Ford CEO admission

[JABIII]

Ford CEO Farley tells retired engineers fixing quality will 'take several years'
Also says that that until it's fixed, 'nothing else matters'

JONATHON RAMSEY
Dec 18th 2022

After a number of years of recalls troubling warranty costs, Ford hired former J.D. Power VP Josh Halliburton in March of this year to be executive director of quality. In November, Halliburton got a new boss, Ford moving longtime product development exec Jim Baumbick into the role of chief transformation and quality officer to replace Stuart Rowley. Having just called the audible, it's going to take Ford time to execute the play. Ford Authority reports that when CEO Jim Farley recently spoke to the Ford Retired Engineering Executives (FREE) group, he told them, "Fixing quality is my No. 1 priority ... It is the most important initiative in the whole company. And it’s going to take several years."

Farley's already been on the mission for a couple of years, and things aren't much better now than when he officially became Ford's CEO on October 1, 2020. One of the pillars of his company strategy was improving quality. According to Detroit Free Press figures, Ford Motor Company spent $3.923 billion in warranty costs in 2020 for 4.19 million cars sold globally, nearly $2 billion more than GM in a year where auto factories had to shut down for two months. Consumer Reports' Annual Reliability Study rated the Ford brand 22nd out of 26 automakers in 2020, Lincoln pulling up in the caboose at 26th. In 2021, things got worse, Ford spending $3.952 billion on warranty claims for 3.94 million cars sold — and those two years were massive improvements over 2018 and 2019. Ford did climb two spots in CR's reliability survey, Lincoln remained last. This year's a bit mixed, Lincoln reaching 10th place on the CR survey, Ford at 18th, the same place it held in 2021, and both brands moving up slightly in CR's Brand Report. However, Ford has had 46 recalls covering 6.8 million vehicles through the first seven months of this year, more than triple the next brand, Tesla, nearly five times GM in third. And CR rates bread-and-butter models like the Explorer and F-150 below average for reliability, so too the in-demand Mustang Mach-E, and says, "All other Fords are average."

As Farley told the engineers, "We didn’t lose [quality] in just one or two years," and as everyone who's been sick knows, getting back to health almost always takes longer than getting sick. In comments about the issue to other audiences, reportage has always mentioned Farley's connecting the warranty issues to customer unhappiness and Ford's bottom line. This time, it was apparently all about Job One. "Until we fix quality," he told the engineers, "nothing else matters."

https://www.autoblog.com/2022/12/18/...ost-important/

[jwilliams]

Sounds promising. Honesty. I like it

[turbo]

Good stuff.

We live by SQuaCS in my world. Safety, quality, cost, and service.

If you take care of the first two, the other two take care of themselves.

[Fireman]

Ive owned my F-150 for 14 years.. I am somewhat in the market for a new truck, and sadly it won't be another F150 partly due to the quality, but mostly due to the price. I can get in a damn nice 3/4 ton for the same price.

[trkykilr]

Ive owned my F-150 for 14 years.. I am somewhat in the market for a new truck, and sadly it won't be another F150 partly due to the quality, but mostly due to the price. I can get in a damn nice 3/4 ton for the same price.

What is a “quality” 3/4 ton?

[Saltydog235]

Ive owned my F-150 for 14 years.. I am somewhat in the market for a new truck, and sadly it won't be another F150 partly due to the quality, but mostly due to the price. I can get in a damn nice 3/4 ton for the same price.

That 3/4 Ton has increased by the same percentage margin or more as the F150. Dang trucks cost as much as my first house now. Crazy.

[Fireman]

I can basically purchase a 4x4 ecoboost F150 XLT for the same price as a F250 7.3gas XLT. Its a no brainer. Goes the same with Chev/GMC and dodge in the 3/4 ton gasser market.

Im strictly talking gas 3/4 tons... Diesel is a different animal.

[Maggie Glover]

Still hard to believe that Chris Farley's brother is running Ford Motor Company. Elon said that Ford and many others are close to bankruptcy as they transition to electric while making the point that Tesla has no such transition to make. Ford was cash rich and was the only US car company that did not request funds during the 2008 problems. They did take some after they were told they should and promptly paid them back.

Between Farley threatening the dealers and admitting quality issues, it is a wonder that he does not sleep standing up. MG

[turbo]

Still hard to believe that Chris Farley's brother is running Ford Motor Company. Elon said that Ford and many others are close to bankruptcy as they transition to electric while making the point that Tesla has no such transition to make. Ford was cash rich and was the only US car company that did not request funds during the 2008 problems. They did take some after they were told they should and promptly paid them back.

Between Farley threatening the dealers and admitting quality issues, it is a wonder that he does not sleep standing up. MG

His stance on right and wrong and the stance that Ford took in 2008 is the exact reason that I will only buy Ford. Regardless of what some online ranking service says, Ford's quality is no worse than any of the other big guys (ask KRT).

That and, outside of that old Nova that I put together in high school, I've never owned anything else. My wife has a Highlander. She'll probably be in an Expedition within the year.

[willyworm]

What Turbo said. I try to place my loyalty in businesses whose values align with mine. Ever since the "too big to fail" bailout debacle I've firmly been a "screw GM" advocate. They rightly ran their business directly into the ground and paid their execs record bonuses to do it while us taxpayers picked up the tab.

I don't think I'll ever own another modern Chevy/GM vehicle. But I'd rightly own a 68 Camaro. I have an odd soft spot for those cars. Maybe one day...

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[willyworm]

And good on them for looking in the mirror to admit problems exist and actively do something about it.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[JABIII]

Ford is paying Bronco buyers big money to buy a different vehicle. According to incentive bulletins sent to dealers, the American automaker is compensating 2023 Bronco buyers with a $2,500 discount for canceling their order and buying a different vehicle, or when choosing one less affected by supply chain constraints.

First, the 2023-Model Bronco Cancel Order & Purchase Replacement Offer offers what Ford calls "an additional incentive to cancel their current 23MY Bronco Order and retail order an eligible 23MY Ford vehicle." The $2,500 incentive is available on vehicles with sales dates through April 3, 2023, on 7 different models.

Eligible 2023 Fords include the Escape, Bronco Sport, Edge, Explorer, Expedition, Ranger, and F-150. There aren't many exclusions, though some noteworthy omissions include the F-150 Tremor and Raptor. It's important to note that the deal in question is limited to new orders rather than in-stock vehicles.

Specifically, that means giving up the MIC hardtop option, the Lux Package, and the Sasquatch Package. The fine print states that customers "may choose" to remove these options and keep the same trim, but adds that Wildtrack buyers "may change" to a Big Bend, Badlands, or Outer Banks and remove these features.

If you're a Bronco buyer, getting anything less than what you ordered could be disappointing. However, this isn't the first time that Ford has offered to compensate Bronco buyers for production delays. As we reported around this time last year, Ford offered Bronco price protection for unfilled orders from the prior year.

Before that, Ford told dealers to get creative with keeping Bronco buyers happy amid early delays with a $1,000 allowance for gifts and free bourbon. Bargain hunters should know that Jeep is offering big discounts this month on the 2022 Gladiator truck with $5,000 in rebates on the Overland trim here in California.

https://www.carsdirect.com/deals-art...ge-their-minds