New York Auto Show: Ford Chief Stresses Growth as Crucial to Success

In a brief keynote address to open the New York auto show Wednesday morning, Alan Mulally, Ford’s chief executive, outlined a succinct philosophy for the automaker’s future: essentially, if you’re not growing, then you’re in trouble.

“I took my vision from the founder himself, Henry Ford, when he said in 1925 that he wanted to open the highways to all mankind,” Mr. Mulally said. “Ford had indeed become a global brand, but we had to work more closely together as a company to harness our intellectual capability worldwide.”

Mr. Mulally’s decision to shed brands like Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover and, just this week, Volvo, was essential to “creating a laser-like focus on Ford, Lincoln and Mercury, which was 85 percent of our volume anyway. We had to divest our product mix of everything else.”

That under way, he said, “We needed to take out a little ‘home improvement loan.’ ” Ford borrowed as much money as it could in 2006 before credit markets froze. The company originally sought $10 billion and ultimately secured $23 billion. It was enough to pull the company through the “worst recession since the Depression,” Mr. Mulally noted.

“I am very pleased to say that we respected all of our debt holders and our stockholders,” he said, in an apparent reference to General Motors and Chrysler, which filed for bankruptcy last year and asked for financial bailouts from the federal government to restructure and survive.

“During a time when many of our competitors pulled back, we actually accelerated new development,” Mr. Mulally said. “Now I feel it’s going pretty well. If you want to be in the car business these days, Ford is a good place to be. We are better positioned for the future than ever before. Market share is increasing. Our credit ratings are moving up. We are paying down debt.”

The biggest challenge facing Ford, Mr. Mulally reiterated several times, is domestic manufacturing. “America needs to have a continuous, lifelong commitment to manufacturing in the U.S.,” he said. When he took over Ford, he noted, the company “could not make cars profitably” in the United States. “Now thanks to our partners such as the United Auto Workers and the financial industry, we can.”