58 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 14 AUGUST 2019
Bill Ford: check the hubcaps...
BILL FORD KNOWS plenty of specific Ford facts
but he doesn’t use them in interviews. After 20
years as chairman of the car company his great-
grandfather founded 116 years ago and 40 years as
an employee, the 62-year-old learned long ago that
the most important job “the guy with his name
on the hubcaps” could do was to keep his eye on
the big picture and nudge the company into new
directions when necessary.
This he started early. Not long after he joined the
c ompa ny, t h i s g r e at-g r a nd s on of b ot h He n r y Ford
and Harvey Firestone astonished industry lifers by
taking a serious view of green issues, encouraging
and supporting research into biofuel and hydrogen
models, among other things. In his own words
he was “branded a bit of a heretic”. Speaking
in London a year after he became chairman,
he reckoned the day was coming when Ford
would embrace car sharing. Soon afterwards, he
persuaded the company to convert Ford’s historic
River Rouge assembly plant to green operation.
`
This is absolutely
the most interesting
time in my 40 years
with the company
a
Then in 2011, as part of a TED talk, he outlined
many initiatives the industry is enacting today.
“My opi n ion w a s t h at t he bu si ne s s mo de l s w e
were using back then weren’t going to work much
longer, but that the industry wasn’t prepared for
it, or even aware,” he says. “Since then we’ve seen
a huge transition, and it’s all coming to pass now.
This is absolutely the most interesting time in my
40 years with the company. I just wish I was 20
a ga i n , b e c au s e of w h at ’s h app e n i n g.”
Happily for Mustang owners, Ford’s optimism
extends to the future of sports cars, which he
unashamedly loves owning and driving (he’s
understood to have several dozen ’Stangs) and
has passed to his children: “Some people choose
to see a kind of dystopian future, full of self-driving
cars with no human input. I prefer to see an era ofultimate choice. For a long time yet we’re going to
l i v e i n a k i nd of du a l w orld , f u l l of c a r s a nd t r uc k s
muc h a s w e k now t he m now, but w it h s e l f- d r i v i n g
vehicles being built as well. Eventually things will
change completely.”
As part of his role as a thought-leader, Bill
Ford sees bringing other thought-leaders to the
company as part of his role. He found and hired
the distinguished ex-Boeing CEO Alan Mulally for
a n e i g ht-y e a r t e r m t h at pr o duc e d t he ‘O ne Ford’
philosophy, helping carry the company through
the global recession of 2008-2010 as the only
Big Three company to avoid bankruptcy and a
government bail-out.
Ji m Ha c k e t t , t he l at e s t Bi l l Ford app oi nt e e t o t he
president/CEO’s position, has brought extreme
customer focus to the Blue Oval since 2017,
pr oba bl y b e c au s e t h at i s Bi l l Ford’s m a nt r a a s w e l l:
“O ne Ford s t a nd a rd i s e d e v e r y t h i n g,” he s ay s.
“It did a lot of good, but maybe it went a bit too far.
One size doesn’t fit all.“So recently we’ve gone for more customisation,
keeping the customer’s requirements at the
c e nt r e of e v e r y t h i n g. It ’s e a s y t o f a l l i n lov e w it h
technology and give people stuff they don’t need or
even understand. You’ve got to ask: are we making
things easier, better, more fun? Are we putting
t i me ba c k i nt o t he i r l i v e s? I f t he a n s w e r i s no, w e
probably shouldn’t be doing it.”
For now, Bill Ford believes Ford’s concentration
should be on new-era powertrains and f lexible
platforms. It’s not so important that Americans
still overwhelmingly prefer trucks and big SUVs,
with their weight and aero penalties. “Silhouettes
c a n c h a n ge a s t i me go e s on ,” he s ay s. “ T he y ’r e
the easiest bits. Our Mustang-based sports car for
2020 is already showing the future. Some people
Bill Ford instigated the station refurbishmen
t planBill^ Ford^ (right)^ took^
an early industry^lead^ on^ green^ issues^