Alan Mulally said Wednesday that he canceled his order for a Lexus after taking over as Ford Motor Co. CEO, but he nevertheless respects Toyota Motor Corp. and its luxury brand, though he has no intention of bringing the companies any closer.

Like, will you still respect me in the morning?

Reports that Toyota Chairman Fujio Cho met in Tokyo with Mulally at the latter’s request had sparked investor hopes about a potential alliance.

These guys choose metaphors like a NASCAR analyst trying to make sense of a George W. press conference. Catch this:

Mulally and Mark Fields, Ford’s president of the Americas…spoke to reporters at a private dinner that featured a briefing and question-and-answer period.

“Despite the numbers, it (2006) was a year of incremental progress for us,” Mark Fields said. “It’s like building a house. We built the foundation last year. But you don’t see the house. You see a hole.”

Wow — that’s deep, man.



  1. Brian says:

    Problem is ford isn’t building a foundation – they’re continuing you churn out the same craptastic vehicles over and over and over.

    The same problem plagues GM – look at what they are advertising most (the ‘new’ full size truck) and you wonder just what they are smoking. Meanwhile, toyota and honda continue to boast increasing sales and profitability (while ford and GM continue to post record losses).

    Think there’s something they are doing differently? Perhaps ford and gm should take all of their eggs out of the once lucrative full size truck and SUV market and build cars americans want? That might be a good start.

  2. Erik Blazynski says:

    The problem with Ford — Unions, they same stale unions with the same stale union leadership. I don’t think they even make money on the cars, they make their money on financing. The car is a vehicle (pun sort of intended) to get you to buy a loan.

  3. tallwookie says:

    Mark Fields should become Prez Bush’s speech writer

  4. Ford focuses on trucks and SUVs because that is what people buy. They wouldn’t build them if people didn’t buy them.

    Also, I’ve always been one to bash Ford (I’ve had a few lemons) but I have to say I like my Ford Focus a whole lot better than my wife’s Toyota Carrolla. The Focus feels nice and solid while the Carrolla feels rickety. Her steering goes out of alignment whenever she hits even the smallest of potholes.

  5. jim says:

    Toyota is eating Ford and Gm’s lunch. Why? They have a much better philosophy about building cars. The funny part is that a Ford or GM exec or engineer can go to Toyota and attend training classes on lean manufacturing. It won’t do them any good because the Ford and GM culture won’t accept the changes they need to make to be competitive. Toyota can make a car in the US with better quality and for less. They do it with American labor. You can lead a manager to knowledge but you can’t make him think.

  6. Roc Rizzo says:

    I also heard that Toyota was going to open a plant somewhere, but opted for Canada, because the cost of health care for its employees was staggering in the US.

    Part of what is hurting US businesses, especially large ones, is health care. HMOs want to make more profits, and are less concerned with people’s health. It used to be, at least in NY, that HMOs were to be NOT FOR PROFIT. The profit motive is not proper in EVERY business sector. Especially not for government, and health care. You can’t service people, like the gov’t and health providers can, and expect to get rich. What happened to getting a job done well, for self respect, and a little pay. CEOs of these HMOs are reaping in big bucks.

    We should have health care for everyone in this country, like Canada, and every other civilized country in the world has.

  7. Elwipo says:

    “It’s like building a house. We built the foundation last year. But you don’t see the house. You see a hole.”

    ….sooo, Ford is that hole we see? How is this positive for the company? I will stick with my Lexus. Thanks!

  8. SN says:

    4 “Her steering goes out of alignment whenever she hits even the smallest of potholes.”

    That’s because they don’t have any potholes in Japan, as the entire island was recently given a new coat of asphalt.

  9. Mark Derail says:

    Brand New Lexus = Toyota Prius, in price

    /shameless plug, ‘nuf said

    I bet it was his secretary, forced to buy a Ford car, that snitched on him.
    No love for any US built cars, had one of each, all lemons.

  10. Olo Baggins of Bywater says:

    9… She’s been driving a Mustang for a few years now, and loves it. She’s old-school loyal…zero chance she’ll ever drive anything BUT a Ford.

  11. James hatsis says:

    #6… I couldn’t agree with you more!
    Some think that national health care is just a welfare program but it is so much more, it will let us compete in a global market where other auto makers do not have to directly subsidize the employee costs for health care…

  12. Mark Derail says:

    #10, ya, the Mustangs are a strange phenomena that defy logic.
    Like the Miata I guess, you love the car so much, even it’s inherent defects and shortcomings.

    I love getting to talk to the SUV owners, telling them that the ONLY urban SUV that’s really safe is the Mercedes with the roll-over bar in the roof.
    So other manufacturers have just started, but the vast majority of SUV’s are Death Traps.

    Makes sense, top-heavy, easy to roll-over, where you get 2+ tons that will crush & break your neck.
    Just look up Google SUV Death Trap

    Strangely enough, the first link is an article from Dubai (AE).

    Spread The Word, SUV’s KILL more than ordinary vehicles

    //getting a kick out of this post, muahhahaa

  13. Ken Lay says:

    @4: Confucious say: When driving Toyota Carolla avoid pothole. But when driving Toyota Corolla, enjoy 250,000 plus miles without even changing the timing belt.

    My Toyota Corolla rocks. Still going strong after almost ten years of daily 60 mile commutes. Gas is cheap at 40 mpg. Stupid Ford owners…. 🙂

    Whoops…. I forgot…. I’m dead and don’t drive… I’m also not spending my stolen millions filling my Corolla’s gas tank at my Corporate buddy’s stations.

  14. mxpwr03 says:

    #11 How exactly will that help make America more competitive?

  15. James Hatsis says:

    #13.. I believe that American industry (if it were no longer paying for employee health care costs) could save much money and pass this savings on through lower prices…thus making American made items more competitive (price wise) in a global market.

  16. Wayne Bradney says:

    #14

    I agree on the need for public healthcare, but I think in this case that American industry would be licking it’s lips at the increased profits rather than passing on cost savings to the consumer.

  17. Eric says:

    Ford (and GM for that matter) would sell one heck of a lot more cars if they built the same kind of vehicles they themselves make in Europe. Take a trip over to ford.co.uk, vauxhall.co,uk or opel.de for an example. These companies *do* know how to make great cars that people want to drive. Just not here in UAW-land.

  18. Emery says:

    All of you need a lesson in how Japan’s automakers embraced the teachings W. Edwards Deming. Toyota’s success is not entirely based on Deming. It’s more a case of how U.S. companies ignored him.

  19. Wes says:

    “It’s like building a house. We built the foundation last year. But you don’t see the house. You see a hole.”

    I thought you would see a foundation, not a hole? This is worse then I thought!

  20. Brian says:

    Why are people saying it’s the unions or health care costs that are making Toyota more successful?

    Most toyotas sold here are made here – they have massive, massive plants in california and the recently opened truck factory in Texas. They work with the same unions that ford and gm do – they just know how to (a) build a better vehicle, (b) be more efficient in building them (read up on that truck plant – it’s amazing, and (c) they don’t have tons and tons of upper management making millions bloating the costs of doing business. Throw in the fact that the domestics are stuck in the 80s model of doing business (building overpriced crappy gashogs that nobody wants) and is it really surprising ford and gm are losing BILLIONS monthly?

  21. dave says:

    #14 every other industrialized country on earth provides free health care to all of its citizens. This is done through some form a taxation…payroll, income, sales ect. when you spread the cost of health care accross the whole population and not place the burden on employeers you become more compeptative. The automotive industry is opening new plants in europe and canada because they claim a $17 an hour savings just on health care costs.

    And before all you right wingers get all high and mighty, and talk about how government health care is not efficient….you should know that Health Care in the US is the most expensive per capita in the world and the Population of the US live shorter lives than their counter parts in other G7 nations with state run health care…..

    So #14 it is cheeper and better sounds like an advantage to me.

  22. TJGeezer says:

    #21 – Yeah but the HMOs and other insurance mafia execs don’t get to rake in personal millions or manipulate drug prices to hide company profits or buy corrupt laws making it harder for US citizens to get much cheaper meds in Canada or Mexico. How unAmerican would THAT be!


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