Can anyone name any successful (which means generating positive revenue) project launched by FLV or any of this group that proceeded him by five years (about $10 BILLION ago)???
If we shut down an expensive group of people that are only trying to dream up new things, without success, would other employees not come up with new things outside this special group?
@1nck here. I told you so!!!
Farewell Farley and Franck! Wall Street's investors have sent a clear message and warning to Bill Ford, the BoD and the Ford family, Remove Farley Immediately. Ford stock continues to tumble, its moving towards junk status with SELL alerts. Shareholders are aware and furious over the money wasted at Next; they're DEMANDING ACCOUNTABILITY.
Franck has FAILED. Canopy and Moran are FAILS. Time they are all exposed and held responsible.
@2hpq+1li44S5y You are dead on with your comments. @1lwr+1li44S5y you need to layoff the CRACK. I retired last year. Hired in the late 80s. A previous BLOG Post said it best. In any large company you will always have politics, Friends of the family, quotas etc...But the one thing that was there back then was there were supervision that knew the product and the commodities for which they were in charge of. Since Ford 2000 those negative items I listed have over taken the ones who knew what they were doing.
I am not bashing minorities or women because to tell the truth my best boss was a black female she knew the product and the commodity for which she was in charge of. great boss. but when an LL5 slot came up it went to a FoF. My first boss was a minority but had a heavy background in Aerospace electronics. So as long as you have competent management or leaders the troops will preform.
But when you have incompetent people things start to come undone. Decisions are based on political or cost vs actual resolving the issue.
I heard a VP three years ago made a comment about how we have the same starter on F-Series as GM but our starter cost more because of our design specs. Now this VP did not work in the original Truck organization in building 1. But it was because of those specs that we were number one. Back then Truck played to win not second fiddle like the current management team does. Now look what that mindset has done to this company? The recalls, and decisions based on cost than function and value. You want a cost saving idea. Get rid of TVM. My daughter had an offer form Ford. We talked her into going elsewhere. If I have a kid in college ask me my opinion I tell them to look out of state.
The current CEO has nothing he can take credit for. We lost market share, left car segments, our complexity has gone through the roof and yet now he claims we have to much complexity. Where has his head been? When I hear senior management say things like that I want to pu-e. They need to look in the mirror and that includes some of those who left the past couple years. They were fat d-mb and happy when they were in charge when it came time to actually do something they all dropped the ball.
Sad to see this happen. but it was not an overnight process.
@1nzc+1li44S5y "That they greenlit and funded so many ideas which should never have survived a single spitballing session is a testament to the dearth of intellectual and creative ability in that organization"
It is a testament to the dearth of intellectual and creative ability of MANAGEMENT. I bet that what I am about to say is very common at Ford because it happens to me and other engineers around. Managers skip the technical advice provided by the engineers and develop their "own solutions", which are shortsighted, suboptimal, and in many cases just plain wrong. Then engineers have to spend time and effort (a lot) making sure these "solutions" work, because managers refuse to change their decisions.
How many times engineers asked for more time and were denied because we had to meet the arbitrary deadlines? How many times engineers found issues with new products/parts, but we still went ahead with those to production? How many times managers didn't listen to the proper advice and increased complexity, outsourced critical manpower, selected the wrong supplier/part, hired the incorrect person for the job?
Engineers at Ford were overworked and fighting an uphill battle, but we still stood until 2019. That's when we realized we were not wanted anymore. In 2022, we were "untrainable". In 2023, we're 25% too many. The company fired lots of engineers, and we replaced them with foreigners outside NA, or friends and family good for nothing, or even more managers.
Some of the engineers were fired, but many left by their own: retired, quitted, found another job. The remaining are looking for another company, while reducing their workload and responsibilities. Managers believe that engineers are terrified for their jobs, and that's why we are not fighting their stupid decisions anymore. They couldn't be more wrong. We don't have time to fight for a lost cause. We now dedicate ourselves to polish our skills, update our resume and find another job.
@1lwr+1li44S5y. You can't be serious. No one considers Ford leadership to be best in class. Most of Model E is contacting friends at GM looking for openings.
@1lwr describe ideas you refer to in “FordNext has some ideas that will disrupt the mobility landscape like no others in the space, and Model e will deliver to the masses” you refer to.” YOU CANNOT!
What Leadership? No strategies are presented. Objectives are loose and not defined. Perpetual iteration instead of flawless execution. Poor communication. FLV hasn't demonstrated any competency, nor have his Directors. Shareholders are well aware and are demanding accountability.
Btw, Canopy was ridiculed and laughed at CES.
I still cannot believe how many people here have no faith in our leadership, which is among the best in class for an automotive/mobility/services company.
Posting privileged information on future endeavors here in public is not helping the company either, it hurts the company.
FordNext has some ideas that will disrupt the mobility landscape like no others in the space, and Model e will deliver to the masses. Just watch.
During the Hackett days Ford started calling itself a 'mobility' company. We bought Chariot (did nothing with it but let it run into the ground and then shut it down). And I remember people talking about getting into the 'rental scooter' market. The ones that hipsters ride on the sidewalk. This comment about the e-bike doesn't surprise me at all - for all the wrong reasons...
Contrary to what's been posted, it looks like Ford Next has a genius strategy that will reap HUGE profits for Ford. They have a job posted for 'Marketing Lead – eBikes'...brilliant!
What do you Th!nk?
That they greenlit and funded so many ideas which should never have survived a single spitballing session is a testament to the dearth of intellectual and creative ability in that organization. Everything they produce which is imitative is inferior to what already exists, and that which is not imitative is fundamentally weak and lacking in vitality. I can't believe they become genuinely excited about what they're producing. Why create things that excite no one?
@ 1nck Farley wouldn’t like CM if he’d heard the comments he made about Farleys capabilities when he was sent to India last year.
@1nck+1li44S5y
If so, it is indicative of our problems. Promoting people because they are likable even though they are not qualified for their current role is how we get to where we lose $2 Billion even though our competitors earned billions. CM’s CV would be embarrassing to publish. His entire career is Ford, with zero accomplishments.
@1nck hopefully not, especially won’t happen if Farley is gone.
JF likes CM. CM will LL2 this year.
@rvo+1li44S5y that exposes the fact that while they are supposed to be the future of Ford, nobody has heard of them. They have zero accomplishments that add to revenue.
So how does this get fixed? Does FLV put CM and RM on PEPs before or after Farley puts FLV on a PEP? Or does FLV take responsibility and exit, leaving CM or RM to be on PEPs or to be promoted to replace him? Hmmmm…
@glb+1li44S5y OP’s question was “Can anyone name any successful (which means generating positive revenue) project launched by FLV or any of this group…?” Since you did not name one, apparently you are unaware of any? You made OP’s point.
Franck Louis - Victor and his Directors need to be terminated immediately. Not only have they wasted billions of dollars to research so-called services and mobility; they are unable to bring to market any of their ' products.'
Prior to Next, there was Ford Smart Mobility with Hackett as its leader. Another EPIC FAIL. All the talk and patience in developing tech for ' connected cities ' went nowhere. Google all the keynotes from CES, NAIAS, etc. After Hackett connived his way to CEO after Mark screwed up a deal with Google/ Waymo for AV dev, Raj Rao took the reigns at FSM and once again, HUGE DRAIN OF $$$$$ with nothing to show. Chariot, SPIN, Ford Bikes, AV Llc, etc ALL FAILS. What's concerning are other OEMS and non-automotive companies have brought to market profitable business, GM's Brightdrop, Lyft BikeShare, Uber's partnership with Motional for AV rides, Cruise AV, Zoox AV, ... you get the idea. Leadership at NEXT must be held accountable. FLV couldnt wait to eliminate Scott Griffith ( the only leader who dev a successful business ). Mo--n... oops Moran is desperately attempting to pitch Canopy; it was laughed at CES! Moser's empire was decimated ( he's out, his only accomplishment is a poor wireless connection for HP printers, laughable ), loosing headcount to j Park. Adding insult are the incompetence and arrogance of D(umb) Ford. Pathetic that Wired publishes a feature on the Lightning's frunk, off all things thats the only thing Wired can highlight?????? Tesla, Hyundai, GM all have great frunks as well as EVs that don't receive 'no build ' actions! We own the truck market, we know our customers better than anyone and we throw it all away because of ' how might we ' bull$hit. Wall street made it crystal clear to Mr Bill Ford, FIRE FARLEY NOW. Damn right we have too many employees and most of them are at Next!
@wee+1li44S5y - I wish I could give more than one upvote. I agree with you 100%. Especially the comment about engineers being un-traumable. I think it was definitely a targeted hit...
@glb+1li44S5y - I dont think anyone would argue that R&D is a necessary and important part of a successful company. But there is a point of diminishing returns. And we are at that point - and way beyond. Look at what happened with Ford AV. They were treated the way Next is being treated. Money just being thrown at it. They were spun off just so their expenses - without revenue generation - wouldn't be held against our balance sheets. And senior leadership kept at it until it imploded. A slower, or more thought out approach may have been successful - or st the very least, not hemorrhaged so much money before imploding...
@glb Have you ever seen a company go from making sewing machines to making jet engines overnight? The answer is no because it doesnt work. You have to rely on your bread and butter for revenue while you are gearing up and developing jet engine expertise. All of this BEV focus is fine but its happening with unrealistic timelines. And do not buy into Farley's BS about all these engineers being untrainable. These are people with BSME or BSEE degrees and they arent trainable. Are you kidding me? This is all about getting rid of older people. The board and executive leadership of this company are an embarrassment.
Not true. I'll ask you this, how can the company have any future without development of new ideas and features for our customers? That is just one role of FordNext.
New tech does not fall out of trees or gets developed out of thin air. Be patient.
I have no idea what Ford Next is and at this point I'm too afraid to ask.