The Ford Motor Company (popularly known as Ford) was founded in 1903 by Henry Ford.

It is a
multinational automotive company based in Dearborn, Michigan, USA with about 201,000
employees and 62 plants worldwide. The companys core business includes designing,
manufacturing, marketing and servicing a full line of Ford cars, trucks and Sport Utility Vehicles
(SUVs), as well as electrified vehicles (Ford Motor Company, 2017).

Ford maintains a strong market with a vehicle manufacturing share of 7.3% in the fiscal year of
2016. Operations are globally located in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South America, Middle
East and Africa. It maintains a sixth position amongst car manufacturers in the world in terms of
sales (Kennedy, 2017).

Ford acquired Jaguar in 1989, Lincoln Motor Company in 1992, Automobile Craiova in 2008, Livio
Radio in 2013, SAIPS in 2016, and Chariot in 2016 (Ford Motor Company, 2017).

To expand its business model, Ford is aggressively investing in electrification where electricity is
used instead of fuel. Ford also invested in autonomy aiming to produce self-driven vehicles.
Additionally, Ford has invested in mobility introducing, Ford Smart Mobility LLC, a new subsidiary to
design and invest in emerging mobility service thinking that in the future many consumers may opt
to pay for autonomous rides through mobile apps instead of owning vehicles (Ford Motor
Company, 2017).

1. The companys strong brand presence and sound financial position indicate many satisfied
costumers are continuously loyal to Ford (Rowland, 2017). In 2016, Ford reported $151.8
billion revenue and $4.6 billion net income with market capitalisation of more than $44.9
billion as of July 2017 (CSIMarket, 2017).
2. The companys significant investments in research and development is a winning strategy in
product innovations, building new and better vehicles such as the all-new GT, F-150 pick-up
and F150 trucks (Ford Motor Company SWOT Analysis, 2017).
3. The companys robust portfolio of automotive products such as Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, and
Volvo gives the company a competitive edge in the motor business (Ford Motor Company
SWOT Analysis, 2017).
1. Negative reputation - Ford issued recalls on some of their car models which have affected
the companys image. Recently, Ford F-Series trucks including the best-selling F-150 have
been recalled for transmission issues related to an output speed sensor, affecting 202,000
trucks (Unrau, 2016).
2. The inability to match the production capabilities or the sales volume against other motor
companies which produced twice their number suggesting they need to operate more
efficiently (Rowland, 2017).
3. The company is highly dependent of pick-up truck sales which happen to have limited
attraction in other regions particularly outside rural areas in North America (PESTLE
Analysis, 2015).

1. The expansion of the business through the establishment of new plants could help meet
customers demands and boost the companys financial position (Ford Motor Company,
2017).
2. The growth of new automotive technology, such as Hybrid Electric and Fuel Cell Vehicles,
increase peoples interest in automobiles which are environmentally friendly as they avoid
carbon emissions (Ford Motor Company, 2017).
3. The increase in e-commerce has resulted in increased demand for the commercial delivery
vehicles which Ford supplies especially the Transit-connect work vans (PESTLE Analysis,
2015).

1. The competitiveness of the market especially with Toyota and Volkswagen limits
manufacturers ability to raise prices which can negatively affect their market share and
profits (Ford Motor Company, 2017).
2. The laws and regulation governing in different regions may affect the companys
performance such as fuel guidelines and levels of carbon emissions (Ford Motor Company,
2017).
3. The inconsistency in foreign currency may influence the markets profitability (Ford Motor
Company, 2017).
Being a global brand, is an advantage to introduce new products and for business expansions in the
other countries and regions. The companys investment in research and development can
contribute to the emergence of new technologies. The increasing demands for transport as a result
of e-commerce orders benefit Ford because of the range of delivery vehicles.

Its greatest weakness, the recall issues undeniably had a negative impact in its image and can also
endanger its position in the market. In terms of production volume, several factors can affect it, one
of which are the laws and regulations of the region. Also, the focus on the success of the pick-up
truck sales may overshadow the promotion and innovation of other products. Further,
inconsistencies in foreign currencies can impact negatively on Fords profitability because of the
large number of exports they need to assemble one product.

Based on SWOT analysis, Ford needs to focus on three strategic priorities: accelerating the pace of
progress; manufacturing product excellence; and driving timely innovation. These priorities can be
done through Fords One Ford plan, a unified approach where each plan supports the others to
generate sustainable and profitable growth. Ford also strengthens its research and development to
continuously monitor risks and opportunities (Ford Motor Company, 2017).

Ford is making a production-strategy shift away from sedans toward SUVs and crossovers due to
the increasing customers' preference to multi-use vehicles that are safer, more fuel-efficient, and
more fun to drive (Selesky and Kelleher 2017).

Ford is partnering with Amazon, Samsung and Sygic to address technology developments and to
offer new technologies that will work on the touchscreens of 2018-model vehicles. In addition, Ford
and Toyota are forming a non-profit consortium to focus on developing an industry standard for in-
vehicle apps (Burden, Wayland, and Laing, 2017).

Another strategy is upholding social responsibility which helps strengthen its image in the eyes of
stakeholders especially the government and society. Ford Driving Skills for Life program addresses
the issue of safe driving in the community which focuses on teenager novice drivers, is an example
of social responsibility. Ford designed Blueprint for Sustainability that focuses on their products
environmental footprint, and addressing global issues linked to economic development and
environmental sustainability (Ford Motor Company, 2017).

Moreover, knowledge in currency hedging may lessen the risk of profit depreciation by purchasing
high volume of parts when the foreign currency is in their favour. This should address the threat
from foreign currency inconsistencies, although it will result in high capital investment at certain
times.

Making great vehicles is no longer enough to compete in the automobile industry. Ford needs to
adapt and transform to meet the challenges of changing customers demands, government
regulations and environmental controls. Although Ford is ranked at sixth position amongst top ten
automobile companies, this doesnt mean that the management should already be confident and
complacent. There are reasons why Ford is not ahead of the top five, and that should challenge the
company to improve even more.

Ford should proactively respond to both internal and external issues by leveraging its strengths,
reducing its weaknesses, utilizing its opportunities and overcoming its threats. Otherwise, Ford will
face consequences such as increasing threats and weaknesses.

The success of Fords investments in e-commerce, electrification, autonomy and mobility, relies on
how it adapts to change in a timely manner. Implications for change management are necessary
and can be done through immediate and effective planning having recognised threats and
opportunities. To achieve this, it needs to have a clear pathway for managing change. Such a
pathway could be Kotters 8-step change model (Cohen and Kotter, 2012). This includes, once the
need for change is recognised to form powerful coalitions or groups of like-minded people to drive
the change, creating a clear vision of what changes are for, communicating this to staff and other
stakeholders to empower action, rewarding short-term wins, consolidating and continuing
improvements and embedding these processes to the companys culture. If Ford gets it right, there
will be tremendous opportunities. Through this, Ford will be able to ensure solid growth and fortifies
its market presence.
References

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http://csimarket.com/stocks/singleY_growth_rates.php?code=F&rev

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Ford Motor Company (2017a). Acquisitions. Retrieved August 04, 2017, from
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/ford/acquisitions

Ford Motor Company (2017b). Annual Report. Retrieved from

http://shareholder.ford.com/~/media/Files/F/Ford-IR/annual-report/2016-annual-report.pdf

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http://pestleanalysis.com/swot-analysis-of-ford/

Rowland, C. (2017). Ford motor company SWOT analysis. Retrieved from http://panmore.com/ford-
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Segarra, L. M. (2017). Ford just issued another recall for over 400,000 cars. Retrieved from
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