http://money.cnn.com/2007/10/12/autos/Tayl...sion=2007101212

With marketing geniuses like this at Ford, why don't they just file for bankruptcy?


"Well, I have some good news and some bad news."
"What's the good news?"
"We accomplished our mission on getting the Ford 500 more consumer recognition as the rebadged Taurus."
"That's good! What's the bad news?"
"They recognized it as a POS and sales have dropped in half."

 

That's kind of a bummer because apparently when they renamed it Taurus (stupid IMO) they made a bunch of improvements over the old 500. It's supposedly a pretty decent family sedan.

 

Are there any car guys working at Ford? Or do they still hire MBA's from Harvard that just care about salary, bonuses, and golden parachutes?

 

I don't think any HBS MBAs would be crazy enough to take a job at Ford, at least recently.

 

My Uncle is an engineer at Ford. He definitely is NOT a car guy. He is absolutely consumed with mathematical formulas. Probably in the top 1% of intelligence in the US (guess, but honestly don't think I'm exaggerating), but Zero interest in nearly everything outside of numbers. Here's how bad it is:

Couple Xmases back I attempted to start a conversation with him and asked what sort of stuff he was working on. He told me his engineering group (His, meaning he ran it) had an Aston Martin DB or Vanquish, don't recall now, in the shop and they were designing sensor networks. First question from me of course is "Can you take it out of the shop?". His reply, he could but he lets his engineers drive it. Instead, he goes home every day in a 1992ish Toyota. I was absolutely at a loss for words. He has access to one of the Absolute COOLEST cars in the world and couldn't care one tiny bit.

Now, I don't know that that represents generally the engineers at Ford, but if I was in HR part of the interview process would involve checking pulse rates when viewing photos of various cars.

 

I think you summed up the problem perfectly.

 

^^^^ LOL

 

i thought it was a good idea to re-rebadge the taurus. that car as lame as it was the future. didnt you see robocop?

i spoke with a cool ford engineer on a plane last winter, he really liked the 500 thought it was decent car especially for long trips.. (long term who knows) btw i don't this is your uncle, this guy claimed to own a 1000 hp twin turbo mustang.

 

I think efeldkamp hit the nail on the head. I worked at Ford many decades ago and was disappointed at the lack of enthusiasm for cars. I would say that less than 5% of the employees were cognizant about car design, performance, or even the general auto industry. Most seemed to think that they were working on large appliances like refrigerators, stoves, etc.

 

I suspect that applies to most companies, not just Ford. That said, the product planners from about 5 years back need to do some serious justification.