Ford CEO Mark Fields said delivering strong results is the best way for the automaker to counter the sceptics on Wall Street.
“We are not going to get discouraged,” he said at the Automotive News World Congress in Detroit. “We are going to focus on the things that drive value creation in our business. … We’re going to focus on continuing to drive the business forward. At some point we’re going to get recognised.”
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In a conversation with the title’s publisher and Editor Jason Stein, Fields discussed an array of topics involving Ford and the automotive industry:
Fields said he sees challenges from newcomers to the auto industry – such as Google and Apple – as good for customers and a “huge opportunity” for Ford. Detroit shouldn’t view Silicon Valley as a “shirts vs skins” battle. Many of the companies there can make good partners, he said, even if they also are acting increasingly like competitors in some ways.
Ford has “no regrets whatsoever” about selling its European luxury brands during the downturn. Volvo and Jaguar Land Rover both achieved record sales in 2015.
Ford will offer incentives that are “competitive and appropriate” in 2016 but won’t blindly chase market share if rivals increase discounts.
Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk “has done a very good job at putting electrified vehicles on the map,” Fields said. “He tweets a lot, which is interesting.”
The most important lesson Fields learned from his predecessor, Alan Mulally, was “the power of positive leadership.” He said Ford has been most productive by “getting people to work together in a positive way, not a negative way, and not with fear or power.”
Our interview with Fields in Detroit
