Life of a Storyteller
FORD
2017
Ford Motor Company, one of the world’s largest automotive manufacturers, founded by Henry Ford at the age of 39 in June 1903 (113 Years ago), headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. Ford sells automobiles and commercial vehicles and most luxury cars under the Lincoln brand. Ford owns a 2.1% stake in Mazda of Japan, an 8% stake in Aston Martin of UK, and a 49% stake in Jiangling of China.
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Ford also has several joint ventures, One in Taiwan (Ford Lio Ho), one in China (ChanganFord), one in Russian (Ford Sollers), one in Thailand (AutoAlliance Thailand), and one in Turkey (Ford Otosan). Ford is listed on NYSE, and it has been in continuous family control over 100 years.
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Ford has manufacturing operations in six continents. In Europe alone there are 35 factories located in nine countries. In the UK, Ford employs around 14,200 people at ten different locations. It has led the UK market in car sales for over 28 consecutive years.
Challenges:
During the Financial crisis at the beginning of the 21st century, Ford was close to bankruptcy, provide real-time supply chain and visibility, and to improve performance and accountability was the biggest challenge for Ford.
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In the year of 2006, the automaker reported the most extensive annual loss of $12.7 billion, and it estimated that it would not return on profitability until 2009. In the second quarter of 2007, Ford surprised Wall Street by posting a $750 million profit.
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On June 2, 2008, Ford sold its Jaguar and Land Rover operations to Tata Motors for $2.3 billion.
Marketing Strategies:
A strategy is a carefully considered plan devised to help a company to meet its objective. An approach can relate to the company’s brand, its meeting, or how it meets the customer’s needs.
Ford has two objectives in its sponsorship strategy.
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One is to reinforce and further build the ford brand.
The other one is to achieve excellent communication between ford and its customers.
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Ford is associated with a sporting event such as the UEFA champion league; Ford is able to reach its target customers for nine months every year directly.
Products and Services:
1. Automobiles:
Ford sells a broad range of motors under the Ford marque worldwide, and a variety of luxury automobiles under Lincoln marque in the United States. Currently, Ford has Three Marques:
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Ford Marque, in the origin of the United States, owned 1903-present, and it is available around the globe.
Lincoln Marque, in the origin of the United States, owned 1922-present and is only available in North America and the Middle East.
Troller Marque in the origin of Brazil owned 2007-Present and only available in Brazil.
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And there were some other and former marques such as Mercury, Edsel, Merkur, Jaguar, Aston Martin, Volvo, Land Rover, Mazda, and FPV.
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2. Trucks:
Ford has produced trucks since 1908, and It starts producing trucks with the Model Ford TT, Model AA, and BB. From the late 1940s to 1970s, Ford’s Ford F-Series was used as the base for light trucks for North America.
Ford Build heavy trucks for North America Market such as:​
Ford F-650, Ford L9000, Ford LNT9000, Ford LT9000, Ford FT900, Ford LT8000, and Ford LT7000
3. Buses:
Ford manufactured complete buses in the company’s early history, but now the role of the ford has changed to that of second stage manufacturer.
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In 1936, Ford buses were based on truck bodies such as Model B, Model T, and F-105 School bus, but later Ford introduced Ford Transit Bus, a series of small transit buses. Then there were City Transit buses, City Transit Buses, and Transit buses.
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Later in Europe, Ford Manufactures the Ford Transit minibus with the models include EM, N-138, and D series buses.
Ford also manufactures Ford Tractors, Automotive Components, and Ford offers automotive finance through Ford Motor Credit Company (Financial Services).
Ford Motorsport:
Ford is one of the three American constructors to win the FIA World Championships. Ford won the World Rally Championship and World Sportscar Championship three times.
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1. Stock Car Racing:
The mid-size Fusion represents Ford in the Sprint Cup Series, Mustang in the Xfinity Series, and by the F-150 in the Campaign world truck series. Ford Thunderbirds, Mercury Montego, Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II, Mercury, Ford Torino, and Talladega was one the most successful aerodynamics fastback on NASCAR’s Ford.
Formula One:
Ford entered Formula One as a constructor in 2000 under the Jaguar Racing name. Ford-Badged engines won 176 Grand Prix between 1967 to 2003 for teams such as Team Lotus and MacLaren.
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In 2004, Ford sold Jaguar Racing (Which Became Red Bull Racing) and Cosworth (to Gerald Forsythe and Kevin Kalkhoven) and withdrew from the category.
Sports Car:
Ford sports cars have been visible in the world of sports cars since 1964. In the 1960s, GT40 won the 24 Hours of Le Mans Four times. Ford also won the 1968 International Championship with GT40 and also won the Team Title in the 2008 FIA GT3 European Championship.
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Ford won the manufacturers championship in the Koni Challenge Series, and HyperSport drivers Joe Foster and Steve Maxwell won the driver's title in a Mustang GT.
