Ford CEO Says Company Is “Turning The Corner” After Lackluster 2018

Ford chief executive Jim Hackett says that the car manufacturer is “turning the corner” after a disappointing 2018, Auto News reports.

Speaking at the Detroit Economic Club, the man who replaced Mark Fields at the helm of the Blue Oval admitted that “no one in the company was proud” after profit margin fell to 4.4 per cent from 6.1 per cent the previous year. Hackett addressed this in an end-of-year letter to employees.

“My reason for writing about it was not to tell them they did a bad job. It was to tell myself I can be better. I’m telling myself I can’t have another year like that. Not that I’m worried about getting fired; it’s like, who wants to spend their time being average?” Hackett wrote.

“We’re turning the corner. Just trust me on this. You’re going to be reading a lot about Ford performance going forward.”

Hackett believes he has put Ford in such a position that it’s capable of getting through a recession and also says that he has helped drastically reduce delivery times of new vehicles.

Speaking on the issue of autonomous vehicles, Hackett said that Ford intends on introducing a dedicated self-driving vehicle for commercial use that’ll go on sale in 2021. This vehicle will be used with Domino’s Pizza and Postmates to facilitate autonomous grocery deliveries.

“We’ve overestimated the arrival of autonomous vehicles. We’ll be ready, but its application’s going to be narrow, what we call ‘geofenced,’ because the problem is so complex. When we break through it, it will change the way your toothpaste is delivered,” Hackett commented.