IT’S STILL ABOUT THE PRODUCT, STUPID.

By Peter M. DeLorenzo

Detroit. Since the swirling maelstrom has been turned up to “11” as the global auto industry gets sucked into the throes of COVID-19, it might help to remember that there is nothing more important right now in this business than the product. 

If you’ve frequented these pages, you know that this is one of the founding mantras of The High-Octane Truth: Outstanding products are simply the lifeblood of this business. It’s a fact about this business that never grows old or out of style. 

There have been outstanding auto companies – at least on paper – that have been crippled by piss-poor products, or seemingly promising products that those companies in question are unable to build in a timely fashion. Conversely, there are some auto companies out there that have managed to alight on breakthrough products that have effectively saved the companies from disaster, while masking a cornucopia of ills and internal chaos.

Take Ford, for instance. In the early 60s, it was a mediocre car company that was stumbling its way through this business in fits and starts. And then the Mustang happened. That brilliant piece of automotive serendipity transformed the company’s entire raison d’etre; it also changed the company’s executive mindset and how they approached the business, fuel-injecting the persona of Ford and taking it in a completely new “Total Performance” direction. It was damn-near magical. 

Fast forward almost 60 years, and Ford is at the precipice once again. This time it’s decidedly different, however. Ford has the F-150, which is the closest thing that this business gets to a perennial sure thing. The F-150 is “The Franchise” for Ford and without it the company would be in dire straits. Add the success of the reimagined Explorer and Escape, and the rejuvenation of Lincoln, and you would think the company would be smooth sailing through life.

But it’s not playing out that way. Jim “The Professor” Hackett doesn’t exactly engender confidence that he knows what he’s doing whenever he deigns to speak to the press, or anyone else for that matter. His esoteric pronouncements always seem to lack something, and that has hurt Ford tremendously when it comes to the denizens of Wall Street. Now granted, Wall Street’s influence over ongoing matters is highly annoying, but the fact remains that the financial picture for Ford is undeniably grim, and the company is losing the image battle because of Hackett. With Hackett’s hand on the tiller, no one is really confident that he has a handle on where Ford is going, which, needless to say, is a huge problem.

Add Jim “The Two Jims” Farley to the mix, and it’s no wonder that Ford remains a giant “we’ll see” for most observers. A delusional self-promoter with a penchant for insisting that he’s a quick study and a master of all things – Ford PR minions are now presenting him as a “tech expert,” which has managed to dupe a few gullible Wall Streeters – Farley is also clearly being positioned as the heir apparent to Hackett, which has more than a few Ford insiders apoplectic and fearing for the future of the company.

Keep this background in mind when considering the two pivotal products that Ford is about to unleash on the market: The Mustang Mach-E and the Bronco. The Mach-E is the all-electric crossover with the Mustang nameplate hung on it. Ford is counting on this product to set off a furious firestorm in the market, but there are a few things conspiring to prevent that from happening. For one thing, the product has been rushed to market – and it shows – because the battery technology is nothing to write home about. The fact remains that an all-electric “sort of” Mustang is not a foregone conclusion, and it’s easy to understand that there’s a good deal of hand-wringing going on both within Ford and from the perspective of outside industry observers. Add to this Ford’s piss-poor record of product launches of late (no one believes the late 2020 intro date), and the “success” of the Mach-E – even though Ford insists that it’s all sold out – is a breathtakingly large “we’ll see.”

The Bronco will deliver just the opposite for Ford in this market, especially since some excellent pictures of it have just leaked out indicating that they didn’t screw it up (thank goodness). Starting out with the undeniable advantage of one of this industry’s iconic nameplates, the new Bronco should have the denizens of Auburn Hills quaking in their boots, even though it's a good five years too late. Now, if Ford can only get it launched without its usual gamut of serial launch disasters, the Bronco might just be what the Dearborn-based automaker so desperately needs: a certified, grand slam home run. One even capable of masking the built-in deficiencies of Ford’s upper management team, at least for a while.

Another indication of how pivotal the product is in this business? Last week GM downloaded its future BEV portfolio for members of the media and financial analysts (see the details here -WG), and as stunning as the future designs are – GM Design is definitely at the top of its game again – the story of the advanced battery technology was even more impressive. GM suffered through a lot of heat generated by Tesla’s fanboys over the last several years, but they didn’t let any of that unmitigated bullshit detract from its mission. And GM delivered a portfolio of advanced technology battery electric vehicles that are more than capable of leading this industry into the future.

That didn’t dissuade some hand-wringers in the media from immediately predicting GM’s BEV program was doomed to failure when GM cancelled the official unveiling of the Cadillac Lyriq next month in Los Angeles due to COVID-19 concerns, but that’s unmitigated bullshit too. GM made a wise decision given the current climate. The Lyric is a stunning crossover that will offer BEV intenders an emotionally compelling choice, and it will be a certified hit in the market.

The aforementioned discussions come down to the fundamentals of this business that remain solid to this day. It’s all about the product, it has always been about the product, and it always will be about the product.

And that’s the High-Octane Truth for this week.