SEATTLE — The man who brought the world the Boeing 777 brought Seattle his resurrected Ford Taurus on Monday, saying the 2010 model embodies everything he’s trying to do with the car company.
Alan Mulally, the former Boeing Co. executive in charge of developing the 777 who is now Ford’s CEO, took over the new Taurus’ Labor Day debut in Seattle, giving journalists a personal test drive along Seattle’s Lake Union and even punching the turbochargers a bit along I-5.
Asked later about his favorite part of the car, Mulally said it’s what Ford calls EcoBoost, a twin-turbocharged, direct fuel-injected V-6 engine that delivers V-8 levels of horsepower with better fuel economy.
“It’s 20 percent more fuel efficient right off the top,” he said.
If there’s a car Mulally can call his own, it’s the 2010 Taurus.
Mulally likes to tell the story about how he once spent three days comparing notes with the leader of the Taurus team while still with Boeing. When Ford hired him as CEO in 2006, he said, he initiated a meeting to go over the company’s products and was stunned that the Taurus, for seven years a top seller, had been canned from the lineup.
“They said they made a couple that looked like a football and they didn’t sell many of them,” Mulally recalls.
He said he wasn’t about to waste the billions spent on Taurus brand loyalty, so he told his executives to find a car they could call a Taurus and then gave them a couple more years “to make it the finest vehicle we’ve ever made.” He believes they’ve done that with the 2010 Taurus, a full-sized sedan that starts around $25,000 and can go way up from there. The leather-lined SEL model that Mulally drove Monday costs around $32,000.
Mulally believes that the entire company, not just the Taurus, is poised for rebirth, thanks to several key factors:
Ford is shedding its other car companies and trying to focus internationally on just the Ford brand. “What was 97 nameplates is now fewer than 20,” he said. “We’re bringing all the Fords together into one complete family of vehicles.”
The company is focusing on fuel efficiency and safety and wants each of its vehicles to be the best in its class in those areas.
Asked what his experiences at Boeing have had to do with his remaking of Ford, Mulally had just one word: “Everything.”
He talked about the merger of jetmakers Boeing and McDonnell Douglas and how the combined company went from 16 model jets to four today. He’s trying to do the same thing with Ford: to simplify its products while making vehicles that people want.
“The similarity between the companies is unbelievable,” he said. “Both of them are about the consumer and the engineering and manufacturing is among the most sophisticated in the world.”
Mulally’s plan appears to be working.
While the company is still losing money, he said its growing line of fuel-efficient cars is getting a close look from consumers.
During the Cash for Clunkers program, Ford had three or four vehicles in the top 10 of U.S. sales. In the Pacific Northwest in August, sales were up 38 percent from a year ago, Mulally noted.
“Our message is that Ford is back,” he said.
Mulally called the congressional hearings on whether to give more financial aid to GM and Chrysler “a defining moment for Ford.” He said 97 percent of Americans know that Ford didn’t get a government bailout. A recent survey showed that more than 50 percent of the public were considering buying a Ford for their next vehicle.
“Ford is in a different place now,” Mulally said.
Mulally said the company will keep working to make its vehicles more fuel efficient and to use more alternative fuels like electricity or hydrogen.
Ever the cheerleader, Mulally said Ford will use its technology not to take the fun out of its cars, but to “make vehicles that are neater and neater.” During the test drive, he was particularly excited with radar technology that can tell you in your mirrors when a car has gone into your blind spot, even though you can’t see it.
“I can’t imagine not having a full set of vehicles to do whatever we want to do,” Mulally said. “I can’t imagine taking the thrill out of driving.”
Mulally declined to give advice to Boeing, which is two years behind on its newest jet, the 787.
“They should just stay at it,” he said. “They have phenomenally talented people.”
As for his own legacy at Ford, he said he would be “thrilled” to leave behind a highly profitable company after a decades-long slide.
“Having a chance to contribute to two global icons in one career is very special,” he said.
Mike Benbow: 425-339-3459, benbow@heraldnet.com.
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