The career outlook for two heads of purchasing at Detroit automakers has become a subject of intense conversation among suppliers and industry analysts.
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Tony Brown may soon find himself under pressure at Ford, while prospects are brightening for General Motors‘ Bo Andersson.
Several weeks into his new job, Ford CEO Alan Mulally is taking a hard look at how Ford manages its supplier relations. Company sources say the ex-Boeing executive believes one of the most important assets he brings to Dearborn is his expertise supervising parts manufacturers in the product development process.
Mulally is an acknowledged devotee of the Toyota production system and its implications for managing suppliers and procurement. As a result, Mulally is said to be considering bringing in Toyota hands to help with the transformation.
Meanwhile, questions have been raised about Brown’s future as head of global purchasing, say parts company executives. Some of them are sceptical about whether Brown’s much-ballyhooed Allied Business Framework is winning the hearts and minds of suppliers.
One thing that is said to have captured Mulally’s attention – Ford’s wobbly launch of the critical new Edge crossover that involved problems with some key components – a problem traced to suppliers.
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By GlobalDataMulally is not expected to bring in a big number of executives from outside, though he has already installed one key colleague from Boeing. But he might surgically implant one or two key executives lured from Toyota.
Indeed, he turned to Toyota talent while leading the turnaround of Boeing’s airplane business.
Still, another insider says Brown’s position is not seriously threatened. Historically, purchasing executives in Detroit are survivors and are rarely booted out – even when CEO-level changes are made.
“They know too much,” said one supplier executive. “And I don’t mean that in a nefarious sense. They carry too much knowledge with them. You can’t flow people in and out of those jobs.”
Bernhard back in Detroit?
Ford is one of the companies paying close attention to the career arc of Wolfgang Bernhard.
In fact, senior executives at all three Detroit companies are paying attention to the situation surrounding the Volkswagen brand boss. For now Bernhard appears to be staying put at VW, but he is not expected to remain because new group CEO Martin Winterkorn plans to run the VW brand himself.
In Detroit, speculation about Bernhard is running high. For example, there is the notion that the ex-Chrysler COO may be the man to replace Bob Lutz as General Motors’ product czar.
Lutz, 74, is expected to retire sooner rather than later. For one thing if he calls it quits in the near future, he would be leaving while more or less on top. GM’s state of affairs has improved in the last six months. There are some product successes (at least moderate successes) to boast about and the pipeline looks promising – certainly much more so than Ford’s. But because of his youth, Bernhard has a shot at running any company he works for.
At GM, that would put him on a collision course with CFO Fritz Henderson in the competition to become Rick Wagoner’s eventual successor.
In the meantime, another possible contender has emerged in the GM CEO sweepstakes – and it’s a surprise: Bo Andersson.
The GM purchasing head not only weathered his own political storms inside GM earlier this year, but is being touted as one of the chief architects of the company’s improved bottom line in 2006. GM’s launch of the GMT900 SUVs and, now, pickup trucks hase come off smoothly, even though the program was sped up last year.
With Carlos Ghosn no longer a factor at GM there is renewed interest in the succession plan and Andersson has clearly entered the picture.
He is young enough at 52 to be considered a possible CEO. The more likely scenario, however, is that Andersson will end up as President and COO alongside a Henderson CEO-ship in a post-Wagoner GM.
Bernhard, though, would be a spoiler in this picture.
Finally, there is the “Bernhard goes back to Chrysler” scenario to consider. Some insiders at Chrysler are concerned that the improved relations that Peter Rosenfeld has achieved with suppliers could be endangered if Bernhard returns to Auburn Hills – as a replacement for CEO Tom LaSorda. Bernhard created turmoil with vendors a half-decade ago. But Chrysler’s situation has deteriorated so much since Bernhard left in early 2004 that some company officials think that his stellar product planning and hard line approach to suppliers make up precisely the kind of medicine Chrysler needs today.
Edmund Chew
edmund.chew@supplierbusiness.com
