Commentary
Ford's Farley Talks Global Growth
- by Karl Greenberg , Staff Writer, January 26, 2014
Jim Farley, Ford's executive vice president-global marketing, sales and service spoke briefly to a small gathering of dealers and press attending the National
Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) confab about the automaker's longer-term goals worldwide. Noting that the company sold six million new vehicles last year, up 10%, and three times the growth of
the industry, he said the goal is to grow another 25% in a relatively short time frame.
"We have meaningful share increases and retail in Europe and across the globe,” Farley said, adding, “We plan to grow another 25% with a focus on small cars, the largest segment in the world globally. And we also have big plans to grow in SUVs."
He said the company is also focusing on its commercial vehicle business, with not just the trucks but with programs like Transit Connect and Transit.
"We have a whole new lineup coming globally in those vehicles," he said. "The commercial area is going through tremendous transformation. The Transit launch is furthest along in Europe. Connect is launching in Europe now."
Karl Greenberg writes about automotive, consumer-packaged-goods, sports, and travel for “Marketing Daily.” Prior to this, he was the automotive editor at "Brandweek" magazine. He was also the Internet advertising technology writer for "Adweek," and petrochemical editor at "Chemical Market Reporter". You can reach Karl at karl@mediapost.com.
