Top executives at Ford Motor Co. believe that the One Ford strategy that helped them recover from the ailing situation in North America would also work to turn around its loss-making operations in Europe. The company last week disclosed that they expect their financial losses in Europe to increase to more than $1 billion in 2012, almost double the amount they had forecasted. The company’s continued losses in Europe ate away its overall profits, causing the carmaker’s net income for the second quarter of 2012 to drop 57 percent.Ford CEO Alan Mulally told analysts and reporters that the company could duplicate the success of its One Ford plan in Europe. Company executives are bent on salvaging the carmaker’s operations in Europe, which account for a quarter of Ford’s global sales.
Also, the company’s European operations contribute a lot to Ford's vehicle development. Under One Ford, the company will develop and engineer all its vehicles worldwide to meet a few common themes by using shared platforms and parts. Overall, Ford wants its vehicles to be fun to drive, economical, safe, and with high quality and advanced technological features.
Ford’s European operation is responsible for developing small gasoline and diesel engines that would play a vital role in making Ford vehicles fuel-efficient. In fact, all 1.6- and 2.0-liter EcoBoost engines used in North American vehicles came from Europe. Also several platforms and vehicles sold in North America are exported from Europe, including the platforms for the Ford Fiesta and Focus.
