Sources close to Ford Motor Company have communicated CEO Alan Mulally’s lack of interest in merging the Dearborn, Michigan, automaker with General Motors. A source close to Mulally said that Ford and GM had discussed a potential tie-up, but that the talks had never got far because Mulally and Ford were uninterested.
The source told the Detroit News that the discussions were “more an expression of interest, as in, ‘Do you want to talk?’” According to the newspaper, Ford ’s answer was simply, “No.”
Mulally has long suggested that Toyota is his model for success. The automaker has thrived as a lean company with close ties between its global operations. Divesting Ford of Jaguar , Land Rover and now possibly Mazda, certainly keeps Ford and Mulally consistent with the Toyota model. Anything other than technology collaborations between Ford and longtime rival GM would be quite contrary to the automaker’s actions so far.
