FROM left: Michael Boneham, Alan Mullaly, Joe Hinrichs and J Mays (Photo by I. Roces)

MANILA, Philippines — Standing in stark contrast to the blue LED walls of the Ford booth at the recent Indian Auto Expo in New Delhi was a bright orange EcoSport SUV. It was the world’s first glimpse of the compact SUV produced under the One Ford Global product strategy.

The EcoSport is hoped to be a key model in expanding Ford’s presence in major worldwide growth markets, including India, Brazil and the ASEAN markets.

First launched in South America in 2003 as the region’s first affordable SUV, it went on to sell 700,000 units in nine years, creating a new segment and popularizing demand for features in the class.

This new model was developed on Ford’s new global B-segment platform (shared by the Fiesta) at Ford’s product development center in South America in conjunction with teams from Asia, Europe and North America. The new EcoSport – which will be produced at ultra-modern, flexible assembly plants in India and Brazil – will eventually be sold in nearly 100 markets worldwide, including the Philippines at a later time.

For now, however, the new Eco Sport is still in the development phase and is slated to be launched in India by late 2012. It will be propelled by the new EcoBoost powertrain technology in the form of its newest and smallest-ever three cylinders 1.0 liter engine.

Despite its small capacity and proportions, the engine will deliver 120 bhp that Ford claims will rival a traditional 1.6-liter petrol engine while emitting less than 140g/km CO2. It accomplishes this with turbocharging, direct injection and other technologies to replace larger engines with no loss of performance and with lower fuel consumption. The estimated price for an EcoSport in India is 800,000 rupees (P936,000).

The decision to unveil the vehicle in India was due to the country’s significant role in Ford’s aggressive global plan to achieve a 50 percent increase in worldwide sales by mid-decade. Ford recently broke ground in Sanand, Gujarat to build new vehicle manufacturing and engine plants. The new EcoSport will be produced in the integrated Chennai manufacturing facility for local and export markets.

Aside from granting journalists from the Philippines a preview, the media was also given an audience with Alan Mullaly, president and CEO of the Ford Motor Company.

Prior to joining Ford in September 2006, Mullaly served as executive vice president of The Boeing Company, and president and chief executive officer of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

When asked about the difference between working with an airplane manufacturer and auto manufacturer, Mullaly stated, “They’re more similar than they are different.”

“At Boeing, we sell the airplanes to airlines but we always look past the airlines to the travelling public and see what people really want and value. In Ford, we sell vehicles to Ford dealers but look past to address the drivers and what they value."

Moving on to specifics, Mullaly went on to cite how building vehicles like Boeing is transforming Ford.

“At Ford, with the One Ford plan, we act a lot more like Boeing. You don’t make different vehicles for different parts of the world. Majority of people want quality products, safety and a full line-up of vehicles. You will see us have 85 percent of our total product line on five platforms."

J Mays, Group Vice President, Design, and Chief Creative Officer chimed in on the need to reduce platforms.

“Traditional Ford was a bit of a mess because we were designing cars for Asia Pacific, a different set for Europe and another set for the Americas and my team had to do all of those and it was a lot of work. Now, we design one car and put a lot more effort and time into the detail of that car which obviously creates a better car. It’s the same amount of people designing one car but really doing it with a depth of detail."

It may seem like a strategy that’s purely beneficial to minimize costs but the CEO explained it benefits to the end consumer.

“Around the world, no matter what  vehicle size, customers want the best quality, the most fuel efficient vehicle with the best safety features, smart design, fun to drive and the very best value. [Reducing the number of platforms] allows us to update a vehicle more quickly and bring it all across the world; more value products from us in each segment, vehicles packaged in different price points. Because we can do this so much faster, people all around the world can get vehicles they never thought they could get so quickly."

In spite of the varying cultures around the world, Mays noted that the EcoSport taught valuable lessons in global tastes.

“We don’t make small changes for every individual market. We used to do that and it cost us a lot and didn’t make the customers any happier. We learned a lot from the South American audience. When we started talking to India, Indonesia, and Vietnam, we saw a lot of synergies there."

In lieu of Ford’s good fortune as of late, some couldn’t help but ask if Ford had any plans of merging with any other car companies. Mullaly was ready with a reply.

“Let me say this really carefully. No. When I first arrived,” he continued. “Somebody asked me, ‘Do you have any plans to merge with any other company?’ I said, ‘Yes. We’re gonna merge Ford with Ford.’ There’s Ford in so many countries each operating differently. Now, every one of these companies is One Ford. There’s not another brand in the world with that kind of clarity in a brand promise."