And so it is no different in China. They love the smaller vehicles, but they also like the medium and the larger ones, also. We have great operations in Chongqing, as you mentioned, also in Nanjing, and also Nanchang. And we’ll continue to expand our operations there and also expand our product line to be able to support that full line up of vehicles.
Brendan: So, finally, I think we talked about this last time, but Millenials is obviously a big thing for all automakers right now. We’re seeing less millennials buying cars, also less millennials getting their licences. How does Ford attack that? Do you do anything actively to go seek them out or do you say, “When they come to the market, that’s when we’re really going to focus on that?” And how do you see that playing out long term? Is this a big deal?
Alan: Well, I think it is a big deal, because clearly it’s going to be a very important part of our market going forward, and we really have spent a lot of time understanding what they want and what they value.
And it’s interesting because at the most fundamental level, they want the finest quality, they want the best fuel efficiency, they want the latest safety features, but they also want a really smart design that allows them to be seamlessly connected to the Internet, which why you’ve seen us with our Sync, for example, with voice activation, hands on the wheel, eyes on the road, but also being seamlessly connected to the Internet using your own smart device, to be a really important part of our technology plan for the young generation, younger generation, and the response we’ve got is phenomenal, because you can get all that capability into the smaller sized vehicles: so the Fiesta, and the Focus, and the Fusion, and the response we’ve been getting from those customers is just fantastic.
Brendan: Great. My last question is just the future of manufacturing. I know you guys are doing a lot of innovative things, especially with the F series, with aluminum. How do you guys see that playing out longer term, and is 3-D printing something that Ford can use heavily in this space?
Alan: Well, just about 3-D printing, I think absolutely. Everything associated with being able to make products and use less time and less resources is going to be always very, very important for manufacturing and the car industry in particular.
I think that manufacturing is so important, and as we’ve talked about, it’s important to every country around the world, it’s the foundation for economic development, for energy independence and security, but also for environmental sustainability.
I’m just so pleased that in the United States, but also in our operations around the world, the public-private partnership, to be able to continue improve each country’s competitiveness, and also manufacturing be a foundation of economic development, it’s really gratifying to see the leaders’ appreciation of that today.
Brendan: Great. Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford, thank you so much for your time.
Alan: You’re welcome. Thank you.
The article An Interview With Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Brendan Byrnes.
Brendan Byrnes owns shares of Ford. The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of Ford.
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