SVT Lives

Mark Fields, Ford Motor Co.'s president-The Americas and the man leading the auto maker's Way Forward restructuring program, says he is “pleased with the progress” of the 2-month-old program so far.

“But it remains a long journey,” he says of the program rolled out in January. “It's like rewiring a house with the electricity on.”

Fields points to the slowdown in Ford's market-share erosion as evidence the company is heading in the right direction.

Saying you can't cost-cut your way to prosperity, Fields says Ford is investing in new products, including performance vehicles through its Specialty Vehicle Team (SVT) operation.

Under SVT, there will be one performance Mustang and one performance truck in the lineup going forward, he says, one of the three tiers in Ford's approach to performance that includes what Fields calls “personalized performance” vehicles and its racing programs.

Fields didn't say when the SVT truck arrives, but he says the two planned SVT models should sell in the 5,000- to 10,000-unit range annually.

In addition, having now identified five plants for closure, Ford must choose two more to adhere to its Way Forward plan.

The auto maker announces that its assembly sites in Norfolk, VA, and Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN, will be idled in 2008. Sites in Atlanta, St. Louis and Wixom, MI, were previously identified for closure.

As part of Way Forward, the auto maker has set a target of reducing its manufacturing capacity by 1.2 million units within four years. This would be accomplished by closing seven North American assembly plants.