Ford Motor Company expects to significantly improve the profitability of its small vehicles by using the same parts in cars sold in Europe and North America, the automaker said Wednesday.
Ford is in the midst of restructuring its operations in the face of a sharp drop in sales in its home market amid high gasoline prices and stiff competition from Asian automakers.
It plans to introduce six smaller vehicles already selling well in Europe by 2012 to the North American market, which is experiencing a dramatic shift away from trucks and sport utility vehicles.
“Ford is playing to win and lead in small cars,” said Mark Fields, Ford's president of the Americas.
“And we are doing so by centralizing our global engineering and vehicle program responsibilities to ensure quality launches and by basing flexible small-car assembly facilities in North America to allow for quick response to market dynamics.”
Ford's global product plan will increase parts commonality between the European and North American Focus from approximately 20 percent today to 90 percent in the coming years, Fields said.
This will deliver a double-digit percentage profit improvement on the vehicle, Fields said at the Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City, Michigan.
Ford is also reducing manufacturing complexity by slashing the different order combinations available to customers by more than 90 percent.
Fields said the automaker is also forming a new customer connectivity team to accelerate its leadership in smart in-car technology such as navigation systems, traffic updates and satellite radio.
Ford also is speeding the introduction of its fuel-efficient EcoBoost engine technology and four-cylinder engines, boosting hybrid production and converting three existing truck and SUV plants for small car production, with the first conversion beginning this December.
“We at Ford see this year's consumer shift to smaller vehicles as an opportunity and one that Ford is uniquely positioned to answer using the strength of our European small car lineup and our fast-moving global product plan,” Fields said.
“We plan to answer the call with dynamic, fun-to-drive small cars – and we intend to make them profitably.”
