Ford (F) CEO Alan Mulally spoke with FBN’s Adam Shapiro about the health of the auto industry worldwide and Ford’s aggressive growth strategy. Mulally said he believes the company’s goal to double output by mid-decade is “very reasonable” based on “the strength of the automobile industry coming back.” However when asked if he would be around through 2015 to see the project through, Mulally would only comment that he is “honored to be serving Ford and I don’t have any plans but to do that.” Excerpts from the interview can be found below, courtesy of Fox Business Network.
On whether he will remain CEO through 2015 to see expansion plans through:
“I am honored to be serving Ford and I don’t have any plans but to do that. I love serving Ford.”
On whether the company’s growth strategy, trying to double output by mid-decade, is realistic:
“It’s very reasonable. It’s based on the strength of the automobile industry coming back. Ford is well positioned in markets around the world.”
On how he plans to break Ford out of the $13-15 stock price range:
“I am not going to comment on the stock price itself. We need to focus on creating a growing business and the stock price will follow. This is a very uncertain time right now in the United States and around the world.”
On what he believes investors are looking for from Ford:
“I think they are looking for plans to profitably grow the company over time.”
On the slowdown of the market in China and how that would impact their growth plan:
“The information we provided today is based on trend data for economic development and the automobile industry. We would always deal with any cyclicals inside of that.”
On what the dip in sales of Fiesta in the U.S. says about the overall market for the vehicle:
“Our perspective is through 2020 nearly 60% of the vehicles worldwide will be the Fiesta and Focus size. The U.S. has always had a tremendous market for smaller and medium size vehicles. In Ford’s case, we had focused on the larger SUV’s and trucks, but we made great cars round the world, which we are bringing now to the United States.”
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