Farley Wants More Fords Soon

Ford is looking for ways to speed up the introduction of its next generation of vehicles, says the company's new vice president of marketing and communications.

Jim Farley, hired away from Toyota by Ford, was in the process of revamping the company's marketing effort, which he says is too centralized. He's also in the process of streamlining the presentation of option packages and dealing with Ford's dismal sales numbers for 2007.

Ford's sales dropped twelve percent last year, more than those of any other major automaker, and the company wound up yielding the number-two spot in sales to Farley's old employer Toyota, which sold 2.62 million vehicles to Ford's 2.57 million units.

The 45-year-old Farley was recruited by Ford from the fast track at Toyota, where he had blazed through a series of assignments and promotions over the past decade, presiding over the launches of the Scion brand and the new Tundra pickup truck.

Speeding up the recovery
Since joining Ford in November, Farley has gone through an immersion in Ford's corporate culture and it's clear his marketing portfolio has been stretched to give him influence on product planning and product development.

However, Farley also said the company was looking at its global product portfolio for additional vehicles that could be sold in the United States. He is particularly eager to shore up the company's position in the "B and C" or subcompact and compact car segments, he said. With gasoline prices topping $3 per gallon, subcompacts and compacts have been gaining buyers for the past couple of years and are expected to grow again in 2008 and 2009 as consumers grapple with higher fuel prices.

The upcoming North American International Auto Show is vital for Ford because it will offer a chance to show Ford's latest hardware, including the F-Series pickup truck, which has been revamped completely in face of the new challenges. Farley didn't outline any specific goals for the show but he made it clear he wants the show to leave an impression.

Still, the challenges at Ford are daunting. General Motors' turnaround appears to be gaining momentum. Ford will have to go several more months without any new products in the showroom, noted Tom Libby of J.D. Power & Associates.

© Source: thecarconnection.
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GM's Project Alpha Takes Shape

General Motors' plan for a new family of midsize, rear-wheel-drive cars is beginning to take shape, with the lead vehicle — an RWD successor to the Pontiac G6 — penciled in for a late 2010 intro, Inside Line has learned.

The platform, called Alpha, also will underpin several other models in North America and Europe, beginning in model-year 2011, according to GM suppliers. Alpha reportedly has been designed to use bits of the Kappa platform on which the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky are based.

Replacements for the front-wheel-drive Cadillac BLS sedan and wagon, based on the rear-drive Alpha architecture, are due in early 2011. At that time, the car may be introduced in North America, where it would be slotted below the CTS in size and price, with stickers starting in the high $20,000s.

In model-year 2012, Saturn is slated to get an Alpha-based sedan, which may supplement rather than replace the front-wheel-drive Aura. The RWD Saturn four-door body will be shared with Opel and Holden, GM insiders tell IL.

However, GM still has significant plans for several of its existing front-wheel-drive midsize sedans. The old W-body platform (also known internally as MS2000) is being phased out after 2010. A successor to the W-body Buick LaCrosse, rebadged as the Regal, will shift to the Epsilon 2 platform in early 2009, followed by a redesigned Aura in late 2009. The new Epsilon-based Regal, according to IL sources, will be built and sold in both North America and China, with virtually identical sheet metal.

The Malibu gets a significant redesign this fall but isn't scheduled to move to the Epsilon 2 architecture until late 2010. About the time the last of the old W-body models — the Chevrolet Impala (rebadged as the Impala Classic) — is put out to pasture, Chevrolet may create a long-wheelbase, six-passenger companion to the Epsilon-based Malibu, to serve customers and fleets who prefer front-wheel drive and may shy away from the new RWD Impala that's coming in mid-2010. Chevy reportedly would pit this large FWD four-door against the Ford Taurus (née Five Hundred).

In Europe, replacements for the Saab 9-5 and 9-3 will shift to Epsilon 2, in mid-2009 and mid-2010, respectively. Opel and Daewoo also will have future products based on the same architecture.

© Source: insideline
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