Can a guy in the car around Ford?
Ford’s been in trouble since Alan Mulally left. Now, one of your carefully selected executives is in charge. The next few months and years will be fun to watch. Here’s what’s in the automotive world:
“Gordon Murray in the new T.50, his $3.09 million supercar.
Jim Farley runs with a Cobra and a GT40. He did it at Spa and Le Mans. They gave him a Lancia B20. Spend all your free time hanging out at contests and car shows. He loves going to old seaplane races. Now run Ford.
For us car enthusiasts, that can be a smart thing, right?
We’ll know: You probably heard Ford’s announcement this week that CEO Jim Hackett resigns and Farley replaces him. The automaker says Hackett and Farley will paint in combination over the next two months “to ensure a smart transition.” Ford also said Hackett remained in an advisory role until next March.
Hackett came to Ford’s furniture and made some decisions that some discovered controversial, such as abandoning almost all of Ford’s passenger cars in favor of vans and SUVs.
The Wall Street Journal wrote that Hackett has been in a restructuring effort for “more than 3 years that has not yet racked up profits or lowered the price of the automaker.” Ford’s operating profit fell three years in a row, adding a 9% drop in 2019, when the benefits of Hackett’s idea would begin to increase. In addition, Ford’s stock fell 40% under Hackett, who says the Bronco and Mustang Mach-E show that things are starting to change.
Reversing the stage is now Farley’s task, and a Ford source told us that he believes Farley brings a greater sense of urgency to work. We’re going to find out who took him to Toyota’s Ford in 2007, no less than Alan Mulally. During her years in charge, Mulally has taken a step forward in its profitability and, frankly, Ford has had problems since his departure in 2014. At the time, he called Farley “one of the most talented leaders in the industry.”
“He’s just a big hot rod fan,” hot rod hero Alex Xydias told Autoweek. Xydias, founder of So-Cal Speed Shop, met Farley years ago at the Autoweek dinner at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. “From the way Edsel (Ford II) talked about Farley at dinner, you can say he’s climbing the chain.
“He’s a businessman, no doubt, ” he told us.
“If I had to count, on the one hand, the brightest people I’ve ever worked with, the ones who were actually exclusive people who knew what was going on, would be Jim Lentz and Jim Farley.” Bryan Bergsteinsson, former boss of Lexus, told Autoweek. “Other people still different, but actually other brilliant people. Farley was looking for a new challenge. I never, never felt satisfied, I didn’t need to do the same thing over and over again,” he told us. “The most productive and brilliant are constantly reframed their work.”
Farley has new challenges! Now, Ford has a genuine guy in Ford’s guilty car. We’ll have more next week.
This week we introduced Quick Spin, our new podcast that takes you in the car with us as we provide fair reviews of all the new attractions. Quick Spin is a short weekly screen (each episode lasts approximately 15 minutes) that places you in the passenger seat during the review procedure while we make our reports with the car. Then, we’ll go into the study to prepare the reports. We’re going to drive every single thing from pedestrians to world-class super-mobiles, so take a look! Quick Spin is available on all major podcast platforms, such as Apple Podcast, Spotify and Stitcher. Watch the first 3 episodes here and pay attention to the new episodes every Wednesday!
SEMA in spite of everything did what seemed inevitable and canceled this year’s exhibition. There are discussions about a virtual exhibition similar to the one announced by CES in January at the same location as the Las Vegas Convention Center, but so far no concrete plans have been published. Cancellation is unprecedented in the 50-year history of the screen.
No one, unless McLaren F1’s author Gordon Murray can launch a new and advanced super-mobile. Frankly, if someone else had tried to make a car like that, they would have rightly mocked each other, and rightly so. The original is still at the most sensitive point in the list of superlative supercars, while the values have reached unobtainium levels. The new car is called T.50, it will charge $3.09 million and there are only one hundred under construction. As with Murray, the purpose of the T.50 is not necessarily to surprise everyone, but to be the ultimate supercarmobile perfectly balanced and fun to drive.
This Indy 500, the 104, will work without enthusiasts in the stands. The news comes two weeks after the Speedway reduced attendance to 25% due to persistent coVID-19 disorders. The occasion, of course, was postponed from its classical date in May and underwent 50% discounts on attendance before expanding to 25%.
Robin Warner spends time at the 2020 Toyota Camry TRD and enjoys the 3.5-liter V6 with herbal suction and direct injection and its 301 horsepower. He says the car is “legitimately fast” and “fun to drive.” It also says the engine has a big growl. And it’s a Camry! I’m as surprised as anyone.
THE SEMA is disabled and the Indy 500 is running without spectators, however, the 4 days of the historic Lime Rock Festival are still underway for Hard Labor Day weekend, with a weekend of occasions planned. For years, the historic track, located in the northwest quadrant of Connecticut, featured several days of old races on Friday, Saturday and Monday, while Sunday was reserved for piles of vintage cars covered by the track. This is still this year’s plan, we suggest that you stay tuned to Lime Rock’s online page for data on regional public protection similar to the pandemic before making the trip.
In this episode of the Autoweek podcast, No. 121, Wes Raynal and Wesley Wren provide Quick Spin: the moment of the podcast to register for The Autoweek Podcast Network. After a quick explanation of the new show, Raynal has a communication on the latest news from supercar manufacturer Gordon Murray. Nicknamed the T.50, this new supercar has some elements of the McLaren F1 but updated for a new generation. Raynal also communicates about the importance of the McLaren F1 in its time. After the jump, Mike Pryson and Robin Warner sign up for Wren to report on the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. The boys communicate Nico Hulkenberg’s bad luck and Lewis Hamilton’s victory. For those who didn’t watch, Hamilton finished the race after a tire failure on his last lap. Connect here, on Spotify, apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or anywhere podcasts are played.
As always, we are on the case this weekend, tracking and reporting the latest occasions from automakers and sanctioning agencies. We will continuously update the site, of course. You’ll know what happens when we do. Come back often!
Thank you for reading Autoweek and safe.