Ford Motor Names Mulally Of Boeing as Chief Executive

[boise1]

http://online.wsj.com/google_login.html?url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB115747854422554029.html%3Fmod%3Dgooglenews_wsj

Wall Street Journal
By Monica Langley

Ford Motor Co., in a surprise move, reached outside the auto industry to name senior Boeing Co. executive Alan Mulally as its new chief executive officer.

Current CEO William Clay Ford Jr. will remain chairman of the auto maker.

Mr. Mulally, 61 years old, a Boeing executive vice president who heads its important commercial airplanes division, will take the Ford president and CEO post immediately as the struggling auto maker prepares a vast restructuring of its unprofitable North American business.

"Clearly, the challenges Boeing faced in recent years have many parallels to our own," Mr. Ford said in a statement.

-- Jumbo SUV's to roll out shortly?

[jmowreader]

1. Mulally has a few tasks ahead of him

Let's start with this fuel economy shit. Fords get horrid gas mileage. This has to change.

Then must come a serious ad campaign to make people aware that Ford no longer makes either the Pinto or the Maverick. IOW, let people know they make good cars now.

Next, MAKE good cars. Get rid of the fucking "intermittent electrical problems" Fords are seemingly plagued with.

Also track down the asshole who designed the transmission in the first-generation Taurus and kill him on live television. I had a 1989 Taurus. The reason I don't have this car anymore is that all of the forward gears in the transmission failed at the same time. I wound up towing that piece of shit home with my Volkswagen, and later sold it to a junkyard for $600--which I used to pay closing costs on the house I live in now. Turns out that's a fairly common failure mode.

[Blue_Tires]

2. strange

i'm not sure how much this new guy will help, but we will see

[CatholicEdHead]

3. Kludlow & Company reaction to this was predcitable

Bash Democrats, screw CAFE standards, Ford can only succeed if the government gives it a subsidy but butts out on all other oversight, praise the holy shareholder, etc...

[nealmhughes]

4. I wish him goodluck: Boeing is used to being one of three: Lockheed and

Airbus being the other two. Ford has GM, Daimler-Chrysler, Saab, Honda, Kia, Nissan, Suzuki, Toyota, Peugot, Fiat, and VW with whom to compete...and I'm sure I forgot a few. Skoda for example.

Why doesn't Ford just turn Mazda into a Ford subunit instead of v.v.? It is their only chance at survival.