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Ford chief's talk short, upbeat
Published 12:00 am PST Thursday, November 15, 2007
Story appeared in BUSINESS section, Page D4
LOS ANGELES – Ford Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally delivered one of the shortest keynote addresses in memory Wednesday at the Los Angeles Auto Show, but he made his point during his 15-or-so minutes: Ford is on track to return to profitability and is dedicated to producing smaller, more fuel-efficient passenger cars.
Mulally even joked about the automaker's obsession with producing large sport-utility vehicle and pickups before his arrival from Boeing last year. He noted that Ford was churning out full-size light trucks "and once in awhile they made a car."
That has changed, he told hundreds of media representatives in Los Angeles for the show's press days, which conclude today.
Mulally said Ford was gearing "production to real demand" and was rolling out practical-size passenger cars, such as the Focus, Fusion and the recently resurrected Taurus. Combined with a companywide restructuring that has been going on for nearly two years now, Mulally said the automaker was on target to return to consistent profitability by 2009.
He also said that, by 2010, Ford's entire vehicle lineup will consist of either all-new vehicles or those that have undergone extensive freshening.
Within minutes of Mulally concluding his speech, Ford's Lincoln division unveiled one such all-new vehicle. The Lincoln MKS sedan rolled onto a brightly lighted stage, billed as Lincoln's new flagship sedan. The 2009 model will go on sale next year with a 3.7-liter V-6 under the hood. A base, generously equipped MKS will be priced at $38,000, a comparably affordable model in the luxury sedan segment.
– Mark Glover
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