Ford Reveals Special Editions, Surprise Call From Trump

Moments after two new special edition Ford Mustangs roared onto the stage at a Thursday night media event ahead of the Detroit Auto Show opening, the automaker’s CEO also revealed the details of a surprise phone call from President-elect Donald Trump to chairman Bill Ford.

The subject was partnership rather than adversarial.

“The message is simple. Ford is the number one auto builder. We produce more vehicles in the United States than anyone. We export more vehicles than anyone. We have the most UAW workers than anyone. We are America's car company,” Ford Motor Company Jim Farley told reporters. “Let's work together to make our industry stronger. We have a lot of policy decisions today, from tariffs, CO2 policy, and we can work together to make our industry stronger.”

But there are concerns that Trump’s threatened tariffs on foreign imports, especially from China could adversely affect automakers such as Ford that source many of its parts from other countries.

“Even though Ford’s the number one assembler vehicles in the United States by a long shot, a lot of our supply chain depends on countries around the world, and so tariffs are really challenging for any company,” Farley said. “We'll work with the administration through these very difficult times of a global economy that's starting to change, and I'm very optimistic, based on our conversations and that we'll be able to make a lot of progress.”

The Ford executive is also looking for the automaker to improve its quality, while reducing the number of costly recalls.

Indeed, he called the “quality journey” for the company “rewarding but challenging,” pointing out recalls were reduced by 20% over the last few years. However, the focus on quality is going beyond recalls as the company looks at the long-term powertrain quality.

“We’re investing a lot now in more robust transmissions and engines, different kinds of hybrid systems,” he said.

As evidence Ford is attempting to appeal to a wider market, the automaker rolled out a stage-full of special edition SUVs, pickup trucks and the two Mustangs.

Among the special edition pickups and SUVs were the hybrid Maverick Lobo, a small pickup truck, Bronco Sport Sasquatch, Bronco Stroppe, a tribute to vehicle builder Phil Stroppe, Expedition Tremor and Ranger Raptor.

But the two stars of the show were the black-and-white-striped Mustang RTR, built for drift racing and the 815 horsepower Mustang GTD Spirit of America, with a top speed of 202 miles per hour.

The stage full of special edition vehicles is indicative of the direction Ford is headed in terms of variety of styles, powertrains, technology and functions, Farley announced during the formal presentation.

“We're going to give customers the most choice when it comes to powertrain and lifestyles, and there is so much more to come. Why? Because we are working on the next generation of breakthrough electric and software-defined vehicles at the company as we speak, and they'll be launching in the coming years,” said Farley.

The special editions are all fun ideas and help maintain interest in the various models, and one expert says the Mustangs are especially helpful for the legendary pony car that’s seeing most interest of late in its battery electric version

“It seems like a natural fit there to kind of boost interest in Mustang, which has been lagging a little bit from the gas only Mustang,” said Mike Hanley, senior road test editor at vehicle shopping and research site Cars.com, in an interview.

Perhaps one of the most surprising omissions from program was the absence of a battery-electric special edition.

But Hanley says, that makes sense.

“Ford has already slowed production of their EVs to kind of match the market. Because, as we're seeing, inventory is increasing on our site compared to where it been and where it was and how EVs were in short supply. Now there are good supplies,” Hanley observed. “They're trying to really find that balance, I think, of what the consumer appetite for it is going to be.”

Ford is building a new ultra-modern advance product development center not far from its Dearborn, Michigan headquarters.

It’s all in keeping with what Farley said is the company’s overall mantra as it attempts to dream up vehicles it thinks consumers will desire in the future.

“Rule number one at Ford, no boring products, and you saw them here tonight. That's our simple rule.”