2003 Corporate Citizenship Report - Ford Motor Company

A CLOSER LOOK
F-150 according
to our Principles
The successful launch of the new Ford F-150 pickup truck was
arguably Ford’s most important accomplishment of 2003, playing a
key role in our product-led transformation and further
standardizing our quality-driven, newly installed flexible
manufacturing systems.
For more than 55 years, the Ford F-Series has delivered on its Built
Ford Tough heritage. Nearly 29 million F-Series trucks have been sold
to date. F-Series has been America’s best-selling truck for 27 years
and the country’s best-selling vehicle for 22 consecutive years.
As it neared time for a new F-150, we recognized that, to retain our
truck leadership, the 2004 F-150 would need to set a new
benchmark for the segment. In September 2003, we launched the
new truck to widespread praise. The F-150 launch has delivered on
our product-led revitalization. Here’s a look at the F-150 through
the lens of our Business Principles.
PRODUCTS AND CUSTOMERS
Why is the F-Series a perennial bestseller? We have more than 85 years of
experience selling trucks, and we understand the wants and needs of our
customers. Ford has always delivered the capability, functionality and
toughness that is a benchmark of the full-size pickup segment. In addition,
the F-Series offers the largest range of configurations in its class, appealing
to a diversity of customers.
We used the opportunity of the F-150 launch to bring the latest flexible
manufacturing technology to the three U.S. plants that make the truck.
Flexible manufacturing allows us to be quicker and more nimble in
responding to customer needs.
We rigorously implemented our manufacturing and quality processes to
ensure that the new F-150s maintained a high level of quality and
dependability. This included the equivalent of more than 5 million miles of
testing, error-proofing the manufacturing process at hundreds of points and
analyzing customer feedback on the previous F-150 to identify systems
critical to outstanding performance.
The results, as supported by the 2004 J.D. Power Initial Quality Survey, saw
the new truck launch at a quality level exceeding that of the outgoing F-150
Heritage models, with both among the top three in the segment.
ENVIRONMENT
The fuel economy performance of the new F-150 remained essentially
unchanged compared with the previous model, while size, safety features and
capabilities increased. Designers used variable cam timing in the 5.4-liter
engine and innovative new materials to help offset the impact of the additional
weight of new features and capabilities on fuel economy performance.
Because the F-150 is our highest-volume vehicle, its fuel economy
performance contributes significantly to our sales-weighted fleet
fuel economy average, and consequently our CO2
performance. Improving F-150 fuel economy would
have both customer and environmental benefits
and is important to us.
On average, the 2004 F-150 emits one-third
fewer smog-forming emissions than the 2003
model it replaced (see table above right).
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