With all talk of Ford ’s “Bold Moves” and “Way Forward” branded restructuring plans, many observers continue to wonder what these revolutionary products will be, and, more importantly: when will they arrive? In a recent Detroit Free Press column, Mark Phelan said any sign of Ford’s product transformation at the hands of development boss Derrick Kuzak “is still at least two years away.” Kuzak has had some influence on the new Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX , but the first “real evidence” will arrive as concept cars at auto shows this year and next.
Today, Ford ’s Mark Fields told reporters much the same thing. Fields was asked if the automaker was considering “crash” programs that would shorten the development process. “Sometimes if we rush things just for the sake of time, there’s a tendency to cut corners,” he said. “I want to make sure that we’re very careful about that and not let the organization get ahead of itself. [...] We have to stabilize the business right now [...] We have to pick our shots on where we want to go out, and we have to get the business back to consistent profitability.”
