Ford confirms their plan to shed Land Rover and Jaguar and to build fewer V-6 cars. Part of Ford’s effort to regain share and profitability centers on reducing the number of vehicle platforms by 40% over the next five years. If all goes according to plan, 70% of Ford vehicles will be built on just ten platforms.
According to Ford’s product development chief, Derrick Kuzak, the company will reduce the number of six cylinder engines it produces from eight to two and the number of seat frames from 28 to 2.
The new strategy focuses on returning Ford to quality leadership for the core Blue Oval marquee. It does not involve leadership in the luxury segment. Although Ford confirmed plans to shed Land Rover and Jaguar, they are not selling their controlling interest in Japanese automaker Mazda…
Here’s the link to an interesting article on the tribulations of Ford and the efforts of CEO Alan Mulally to rescue the troubled automaker:
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070823/AUTO01/708230444
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