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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Innovation key to thriving in modern auto market: Ford
COLE BREILAND / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Lauren More, vice-president of communications for Ford of Canada, stands with the new Ford Escape.
FORD of Canada is trying to stay several steps ahead -- of both the competition and its union.
Lauren More, Ford Motor Company of Canada Ltd.'s vice-president of communications, was in Winnipeg Thursday showing off the company's newly designed 2013 Escape -- the largest-selling compact SUV in Canada for eight years running.
She said the fact the company has totally revamped a vehicle that has been the leader in its category for eight years indicates Ford's commitment to continually improving.
"The global landscape is changing so quickly, you have to look outside the borders all the time and keep innovating," she said.
Ford continues to hold its ranking as the top auto manufacturer in Canada since 2010. In July it posted its best sales in that month in three decades and More said the industry is back on its feet and is expecting sales growth of about two per cent annually for the next couple of years.
"The fact that we have maintained our sales leadership in that environment is a sign to us that some of the investment we have made and the restructuring decisions we made are really beginning to pay off," she said.
One of the things Ford came to realize is transforming the company had to be based on having great product.
"Product development in the auto industry takes a few years," she said. "Now we're seeing the fruits of that."
The company believes the new Escape is a good example of those efforts. As well as building it on the same platform that will be used around the world, it has 11 technologies exclusive to the compact SUV category.
Among some of the innovations included in the model are active park assistance, a blind-spot system that highlights items not seen in driver's mirrors, adaptive cruise control and cross traffic alerts.
While bringing in cutting-edge technology, Ford is also dealing with an age-old problem: union negotiations. The CAW is in the process of negotiating new contracts with the country's Big Three automakers.
"The major restructuring has occurred, but it's a very competitive landscape and that's one of the things we are talking about when we sit down with the CAW over next few weeks," More said.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 24, 2012 B4
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