DEARBORN, Mich. — Ford Motor Co. this week announced the details of a "significant acceleration" of its transformation plan, which will include the addition of several new fuel-efficient small vehicles in North America and the realignment of its North American manufacturing plants.
In addition to bringing six small vehicles to North America from the company’s European lineup, Ford is speeding up the introduction of fuel-efficient EcoBoost and all-new four-cylinder engines, boosting hybrid production and converting three existing truck and SUV plants for small car production, beginning this December.
"We continue to take fast and decisive action implementing our plan and responding to the rapidly changing business environment," said Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally. "Ford is moving aggressively using our global product strengths to introduce additional smaller vehicles in North America and to provide outstanding fuel economy with every new product."
In tandem with the realignments, Ford will continue to offer targeted hourly buyouts at its U.S. plants and facilities, working with the UAW to secure competitive employment levels. Ford also said it remains on track to reduce salaried-related costs by 15 percent in North America by Aug. 1.
Ford North America said it still expects to reduce annual operating costs by $5 billion by the end of 2008 — at constant volume, mix and exchange and excluding special items — compared with 2005. In addition, the company said it plans to continue to reduce structural costs beyond 2008.
The company also confirmed Ford, Lincoln and Mercury will remain in its North American brand portfolio. Ford said it will work with its dealers to broaden and accelerate its dealer consolidations, which will result in a dealer network that reflects the changing industry size and model mix.
Accelerating New Products
Ford is adding several new North American products in the near- and mid- term, and shifting from a primary emphasis on large trucks and SUVs to smaller and more fuel-efficient vehicles. By the end of 2010, two-thirds of spending will be on cars and crossovers — up from one-half today.
"We are accelerating the development of the new products customers want and value," Mulally said. "We sell some of the best vehicles in the world in our profitable European and Asian operations, and we will bring many of them to North America on top of our already aggressive product plans."
The new products include six European small vehicles to be introduced in North America by the end of 2012.
"While we have no intention of giving up our longtime truck leadership, we are creating a new Ford in North America on a foundation of small, fuel-efficient cars and crossovers that will set new standards for quality, fuel economy, product features and refinement," Fields said.
The Ford, Lincoln, Mercury lines will be almost completely upgraded by the end of 2010.
Coming in 2009 are the first applications of Ford’s new EcoBoost engines. EcoBoost uses gasoline turbocharged direct-injection technology for up to 20 percent better fuel economy, up to 15 percent fewer CO2 emissions and superior driving performance versus larger-displacement engines.
EcoBoost V-6 engines will be introduced on several vehicles next year, beginning with the Lincoln MKS and Ford Taurus sedans, and Ford Flex crossover. Four-cylinder EcoBoost engines will debut in 2010 in both North America and Europe. Ford will offer EcoBoost on more than 80 percent of its North American lineup by the end of 2012.
Ford also plans to double capacity for North American four-cylinder engines to more than 1 million units by 2011, to meet the consumer trend toward downsized engines for fuel economy. The smaller engines will deliver significant fuel savings.
In addition, Ford plans to double its hybrid volume and offerings next year — and is looking to expand further going forward. Production of the all-new 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid and Mercury Milan Hybrid begins in December — with fuel economy expected to top the Toyota Camry hybrid.
With these new models, the Ford Escape Hybrid — now in its fifth year of production — and the Mercury Mariner Hybrid, Ford will offer four hybrid vehicles. That will make Ford the largest domestic producer of full hybrid vehicles in North America, second only to Toyota in sales volume.
Ford also is introducing six-speeds with PowerShift that offers the fuel economy of a manual transmission and convenience of an automatic; start-stop engines that shut off when the vehicle stops; electric power steering; direct injection, and Twin Independent Variable Cam Timing engines. These technologies will be progressively introduced within the North American lineup by 2012.
In the next five years, Ford will build more than 1 million vehicles a year worldwide off its global B-car platform and nearly 2 million units worldwide off its global C-car platform.
