running this business in a healthy wayFord to Unveil Global Car at Auto Show
By Ted Reed 01/11/10 - 12:01 AM EST1
Stock quotes in this article: F , TM , HMC
DETROIT (TheStreet) - Ford(F Quote) will unveil its future at the Detroit Auto Show Monday, showing the car that will be first to embody CEO Alan Mulally's "One Ford" concept.
The next-generation Ford Focus will be a global car, built the same way at plants in Europe, Chongqing, China, and Wayne, Mich. It will replace the original Focus, introduced in 1998.
The next-generation Ford Focus 5-door hatchback.
In Wayne, Ford is spending $550 million to retool a plant where it once built trucks and SUVs. Focus production will begin simultaneously in Europe and North America late this year, with individual market launches to start early in 2011. Launches in Asia, Africa and South America will follow.
In 2011, Ford will begin building a battery-powered electric Focus in Wayne, its first battery electric passenger vehicle, for sale in North America.
Besides its "One Ford" aspect, the new Focus reflects Ford's commitment to small cars. "That is absolutely where the upside is for us going forward," Mark Fields, Ford president of the Americas, told reporters at a briefing in Wayne in December.
In 2004, Ford sales were 70% trucks and SUVs, and 30% cars and crossovers. In 2009, sales were 40% trucks and SUVs and 60% cars and crossovers.
Mulally told reporters that the enhanced emphasis on energy savings is one reason consumers have newly engaged with Ford. Additionally, consumers are drawn to a company that did not seek a government bailout, accompanied by bankruptcy.
"People are so pleased we are running this business in a healthy way," Mulally said. They want to buy from a company "that really cares about a better world."