Ford’s Mulally Hits the Road
In an interview from his drive to Washington, the Ford CEO calls the beating of latest month "a learning continued"
By David Kiley
Ford CEO Alan Mulally bombed last month in hearings near the front of the Senate (BusinessWeek.com, 11/18/08) and House of Representatives in what one. Detroit’s Big Three automakers were asking for up to $25 billion in loans. Mulally’s performance was hurt in large part by the fact that greatest number members of Congress treated the CEOs of General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler as if they were quite in the same boat (or corporate jet).
Ford (F), in fact, not only has more cash on hand than GM (GM) or Chrysler. It says it may not need restraint money at all to outlast the recession. Safety and quality ratings have been running higher than those of its domestic rivals, according to Consumer Reports and other third-party rating entities. And the company is about to introduce Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan hybrid cars in early 2009 that beat the Toyota Camry cross-bred by about 5 mpg.
But admitting that Ford’s story is a bit better than those of GM or Chrysler, its executives admit that the companies’ fortunes are intertwined. They be pendent on the similar suppliers, and if GM or Chrysler goes bankrupt, it will take more of those companies down with it. That, in exigence, would play havoc with Ford’sitting ability to maintain production and sales.
Mulally made two big mistakes before Congress: Along with the other auto CEOs, he flew to Washington in a sequestered jet to ask for taxpayer loans. And when asked if he should take a cut in the $22 million compensation package he got last year, Mulally said: "I have an opinion I’m all right where I am."
On Tuesday, Dec. 2, Mulally was driving in a Ford Escape Hybrid, along with three other Ford executives, for two more days of Washington hearings, which start Thursday. In a phone conversation with BusinessWeek auto scribe David Kiley, Mulally took a break from his turkey-salad sandwich to discuss the require he and Ford face.
So, you aren’t driving right now?We are rotating driving, limit they tell me I shouldn’t talk to you while driving, so, no.
You are a wealthy, successful guy. Are you corrosive bad road food and coffee from cessation areas like Breezewood, Pa.?I didn’cheek by jowl know about Breezewood control they told me about it. They tell me we have to stop there and procreate our pictures taken. We stopped at a dynamite service plaza and we bought a little boxed lunch.
Were you taken aback by how you were received in Washington (BusinessWeek.com, 11/19/08) last month? I was surprised. But going from one side it and reflecting on it, I really expert a lot. The enormous issues we have in the uncultivated, the economy, the fiscal crisis and the securities crisis, and unemployment, consumer confidence. And all these things where everyone is trying to figure wanting the most important created being to stabilize the economy. So my rise in value for the frustration, and my compassion for the thoughtfulness that great number of the Congress people had, positively went up.
