixed with a little luck!

Ford’s next step is to ramp up production by several million units in order to have a presence in markets where they have been slow to grow; specifically Asia. With this planning put into motion, we will have to see how Ford comes out. Will Ford be able to be competitive in markets already dominated by other car makers? If they continue to be as aggressive as they have been here in the States, they have a shot!

Brief Overview of Ford Motor Co.

Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK. Ford's former UK subsidiaries Jaguar and Land Rover were sold to Tata Motors of India in March 2008. In 2010 Ford sold Volvo to Geely Automotive. Ford discontinued the Mercury brand after the 2011 model year.

Ford introduced methods for large-scale manufacturing of cars and large-scale management of an industrial workforce using elaborately engineered manufacturing sequences typified by moving assembly lines. Henry Ford's methods came to be known around the world as Frodism by 1914.

Ford is the second largest automaker in the U.S. and the fifth-largest in the world based on annual vehicle sales in 2010. At the end of 2010, Ford was the fifth largest automaker in Europe. Ford is the eighth-ranked overall American-based company in the 2010 Fortune 500 list, based on global revenues in 2009 of $118.3 billion. In 2008, Ford produced 5.532 million automobiles and employed about 213,000 employees at around 90 plants and facilities worldwide. During the automotive crisis, Ford's worldwide unit volume dropped to 4.817 million in 2009. In 2010, Ford earned a net profit of $6.6 billion and reduced its debt from $33.6 billion to $14.5 billion lowering interest payments by $1 billion following its 2009 net profit of $2.7 billion. Starting in 2007, Ford received more initial quality survey awards from J.D. Power and Associates than any other automaker. Five of Ford's vehicles ranked at the top of their categories and fourteen vehicles ranked in the top three.

Ford Motor Company Mission Statement

"We are a global family with a proud heritage passionately committed to providing personal mobility for people around the world."