Ford Motor Co. CEO, Alan Mulally has said that the company expects to make “solid profit” this year and moreover has plans to invest over $2 billion in the UK over the next half a decade. He further stated that he expects not only solid performance in 2010, but to have improved performance and positive free cash flow in 2011.
Some are questioning whether the manufacturing giant can continue to be profitable, given the rise in commodity prices, but Ford was the only one of the ‘Detroit Three’ of powerhouse motor manufacturers not to ask for government help or file for bankruptcy during the recession, so is in a better place than most to realize profits.
The motor industry was one of the most heavily subsidized during the recession, with the government handing out huge bailout packages, subsidizing the cost of new vehicles and employing ‘scrapping’ incentives to get older cars of the roads and stimulate demand for new vehicles.
Mulally believes that the government initiatives where effective and maintains they did more than simple pull demand forward. Ford plans to release its ‘greener’ electric car model in late 2011 or early 2012, however Mulally has said he believes there is more work to be done on diesel and petrol combustion engines to make them more efficient. Electric cars come with their own set of problems and are not the solution in its entirety, according to Mulally.
Ford is also looking into hydrogen engines however their focus is also on cleaning up how technologies are developed, as Mullaly believes clean technology needs to be clean all the way down the line.
