Tag Archives: Farley

News

Ford CEO: We will not make “a Mustang that’s not a Mustang”

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Jim Farley, president and CEO of Ford, has simply certified thirteenth.

It’s 2pm and we’re on the 81st Goodwood Members’ Meeting, the place the Ford Mustang 289 V8 that Farley is sharing with Britain’s Steve Soper, the previous BTCC ace, has completed within the prime half of a stellar 30-car subject in qualifying for the inaugural Ken Miles Cup.

It’s a particular one-make occasion staged to mark the sixtieth anniversary of the Mustang’s launch.

Farley’s lap occasions are a second or so behind Soper’s and he isn’t happy, even though that is really prodigious efficiency. At 62, Farley is driving an unfamiliar and really potent automotive on a really quick monitor that he has tackled solely as soon as earlier than. And though he loves racing, Farley actually doesn’t have a lot time for it, on condition that his day job is to steer a £180 billion Detroit-based firm whose 177,000 workers construct 4.4 million vehicles a 12 months.

The following day, in a 50-minute, two-driver race, the Farley/Soper automotive will cross the road in thirteenth place in a congested and action-packed contest stuffed with present and former greats, and not using a single mark on its gleaming blue bodywork, though a lot of the notchback Mustangs round it have had some type of ‘tap’. Again, it’s a creditable efficiency.

Today, nevertheless, sitting behind the pits in a folding chair, comfy in his driving gear, Farley’s thoughts could be very a lot on the Mustang’s industrial features and particularly its future.

He is deeply happy with the truth that the mannequin has been such a spine of Ford progress (“not many things in this industry last 60 years”) and particularly of the truth that a dangerous determination to globalise Mustang gross sales, made round 2015 initially of Farley’s personal two-year stint as president of Ford of Europe, has resulted in far more prominence and success for the historically American pony automotive.

Despite the truth that Ford has many big-volume electric car programmes underneath means, starting from the large American F-150 Lightning pick-up truck to Europe’s compact Explorer crossover, which is able to quickly be launched, Farley needs to emphasize the significance of the Mustang, which in future will seem in quite a lot of new iterations – doubtlessly together with a four-door model – however all of them with the identical “performance and attitude” of present variations.

Motorsport

This Secret Ford F-150 Lightning Will Climb Pikes Peak

During Ford’s big party in Charlotte to kick off the 2024 racing season, firm CEO Jim Farley revealed a brand new “EV demonstrator” would deal with Pikes Peak. Details on that car weren’t talked about, and for probably the most half, they nonetheless aren’t talked about. However, we no less than know it is going to be an F-150 Lightning. But it will not something you may see on the native Ford dealership.

Ford shared a single teaser picture on social media on Friday, exhibiting the entrance of a car hiding underneath covers. It’s low, large, and there is a wild wing on the again just like the one on the bonkers electrical SuperVan. In truth, if Ford did not particularly say this was an F-150 Lightning, our minds would leap on to some SuperVan iteration past the present 4.2 mannequin. But this can be a truck, and clearly, Ford is making use of among the classes discovered from its supremely quick van.


Motorsport

Ford Is Designing A Low-Cost EV Platform To Battle The Tesla Model 3

Ford CEO Jim Farley revealed right this moment in an earnings name {that a} previously-unknown “skunkworks team” has been engaged on growth of a brand new EV platform. This crew — which Farley mentioned operated as a “startup” exterior of the standard firm construction for the previous two years — centered on creating a low-cost electrical platform. This new versatile platform goes to be the premise for a number of upcoming automobiles.

While specifics of those new automobiles are obscure, Farley famous this platform’s primary purpose is low price. He famous that EV patrons, as soon as bought on electrification, stay loyal to EVs, however up-front bills have made the transition slower than initially anticipated. The new platform, Farley defined, is meant to fight “affordable Teslas and Chinese OEMs”, which he sees as the last word opponents within the EV market.

This comes at a time when Tesla’s Model Y undercuts Ford’s Mustang Mach-E by a number of thousand {dollars}, and Tesla’s most cost-effective car — the Model 3 sedan — is cheaper by virtually $8,000. Despite being a few of Ford’s costlier automobiles, the corporate has not turned a revenue on them, as an alternative shedding $4.7 billion {dollars} on EVs in 2023. This means the brand new skunkworks-developed platform will deal with revenue from any angle.

To this finish, Farley famous the brand new platform will probably be “a large install base for software and services.” Specific providers weren’t talked about, however at the moment, Ford provides its hands-free driving system, BlueCruise, for $75 a month. Ford Pro — the corporate’s fleet and work-focused truck division — noticed virtually 50% progress in 2023 in software program subscriptions (for issues resembling car telematics and charging patterns), and Ford executives stress that subscriptions are high-profit. It’s doable this new technology of EVs coming in 2026 — which firm officers have mentioned must be worthwhile, not like the present technology so far  — will department out and provide extra subscriptions. That may very well be dangerous information for these of you who need to pay for your heated seats once.