Ford Motor's Chairman Bill Ford Jr. has recently called for a national energy policy saying that the auto industry together with the energy companies, government and other industries should cooperate in developing a comprehensive plan.
Chairman Ford Jr., addressing the Detroit Regional Chamber said that the auto industry is not looking for handouts nor it is trying to evade its responsibilities. On the other hand he said that he would like to move beyond the "patchwork" of current fuel-economy rules and "arbitrarily set standards."
The executive said that all of the stakeholders should help to create a more comprehensive plan for cutting carbon emissions. He also stressed that Ford is continuing to invest in cleaner, more fuel-efficient technology in spite of its restructuring program.
Chairman Ford Jr. said, "Environmental sustainability is a critical issue for our future growth and prosperity."
He further added that although the company has been able to develop the first hybrid SUV which is the Ford Escape and redeveloped its Rouge plant in Dearborn, Mich., in what he termed as "environmentally friendly way", the Chairman wishes that the company would have done more.
Chairman Ford Jr., also said during a question-and-answer session that the company "didn't stretch far enough in the past few years" on design but the new vehicles such as the Edge crossover utility and the Ford Flex are "really indicative of the kind of design we want to have in the end."
Despite the fact that Ford did well at truck and SUV design, Chairman Ford said, "I think as we started getting back to the car business, we weren't perhaps bold enough." He also said that he was "Very disappointed" by the comments made by Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-III., at his recent speech in Detroit wherein Obama has criticized the US automakers and calling them to do more to build furl-efficient vehicles.
Chairman Ford Jr., added that he would like to invite Obama to Ford's plant in Chicago "where we make a vehicle that's more fuel efficient than the one he's currently driving." He further stated that it is not only the stressed on the production of more fuel-efficient vehicles that's weighing on the US automakers but also the rising cost of health care that leaves US manufacturers at a disadvantage. "Unless, nationally, we get our arms around this, it's going to be very hard to be a manufacturer in this country of anything," he said during a question-and-answer session.
However Chairman Ford has also made it clear that he is not at all endorsing a national universal health-care system but he did say that the present system is "broken". US automakers are facing a growing burden of providing heath care for thousands of retirees and active employees. But he didn't mention just how Ford will deal with its health-care costs especially since its talks with the United Auto Workers union are getting near.
It can be remembered that Ford the producer of high quality car accessories such as has taken a big step in changing its management stature when it hired Alan Mulally who is a former Boeing Co. (BA) executive as the new Chief Executive. And just recently, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger while speaking to the same conference has made a call for a national, single-payer health-care system. Gettelfinger said, "Our continued failure to enact serious health-care reform puts U.S. companies at an enormous competitive disadvantage. All of our major trading partners, every one, have national health-care systems which deliver quality care at an affordable price."
