Ubiquitous

Paul Ingrassia’s piece makes point about being amused with Alan Mulally’s “obsession” with PowerPoint presentations.  I’m not sure that Paul has this right.  Mr. Mulally seemed happy to produce many of the PowerPoint slides used during his weekly Business Planning Reviews (BPR’s, always an acronym in Fordspeak) to illustrate many “proof points” on Ford’s progress, to be true.  On the other hand, what other CEO, automotive or otherwise, is more comfortable in making major policy addresses without benefit of a PowerPoint presentation or a script? As a journalist, perhaps Mr. Ingrassia is not familiar with the very ubiquity of Bill Gates’s own curse to the world of business, the PowerPoint presentation. The Microsoft Office application is the lingua franca of modern business, I’m afraid.  GM’s government overseers, if you recall, had problems in that for every issue they had with GM was responded to by stacks of PowerPoints.  

So, rather than a slave to the presentation, Mr. Mulally is comfortable on his feet.  This makes him approachable and charming.  And most important to the media, he ends up being quotable.  He asked not to be quoted when he said at the Automotive News World Congress that it was important to have a plan “for when the shit hits the fan”.  Perhaps not surprisingly, he was quoted verbatim.  It is hard not to like someone who speaks plainly, forcefully, and makes sense all at the same time.

The automotive world itself is getting rather thin on the ground for quotable and likable leaders.  While the all-time leader has been Bob Lutz in this town for decades, he had always had plenty of help.  Lee Iacocca was no slouch on the personality front, whether he was riding high or not.  Tom Gale, Tom Stallkamp and Francois Castaing were reliably happy to be pithy and optimistic as well, strong support for Mr. Lutz while he was at Chrysler.  At GM, Rick Wagoner may not have had the punch of a Bob Lutz, but he felt comfortable in front of a crowd or media audience and while not a true personality, he had gravitas.  

These days, we hardly remember Bob Nardelli and Jim Press at Chrysler.  Fritz Henderson had a bubbly personality, but was let go by the sepulchral, and impatient, Ed Whitacre.  Sergio Marchionne has a towering intellect and a quick wit, but also has dozens of direct reports, at least two global full time jobs and a daily “to-do” list so long as to keep him out of the public eye.  In many ways, one can see Signore Marchionne’s deep knowledge as intimidating to most journalists, while Mr. Mulally projects a kind of American folksy optimism that is eminently approachable.

So, on one hand we have the kind of person that spontaneously e-mails TV personalities and conveys an infectious optimism and enthusiasm as against a number of either intimidating or workmanlike counterparts elsewhere in Detroit.  Guess who gets the ink, or the electrons?

The key though, is that the enthusiasm is genuine.  There’s the old observation about Bill Clinton, that “sincerity is the most important thing, and once you can fake that you’ve got it made.”  The aura surrounding Alan Mulally seems authentic, and he is consistently upbeat and genuine.  In other words, while others tried to force themselves into the conversation, like Mr. Iacocca and his autobiography, Mr. Mulally is propelled by his enthusiasm, approachability and optimism.

Given the dearth of leaders, too, people are trying to fill the vacuum.  It’s no secret that the collapse of GM and Chrysler has left the auto industry without many people to look up to.  Further, surrogates at other firms are equally hard to come by.  At the moment, Akio Toyoda is struggling to regain his company’s momentum.  VW, while selling a lot of Golfs in a Europe awash with scrappage plans, is hardly looked upon as a leader.  At Hyundai, Chairman Chung Mong-Koo has just been ordered to pay $60 million in embezzled funds back to the company by South Korean courts.

It is natural that industry people, industry and business media, and perhaps even the occasional politician would gravitate to the likeable and amiable Mulally.

That’s not to say Alan Mulally doesn’t have worries.  According to Mr. Ingrassia, competitors VW, Honda, Hyundai, the wounded Toyota and even (to some extent) GM are on Mr. Mulally’s radar screen.  This makes sense, as industry leadership is up for grabs among all these suspects, with the exception of smallish Honda.  Who will lead in terms of sales, production, market cap and profits is pretty much wide open at the moment.  Toyota had barely squeaked by GM in terms of sales and production in 2008, while having a traditional lead in profits.  The recent economic downturn, the overall decline in sales and production as well as recent issues with Toyota have meant that the title “world’s leading auto maker” is up for grabs and is in a state of flux.

Other worries include Ford’s debt vis a vis GM and Chrysler, relative weakness in UAW agreements versus government owned GM and UAW-owned Chrysler.  Mr. Ingrassia devotes a paragraph or two to troubles Lincoln has in competing with Cadillac.  In a delicious and apt turn of phrase, he says that while Cadillac’s design has attracted followers (God only knows why, in my opinion) Lincolns have adopted a “face” reminiscent of “the prow of an ancient Athenian warship”.  Cadillac, with its Klingon look, enjoys a 30% lead over Lincoln in the market.

Overall, though, Mr. Mulally says he’d rather have his problems than either Mr. Whitacre’s or Signore Marchionne’s.  The final point to this essay, and emphasizing Mr. Mulally’s point, is a glimpse into the future.

Ford has managed to take a slim lead in the race for “business leadership”, as Toyota has slipped, and VW, Hyundai, and GM can’t claim any special qualities.  When it comes to “product leadership”, Ford has been on a roll, but the best is yet to come as Euro Fords begin to roll into Ford showrooms this summer with the Fiesta and later with the stunning new Focus.  There are so many new Fords coming, that even Mercury has been spared, as there may be too many to fit under the Blue Oval,

Further, while Ford is bringing its guns to bear on the car and crossover markets none of the competitors, with the exception of GM, have the chops to play in the U.S. truck market.  The only credible threat may have been a Chrysler-Nissan tie-in, but the government brought an end to that by greasing the skids for Marchionne’s Fiat, despite past contracts made with Carlos Ghosn’s Nissan-Renault alliance.  Ford dominates America’s big market, trucks, while none of the competitors can assail this profit-laden citadel. Toyota’s and Nissan’s otherwise impressive Tundra and Titan models haven’t made a dent, while VW and Hyundai don’t have offerings, while Honda has struck out with the Ridgeline, Crosstour and Acura ZDX.

Yes, Mr. Mulally’s enthusiasm is infectious, and the media is looking for a leader.  While Ford has a number of issues to confront, its prospects look promising.  When I ran into Mr. Mulally at the Automotive News World Congress, he introduced me to Vinnie Johnson of the Pistons.  Alan explained that he was a fan of the Microwave when he played with the Supersonics in Seattle and joked that he had “followed Vinnie here to Detroit.”  At that, I turned to Mr. Johnson, tapped him on the chest and said, “Don’t you leave town.”