Ford chief sees a bright future

Posted on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 4:25 PM EST.

A much smaller Ford Motor Co.—with 45 percent fewer workers and more than a dozen fewer factories than in 2005—is heading into the last stretch of 2009 with more money, optimism and fuel-efficient passenger cars than it has had for years, the Detroit Free Press says.

“In 2011, we are pretty confident that, with our product line and our cost structure and a gradual recovery around the world, that we will be solidly profitable,” Ford Motor Co. President and Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally told the Free Press on Monday after Ford announced a net profit of nearly $1 billion for the July-September period.

Why not sooner? “We just need a little bit more time to see if the economic recovery takes place,” Mulally told the paper. How did Ford do it? It cut incentives and convinced customers to buy higher-priced cars and trucks, resulting in a $1.9 billion net pricing increase.  It gained 2.2 percentage points of market share in the crucial U.S. market, as well as in other key markets such as Europe, by promoting itself as America’s independent and different automaker.  And it cut engineering, manufacturing, advertising and other costs by $1 billion, the story said. (Detroit Free Press)

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