Against the backdrop of the debt crisis in Europe, Ford predicts annual losses of $1 billion. The crisis could drag on for five years, the auto company predicts. In this regard, the concern may close two plants and is reviewing its development strategy. The analyst does not rule out that negative trends in Europe may also affect Russia, but overall he gives a favorable forecast.
One of the world's largest automakers, the American company Ford, has been reeling from the European debt crisis. According to the company's forecasts, its annual losses in Europe will exceed $1 billion. In this regard, Ford intends to take decisive steps to correct the situation. Bloomberg reports this.
“Our results in Europe over the last 12 months are unacceptable and we must address this,” Ford Europe Chief Financial Officer Stuart Rowley said at an auto conference in New York. “We are looking at our plan and will cover all aspects of our business, looking at structural costs, our product mix and the brand itself.”
Analysts, including Morgan Stanley's Adam Jonas, believe Ford will be forced to close one or more plants in Europe. Ford is now using only about 63% of its European production capacity, according to the financial institution.
In the second quarter of this year, the automaker's net profit decreased by 57% compared to last year, amounting to $1.04 billion. At the same time, operating losses in Europe amounted to $404 million.
To match market demand with production capacity, Ford is forced to consider closing some European plants. In particular, the possibility of curtailing production in the English Southampton and the Belgian Ghent is now being actively discussed.
“Spending alone cannot bring us back to where we were,” Rowley said. — Take a look at our business in North America. This is a good guide. Here we continue to invest in our production plan.”
The ongoing economic crisis in Europe has forced the company's management to take a fresh look at future prospects. In July, Ford lowered its full-year profit forecast. The company admitted that it no longer expects it to be able to reach the level of 2011, when operating profit (before income tax and interest on borrowed funds. — “Gazeta.Ru”) of the company amounted to $8.8 billion.
Ford Chief Financial Officer Bob Shanks noted at the same conference that the economic crisis in Europe, which accounts for a quarter of the company's revenue, was deeper than expected at the beginning of the year. In his opinion, the situation will remain difficult for at least five years.
The company's European sales fell 10% in the first half of 2012. According to Rowley, the problems are in Europe, where total sales have fallen 22% since 2007, are not simply a cyclical decline. Cost structure is to blame for all automakers' losses automotive industry in Europe, including production capacity.
“We see the challenge as becoming more constructive and we must consider our future plans in this context and develop them accordingly,” says Rowley.
In North America, which the company's management encourages us to emulate, the company is doing really well. Second-quarter operating income rose to $2.01 billion, up $200 million from last year.
Ford is doing well in Russia too. In the second quarter of this year, more than 36 thousand cars were sold in the country, which corresponds to the pre-crisis indicators of 2008.
Ford plans to soon begin assembling four new models in Russia - Kuga, S-MAX, Galaxy and Explorer, and then sales are expected to become even more significant.
In the meantime, additional headache the management of the auto giant is creating debts. Late 2006 Ford borrowed about $23.4 billion, pledging most of its main assets, including its headquarters and its own trademark. Thanks to this, during the financial crisis, the company, unlike its main competitors Chrysler and General Motors managed to stay afloat without resorting to help from the American government and without going through bankruptcy proceedings. In May of this year, Ford CEO Alan Mulally said that the company had already paid $21 billion, and in the same month managed to regain the right to manage its own brand.
According to independent auto analyst Ivan Bonchev, European Ford problems are unlikely to affect the situation in Russia. “Unlike Europe, our auto sales are showing steady growth, so all companies, including Ford, which has production facilities here, are doing well. I don’t see any direct connections between the company’s European problems and their prospects in Russia,” he says.
Nevertheless, Bonchev does not exclude that negative trends in Europe may also affect Russia.
“The Russian branch is organizationally subordinate to the European division, and therefore, as a successful one, some restrictions may be imposed on it. additional loads in order to somehow redistribute profits. Another factor is Russia’s accession to the WTO with a change in duties and at the same time the emergence of recycling fees. Many believe that this could cause prices to rise and, accordingly, slow down the market. But it seems to me that in general the situation will remain favorable,” the analyst said.
and the First is usually associated with complete success. First conveyor, first mass car, the first mass-produced tractor... A million to the right, a million to the left, wherever Henry spits - there is success. Life is not honey.
In fact, Henry's business history spanned from one disaster to another. Among them were a liquidity crisis, a collapse in demand, the Great Depression, social unrest and even the First World War. And Henry managed to pour such a number of misfortunes into each of the misfortunes that the latter tried not to catch the eye again.
Even at the very beginning of his business career, Henry managed to go bankrupt twice - Ford Motor was already the third Ford enterprise.
Moreover, Ford actually sold the first batches of cars illegally. In America there was an automobile syndicate built on the so-called. Selden's patent. Lawyer Mr. Selden, back in the early 90s of the 19th century, managed to patent the design of a car and received royalties from all car sales in the United States. Ford ignored the patent, claiming that he had built the car before Selden. Syndicators threatened Ford's clients with legal action for purchasing his car, and then he began issuing an insurance policy to customers that guaranteed their legal costs from a fund of $12 million. Ford didn’t have any millions at that time, the fund existed only in his imagination, but buyers believed, and his enemies were suppressed. Selden was soon tamed, so there was no need to sue. Ford sighed calmly and began collecting millions from his “tin cans.”
For a novice businessman, everything that had happened to him so far could seem like circles of hell, but in fact, with such little things, fate was clearly preparing Henry for real trials.
Already in the early 20s, Ford experienced... a liquidity crisis, such that it left an imprint on his lifestyle forever.
It is no secret that Ford immediately made many millions from his Ford T tins, but in America in the twenties, no one was surprised by the quick-made fortunes. The elite did not like the nouveau riche, but they did not spread rot either. However, instead of taking up golf and champagne baths, instead of sitting on the edge of a chair with seasoned American moneybags, Ford devoted himself to new social outrages. He began to pay the workers so much that the wage standards established in America were completely overturned. The Dodge brothers even tried to sue Ford, blaming him for their costs. But, most importantly, Ford’s innovations were so successful that he began to manage significant financial flows on a national scale. Tolerating this would be humiliating for the “collective”...
In the early twenties of the 20th century, the United States experienced a small setback in prosperity in the form of a credit crisis. Some experts suspected and still suspect that the whole crisis was invented on Wall Street. One way or another, when Henry Ford also needed money, American banks set him conditions, the essence of which was to turn his company public and accept loans on such terms that would allow Wall Street to pull his strings, if anything. The guarantee on Wall Street was circular: no bank could give Henry money, even if they wanted to.
Among those who then pinned Henry against the wall were some of the “hero” banks of the last panic of 2008.
However, they did not know who they were contacting. Ford came up with his own financial scheme - simple as a peasant. Henry convinced his own car dealers to provide loans for themselves, and on the security of future deliveries of cars. Ford's dealers were not pretentious, there were many of them, and they were dispersed throughout the country. They were not controlled by Wall Street, and if they represented its inhabitants, they often wore white slippers.
The crisis was not deep, the Americans were rich, so Ford quickly extended all payments, leaving the financial oligarchs alone with their ambitions. But the incident made such an impression on Henry that from then on he surrounded his family with all-powerful security and sincerely believed that at the first opportunity they would kill him.
However, the adversaries no longer knocked on his door, but the problems of the market broke in on him quite quickly. In 1927, Ford decided to replace the permanent Ford T with the Ford A model. Alas, new car did not go, but almost everything was put on it: apart from expensive Lincolns, tractors and trucks, the Ford empire did nothing else. Moreover, dies, machines and components under new model were also produced within the Ford empire. As a result, all the troubles from the failure of “A” fell on Henry’s head. Ford's difficulties may not have been fatal, but given his relationship with the banks, things could have ended badly.
If the market does not accept the new model, you need to find new market. Thus was born an unexpected strategic partnership with Soviet Russia. Many people have bargained under the counter with Moscow, but no one has yet decided to transfer an entire sector of the economy to Russia. Under the contract, Ford managed to sell its “last year’s snow” to Soviet Russia - to produce a fully equipped plant for the “A” model.
However, this car ( future GAZ-A) was of quite high quality, and the plant was quite modern. Ford amortized all the costs of creating lines for Ford A.
And just in time: on October 23, 1929, the New York Stock Exchange collapsed. A deep depression followed, called the Great Depression. Many auto companies went bankrupt. Cheap Fords were still selling out, but the expensive Lincolns produced by the company had a hard time. And then, under the expensive Lincoln brand, Ford in 1936 introduced a relatively inexpensive streamlined car, as if doused in molasses. Its shape intricately combined soft roundness of lines and sharp corners; from the side it might seem that in front of you was a small destroyer - the tip of the hood was akin to the bow of a ship. Zephyr (that was the name of the car, and there was certainly something delicately confectionery about it) had a 4.4-liter V12 engine and was the first production American model with a monocoque body. It cost only $1,275 - half the price of the cheapest Lincoln KA (and the Ford V8 - the prototype of the Emka - cost $500). By 1939, more than 29 thousand cars were sold - not bad for a luxury brand. The Zephyr became a worthy flagship of Ford's lineup, with which his squadron emerged from the Great Depression with honor.
How Henry Ford worked
Introduction
This material is presented on the basis of the research work of the learned economists Mr. Doroshenko Sergei Evgenievich and Mrs. Samarina Galina Petrovna, leaders of the Noosphere Foundation, who, using the example of the practical activities of the famous American tycoon Henry Ford, scientific analysis of the world economy, foresaw the global financial and economic crisis its consequences and accessible language explained its reasons and methods for a dignified way out of it. At the same time, for the first time, they substantiated the need to create and strengthen three components of the economic and social stability of society: states, business And trade unions. In this brochure we will try to present to your attention the essence of the arguments of Russian scientists and offer a parity dialogue on finding a way out of the economic crisis, eradication of poverty, as the main benefit of our society...
A few words about the Man of Action
Henry Ford, (1863-1947) - American industrialist, owner of automobile factories. His slogan was “a car for everyone” - the Ford plant produced the most cheap cars at the beginning of the automobile era. Ford Motor Company still exists today. Henry Ford He is also known for pioneering the use of an industrial conveyor. Contrary to popular belief, the assembly line had been introduced before, but Henry Ford created the first commercially successful line. Ford's book My Life, My Achievements is a classic scientific organization of labor.
Everything is very simple. He raised minimum wage in their factories 5 times compared to other sectors of the American economy. To understand how high this minimum wage was, let's give a simple example. Any employee, having just started working for G. Ford and received only the minimum wage in 1914-1916, could purchase his famous Model “T” car in 3 months of work. Simultaneously with the promotion, he reduced the working day from ten to eight hours, and the working week to 48 working hours.
Every employee G. Ford received not only wages, but also his share of the profits. Those of them who, thanks to the growth of savings, which is a direct consequence of rising wages, invested them in shares of G. Ford's enterprises, had even higher incomes.
Let's consider another important socio-economic factor in the activity of any enterprise - staff turnover - which also affects costs. G. Ford notes that, thanks to increased wages, there were significantly costs reduced related to staff turnover.
Thus, in 1914, when the first unified socio-economic plan for the development of the collective came into effect, “... we had 14,000 employees, with such a number previously the turnover of personnel annually would have been about 50 thousand people... In 1915, we had to hire only 6,508 people, and most of them were invited because our enterprise has expanded. With the old movement of labor and our new needs, we would now be forced to hire about 200,000 annually, which would be almost impossible ... "
At the same time, he draws attention to other related socio-economic factors, such as the cost of education And adaptation new employees. In particular, he writes: “... Even with the extremely short training time required to learn almost all of our operations, it would still be impossible to hire new personnel daily, weekly or monthly. For, although our workers, for the most part, after two or three days are already able to perform satisfactory work at a satisfactory pace, they still only work better after a year of experience than at the beginning ... "
Let's sum it up. G. Ford first introduced motivational criterion, by which he estimated the integral labor factor at 90%, organizational and technological factor - only 10%. He developed the labor factor, external and internal motivation of personnel in the following directions.
Firstly, with the help of a high minimum wage, which allowed each member of the team to work with interest in their workplace.
Secondly, in order to increase staff motivation in the performance of the entire company as a whole, since 1900 he introduced wages as the share of each employee’s participation in the income of the entire company.
Third, he encouraged workers to invest their savings in production through the purchase of shares or direct lending to H. Ford factories.
Fourthly, for the first time laid the foundations for the future of the famous Japanese quality circles.
Fifthly, economically stimulated the rationalization movement and initiative of each team member not only at their workplace, but also encouraged direct contacts between any employee and senior managers, bypassing intermediate links.
At sixth, economically encouraged the development of related professions and career growth.
Seventh, economically stimulated professional growth and staff rotation.
Eighth, he equalized the wages of disabled people and healthy people.
Ninth, given that the minimum wage allowed a (male) employee to support his family painlessly, he economically stimulated the voluntary dismissal of workers’ wives so that they could devote more time to their family and children.
Tenth, he introduced medical care and social and pension insurance in case of work-related injury or injury.
Eleventh, G. Ford economically stimulated not only the training of related professions for each employee, but also study at school and college.
Twelfth, he was the first, long before the Japanese, to introduce the principle of “just-in-time delivery” for suppliers. Let us voice his approach: “If transport were completely reorganized, so that one could count on a uniform supply of materials, it would be generally unnecessary to burden oneself with a warehouse.”
A deep understanding of the role of work motivation allowed G. Ford, for the first time in the world in 1910-1913. develop five year plan socio-economic development of the staff of the entire company, which came into force on January 12, 1914. Explaining the need for this plan, G. Ford writes that we introduced this plan not because we decided to take care of our staff “by arranging the distribution of benefits,” but because “high rates (wages) are the most profitable business principle.” Moreover, he focuses the reader’s attention not on his organizational and technological developments, but on high wages, which, in his opinion, is the only most profitable. He believed that his main merit was not the conveyor technologies he developed, but the company’s policy of high incomes and wages.
He anticipated and laid the practical foundations of human capital theory, later developed by Nobel laureates Theodore W. Schultz and Gary Becker. It was this discovery that made it one of the most famous in the world.
A common thread in his book is why other entrepreneurs cannot understand this simple truth that only by sharing income with your staff can you get rich. The plan was based on the personal interests of each employee of the company. In fact, according to the majority of Americans, G. Ford laid the socio-economic foundations of today's America. If prices for goods are higher than the income of the people, then prices need to be adjusted to income. Typically, the cycle of business life begins with the process of production to end with consumption. But when the consumer does not want to buy what the manufacturer is selling, or he does not have enough money, the manufacturer puts the blame on the consumer and claims that things are going wrong, not realizing that he is harnessing the horses behind the cart by complaining.
It should be clarified what G. Ford understood by household income. This is not only the wages of the staff, but according to G. Ford it is also “... participation in the profits...” of the staff, which he first introduced back in 1900, as well as social benefits, income received by the staff from investing savings in shares of the company G .Ford.
He was well versed in the fact that the growth of savings of company employees, low prices for cars, their high quality, implement his policy: “...Beware of deteriorating the product, beware of lowering wages and robbing the public.” All this allowed him to attract inexpensive loans and investments through the credit partnerships he created. Thus, he proved in practice long before J.M. Keynes's theoretical calculations, set out in the book “The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money” (1936, trans. 1948).
G. Ford understood that: “With... low wages, savings cannot be achieved. Lowering wages is a stupid financial policy, because at the same time purchasing power decreases...” In practice, he derived an economic dependence: high wages increase aggregate demand and savings, which increase investment and reduce their cost, which in turn allows prices to be lowered even further for products, stimulating further demand, etc.
An increase in sales volume was achieved almost in the second year (1915) after the adoption of the first five-year socio-economic plan for the development of the team. Note that he was decades ahead of everyone else. Attracting low-cost investments and loans allowed him to further reduce production costs and lower car prices, stimulating further growth in aggregate demand.
G. Ford argues in the book that the only sources of inflation were the unrestrained monetary emission of the Federal Reserve, the government, illegal lending to the financial system and the encouragement of speculative activity and speculative financial pyramids. Only the Great Depression and bank holidays forced society to think and legally prohibit this activity by the authorities, the Federal Reserve and business.
In our opinion, H. Ford’s harsh statements are correct: “...Speculation with finished products has nothing to do with business - it means no more and no less than a more decent form of theft...”
He is even more critical of the activities of bankers, the Federal Reserve, the US government and legislators: “Help will come not from Washington, but from ourselves... We can help the government, and not the government to help us. Promises cost the government nothing, but it is unable to implement them. True, governments can juggle currencies, as they did in .
As long as we expect legislation to cure poverty and eliminate privilege from the world, we are destined to watch poverty increase and privilege increase... The government is only a servant of the people, and should always remain so. As soon as the people become an appendage to the government, the law of retaliation comes into force, for such a relationship is unnatural, immoral and inhuman..."
700 workers of the Vsevolozhsk plant of the American Ford company will be fired by the summer, after two months of inactivity,” the plant administration said. The country's economy is going through hard times, sales of new cars continue to fall, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to ensure business efficiency. At first it was assumed that it would be enough to stop production for two months, but then experts came to the conclusion that the plant could not do without laying off 35 percent of the staff and switching to a single-shift operating mode.
The plant's trade union greeted the news with hostility: no one liked the fact that first a press release about the upcoming layoffs was sent to the media, and only then the administration announced a meeting at which it addressed the workers with a “voluntary dismissal program” that provided for the payment of five monthly salaries to those who agrees to resign of his own free will.
The union responded to this with a statement saying: “The MPRA trade union assesses the actions of Ford Motor Company as a cynical and unscrupulous game that contradicts the principles of social partnership. We see in this solely the desire of the capitalist to shift the consequences of the crisis onto the shoulders of ordinary workers.”
Trade union leaders are confident that the enterprise administration has not exhausted all possibilities to minimize the social consequences of the crisis, preserve jobs and provide workers with fair compensation for the harm caused. “We believe,” they write, “that massive layoffs are not a measure necessary for the successful conduct of the company’s business. We will fight for every workplace at the enterprise and for providing voluntarily resigning employees with compensation payments in the amount of at least an annual salary. The reduction of each individual employee must be agreed upon with the trade union. We are ready to defend our demands with everyone possible ways, including strikes and protests, as we did in 2007. No need to cry, get organized!"
Not all trade unionists agree with this position.
“Ford” long ago left our regional organization, because at this plant they always wanted to use more radical methods of fighting for their rights, notes the chairman of the Russian Mechanical Builders Trade Union for St. Petersburg and Leningrad region Victor Kalinin. – And in the USA, and in England, and in Brazil, workers have learned to find a compromise with the employer. And at Ford there is a long-term, protracted conflict with the administration, and it does not lead to anything good. Their union is making too many radical demands, and I think the workers are losing out.”
Chairman of the Interregional Trade Union of the Workers' Association Alexey Etmanov does not think so; he is confident that the fight to preserve jobs makes sense, and although he admits that a strike is a painful measure for both workers and plant management, he does not exclude that you'll have to resort to:
“We will fight with all available methods. When things are going well, the owners do not invite us to share the profits, why do they force us to pay during the crisis? If we cannot save jobs by any means, we will demand decent compensation, that is, an annual salary for people who have worked at the plant for more than 5 years, and not just two salaries above what is required by law. If the state does not want to increase unemployment on its territory, it must take care of how to avoid mass layoffs, how to stimulate demand for cars, and come up with ideas. new programs. In South America, for example, in such a situation, they established a zero sales tax, this helped to withstand competition and save jobs, nothing like this is being done in Russia today, but the same problem as ours exists in all enterprises. who work with the euro-dollar mass, with European and American companies“Ford, as always, is the first sign, and the rest will follow,” says Alexey Etmanov.
Mass layoffs should soon be expected at other factories, says Rima Sharifullina, chairman of the public organization St. Petersburg Aegis, which helps people defend their labor rights. However, she doesn't think Ford workers should resort to strikes when layoffs are imminent:
“I think that in this case the employer has the right to make cuts, so the employee, as the seller of his labor, can only bargain for Better conditions. Since the employees were not ready for such a rapid dismissal, they have the right to count on some kind of financial cushion, and here everything will depend on the negotiation process. There is a fairly strong trade union there, and it can insist on good conditions for those who will be laid off. It probably won’t be possible to get a two-year salary, but you can count on a year’s salary; achieving this would be a great success. But a strike will achieve nothing, it will only speed up the employer’s exit from this market.”
The worst thing is today automobile factories who need components from America and Europe, this makes cars more expensive, and people stop buying them. Economist Andrei Zaostrovtsev does not believe that in this situation the state should take any steps to help factories:
“Well, yes, the ruble fell, production costs rose, Ford had problems with sales, overstocking. This means that production must be reduced so as not to work at a loss, the actions of the administration are absolutely correct. Workers are always fighting to preserve jobs, with their From a point of view, this is correct, but from an economic point of view, it is wrong. And there is no need to artificially support factories, because this is done only at our expense, let those who can buy cars at a price. market prices, and the market itself will regulate everything,” says Zaostrovtsev.
Literally for a few hours at the end of November, the vice-president of the European branch of the Ford concern, Roland de Waard, came to Moscow, and the Russian audience had the opportunity to communicate with him.
Ford is the only American automaker to survive the crisis, while General Motors and Chrysler went bankrupt. Was this easy for the company, and what has changed since pre-crisis times, when the American division was steadily losing money, and the European division was making a profit every year?
Roland de Waard: Ford Europe has been profitable for five years in a row since the restructuring we did at the start of the decade. Thanks to her, we began to use production capacity at 100 percent. And this, if you want to have an effective, profitable business, is almost the main thing.
In America, when demand began to fall and the company incurred serious losses, we also began restructuring. But then we were faced with a recession - demand fell even more, losses became even greater... In general, it was not easy. But we did one important thing - despite the difficult times, we found money, including through loans, for the most important thing - to invest in the product, in new models. Thanks to this, we have created a strong foundation and are emerging from the crisis very confidently - with a growing market share and excellent prospects. Then, when the crisis reached Europe, and everything became less ideal here, demand began to fall, and we decided to reduce production volumes as quickly as possible.
When demand falls, you need to stop producing by any means more cars what the market needs. We did this in the first quarter of 2009, which was a loss-making period for Ford of Europe. But we, in fact, cleared the way for the future and became profitable again in the third quarter.
Question: What about market share in Europe?
Roland de Waard: Market share is growing. Ford now has 9.1 percent of the European car market, and last year it was 8.6 percent. First of all, this is the merit of the new Fiesta, which is selling much better than we expected, and new Ford Ka.
In Russia, we did the same thing - we halved production volumes and tried to sell off stocks as quickly as possible - we sold them. In addition, at the end of last year the ruble exchange rate fell sharply, and we had to adjust prices. Now the foreign exchange market seems to be calm, and you can make plans for the future. Our plans are quite optimistic. Because the market share of Focus and Mondeo is growing, and the market as a whole should soon revive. The fact is that in January Russian government is launching a bonus program for car recycling and this should seriously spur demand for new cars.
Question: Will the plant in Vsevolozhsk soon reach its design capacity of 125 thousand cars?
Roland de Waard: No, unfortunately, not soon. Not in next year- exactly. And hardly in 2011. For this, the market needs to grow by at least 50 percent compared to what it is now.
Unfortunately, there is nowhere to export cars from Russia. The crisis has spread throughout the world, and the demand for cars that exists abroad is fully satisfied by our other factories.
We look forward to the government starting to pay bonuses to new car buyers who scrap their old cars. One can, of course, complain that this program will not apply to our entire the lineup, and will only affect Mondeo and Focus assembled in Russia, but this is more than enough. We see that such programs are successfully working abroad and we expect that they will seriously boost demand - it should grow by about 20 percent. It's a lot! If there is no such program, everyone will lose - everyone automotive industry. We will lose the money that we invested in production, in employee training, in creating dealer network... Dealers will also lose their investments... And when the market begins to recover, invest in car business no one will want it anymore.
Question: In Russia, before the crisis, Ford was, to put it mildly, very competitive - in each market segment you offered almost the best price-quality combination. Now that the ruble exchange rate has fallen, you have raised prices, and at the same time your market niche has changed. Focus more not a “budget” car, as many people thought of it, and the Fiesta is one of the most expensive in its class. More expensive than Volkswagen Polo. I'm not saying that Ford cars should be cheap - in Europe, a Focus 1.6 sells for almost 20 thousand euros - the same as a Golf - and it sells well. Better than their Japanese classmates, which, by the way, are cheaper there. But on Russian market We are used to something completely different. Will you have to get used to it?
Roland de Waard: Let me first explain why this happened. It's not just about the crisis - we are the first foreign companies We began to fully produce cars in Russia, and, of course, this allowed us to reduce their cost. That is, we have a competitive advantage. You can use it in different ways: you can simply receive big profit, or you can lower prices, which is what we did at one time. They reduced it as much as they could.
Now we are not the only ones who produce cars in Russia, that is, our competitors have the opportunity to lower prices to the same level. If they want it, of course. In the current situation, of course, Ford's place in the market has changed. But not at all because they have become more expensive, not at all - the price-quality ratio of the Focus remains the same as a year ago, if not better. But competitors - yes - they began to sell cars cheaper. But who said that Ford should cost less than others? How is Fiesta inferior to the same Polo?
Question: Tell me, are you happy with yours? model range? For example, Volkswagen is now sincerely happy that several years ago it was the first automaker to introduce gasoline engines with direct injection and turbocharging and dual-clutch transmission. Ford also began to move in this direction, but much later. Clearly you had other priorities. Which ones? And are you satisfied that you invested in exactly what you invested in?
Roland de Waard: To begin with, I would not say that we are far behind Volkswagen. Take the same gearboxes with two clutches - in markets where customers need such a transmission, we offer it. Moreover, our Powershift is not just a “Ford version of the DSG”, but another gearbox with its own advantages. In Russia, it is currently only available on diesel C-Max, but next year, I think, it will become truly widespread.
Now about the engines. We had such a car in the early 2000s - a Mondeo SCi - and it had a direct injection petrol engine. But at that time we decided that it was much more correct to concentrate not on gasoline, but on diesel engines. Together with Peugeot we created excellent engines, and thanks to them, the Focus became the first car in its class with CO2 emissions of less than 120 grams per kilometer. And “Fiesta” became the first with an indicator of less than 100 grams per kilometer!
The decision to focus on diesels was 100 percent correct. If only because there are more such cars sold in Europe than gasoline ones. And now the requirements for emissions diesel engines are becoming stricter, and gasoline engines, obviously waiting for a second wind. And I think we prepared for this just in time.
We also realized that making Ford a unified company is even more important now than ever before. The process has begun - new Fiesta became the first "worldwide" car. Then there will be “worldwide” technologies. The same ecoboost engines will be offered on all continents.
I would also like to say that globalization does not in any way infringe on the interests of buyers. As before we will do different cars For different markets. But despite all the differences in tastes, car owners all over the world have some common values - for example, engines with high power and low consumption fuel is a plus for American market, both for European and for any other. And the fact that we will offer ecoboost motors everywhere is not unification for the sake of unification, not a compromise, but an advantage - both for us and for consumers.
Question: Which of the currently produced Ford models is in your opinion the most successful?
Roland de Waard: Can I say that this is an incorrect question? The fact is that people need different cars, and none of them can be called the best. Although, we can probably say that our Fiesta is the most successful, because the sales results exceeded our most optimistic expectations.
Question: Shares have already been sold Jaguar companies Land Rover and Mazda, with Volvo next in line. The fact that these companies, after a change of owner, will continue to use Ford units - the same engines - is only a plus for you - the company will receive money. On the other hand, you will have to pay “strangers” - after all, now in European Ford models Both Volvo and Mazda engines are used. Do you plan to continue this cooperation or will you stop it at the first opportunity?
Roland de Waard: When we create new car, then we always start from the consumer qualities that the market needs, and not from where to get the engine or other parts for it. If suitable motor we have it - good. No - it can be purchased externally - from another company owned by Ford or even from competitors. There's nothing wrong with that - we produce diesel engines along with PSA Peugeot Citroen, together with by Fiat we produce the Ford Ka and Fiat 500 and are not shy about sharing our know-how. At the same time, despite the large number of common parts, diesel engines on our cars are configured differently than those of the French. And the Ka looks and drives very differently from a Fiat.
Simply put, you can cooperate with anyone - even with malicious competitors. The main thing is not to forget that your ultimate task is to make a real Ford and not a faceless set of units, even the most advanced ones.
Question: Experts say that in the foreseeable future there will be much fewer independent automakers - some will simply disappear, and the rest will merge with each other. Do you rule out some kind of global alliance, like Renault-Nissan?
Roland de Waard: Any company strives to ensure that its business is as efficient as possible. This is why we are building “One Ford”, this is why we are creating joint ventures for the production of cars and components - we produce the same gearbox with two clutches together with the Getrag company. For now, this synergy is enough for us, but no one knows what will happen next.
A passenger car is chosen by real people for themselves. And this is not so much a rational as an emotional choice. Therefore, there are actually more and more cars - in every segment. Remember, before there were only hatchbacks in the B-class, only sedans in the D-class, and all-wheel drive cars, with rare exceptions, were large and heavy? Now some people need crossovers, others need small sedans, and others need minivans. And there are still people - and there are a lot of them - who need a car of brand A, and not brand B. And if brand B absorbs brand A, it will not benefit from the point of view of business efficiency, but, on the contrary, will lose customers. And the number of “global” brands is now, in fact, not decreasing, but increasing. More precisely, it continues to increase. First, the Koreans entered the market, now the Chinese are rising... For now they have an unsaturated market within the country, but I am sure they will quickly cope with this and will seriously begin to conquer the world.
