Ford 2009 Annual Report Download - page 12

10 Ford Motor Company | 2009 Annual Report
With Ford working aggressively to improve its balance sheet,
major transformations to its manufacturing footprint are
taking shape. Rather than relying just on a regional supplier
base, Ford is partnering with international suppliers to drive
cost efficiencies and establish consistent levels of quality and
craftsmanship. When it came time to build the company’s first
ONE Ford global product, the next-generation Ford Focus,
executives, engineers and plant workers in North America,
Europe and Asia gathered in front of huge projection screens
to put the car together virtually piece by piece. Focus will be
sold in 122 countries, based on the C-platform, with projected
production of 2 million vehicles a year by 2012.
The new Galaxy and S-MAX are the first European Ford models to
benefit from the company’s global family of turbocharged, direct-
injected EcoBoost engines, which deliver impressive fuel economy
and low CO2 emissions. The Galaxy and S-MAX are built alongside
the Mondeo at Ford of Europe’s Genk facility in Belgium, a highly
sophisticated, lean and flexible manufacturing factory that ensures
Ford can respond very quickly to changes in customer demand.
In 2009, Ford Motor Credit Company celebrated 50 years as Ford’s global
financial services subsidiary, providing focused support of Ford dealers
and customers.
Ford Credit’s profits and dividends support development of new cars
and trucks.
Strong and enduring dealer relationships are a Ford Credit hallmark,
including that with Stuart Powell Ford (above) in Kentucky. Ford and
Ford Credit representatives honored Powell (standing third from left)
for his 49-year association with Ford Credit.
The drive for customer loyalty began with Ford Credit’s first retail customers,
the Indiana couple (seated at left in the photo below). Ford Credit continues to
bring customers back to Ford today.
“When Ford formed Ford Credit, we
created a global partner dedicated
to the sale of Ford cars and trucks –
a very smart move,” Ford President
and CEO Alan Mulally said. “Ford
Credit is more than ever a strategic
asset to Ford.”
As Ford introduces a new generation of global products, the company’s ONE
Ford strategy is clearly evident in its assembly plants. Taking advantage of
global demand means scaling up the company’s manufacturing operations to
produce the first of these global products – the next-generation Ford Focus –
with universally high levels of craftsmanship, quality and efficiency all around
the world. In Wayne, Mich., one of three North American truck plants is being
retooled to build fuel-efficient global small cars, and in Chongqing, China,
Changan Ford Mazda Automobile broke ground in September for a state-of-the-
art and highly flexible passenger car plant scheduled for completion in 2012 as
the new home for Focus in China.
Meanwhile, the integrated manufacturing facility in Chennai, India, saw a $550
million expansion to begin production of the new Ford Figo for that country’s vast
small car market using environmentally friendlier processes like the three-wet,
high-solids paint application.
´Ford Credit at 50 ´
Global Expansion and Manufacturing
S-MAX Trend 5-seat
Strong
Business
Groundbreaking at the Changan Ford Mazda Automobile Plant, Chongqing, China