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Ford Motor Company

Since its inception by Henry Ford in 1903, Ford Motor Company has significantly transformed the global motor industry, producing cheap and affordable cars and creating mass-production methods to enhance productivity. Despite the current dynamic and volatile economic environment, Ford has remained one of the industry’s icon. Its product design, manufacturing, and corporate strategies have cemented the firm’s impact in the global automobile market. 

Global Car Industry Characteristics

The global car industry has undergone tremendous changes over the past decades due to internal factors such as adapting to technological and global trends and external factors such as economic recession and regulatory requirements. Cars play a crucial role in modern society. The increase in the global population has increased the demand for vehicles, mostly passenger cars. Up to 90% of motor vehicle production worldwide constitutes passenger cars (Krasova, 2018). The creation of economic globalization has increased competition.  Different companies have continued to establish themselves worldwide, especially in developing countries, by increasing dealerships and opening assembling plants in those countries. 

Technological advancement has enabled car manufacturers to meet the new consumption patterns. The introduction of full-scale mass production, an outstanding contribution of Ford Motor Company to technological advancement, has met the growing demand for vehicles (Binder & Rae, 2020). Mass production is a process characterized by precision, standardization, interchangeability, and continuity and has been the core of today’s motor industry. Through corporate social responsibility, the motor industry has positively responded to climate change and environmental issues associated with automobile pollution. This includes the evolution of electric cars and the redesign of gasoline engines to consume less fuel and maximize output. These strategies aim to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Stringent regulations to curb environmental pollution and economic recessions are some of the external factors that have continued to impact the global car industry. For instance, economic recession reduces car demand as many consumers are unable to afford the products.

Ford’s Domestic and Global Corporate Strategies

Corporate Strategies

Ford is extensively focusing on technological innovation at the corporate level through intensive research and development programs to address industry challenges such as air pollution. As such, the company has shifted to sustainable business production models embracing recycling materials and production of more efficient cars to meet the Global Emission Standards.  For instance, the company CEO, Hackett, noted that the “team ditched the more traditional electric SUV that was under development, and replaced it with something that would be more exciting” (Stewart, 2019).

Business Strategies

The company uses a cost leadership strategy to enhance its competitive advantages and increase its domestic and global sales. The most significant advantage of this strategy is cost minimization through large-scale mass production and process streamlining. Thus, the company ensures that its products are cheap and affordable for all customers. In addition to cost leadership, Ford is also focusing on differentiation through cost, product, and services to gain a stronger competitive advantage. Typically, it is much easier to sell a product when the value being added to the customers’ lives is realistic and well communicated. 

Global Strategies

While Ford’s largest market continues to be the US, the company has continued to embrace global expansion by setting up firms in Europe, Russian, China, and other developing countries. The One Ford Campaign focuses on making the company more efficient and increasing benefits from cost-reduction economies of scale.  One Ford plan has four focal points of action: aggressive restructure to operate profitably, accelerating the development of new valuable products, improving the balance sheet, and embracing teamwork (Thompson, 2019).

Intensive Growth Strategies

Ford’s market penetration plans entail selling products to current consumers and increasing the number of dealerships worldwide. Intensive growth plans also include offering new products to increase sales and revenues and developing new marketing strategies to enter new markets.

Product Development, Marketing, and Corporate Culture

In terms of product design and manufacturing, Ford produces affordable products that customers value and love. The design is technology-oriented with enhanced efficiency and engine output to reduce emissions.  The manufacturing process is characterized by large-scale mass-production attributed to Henry Ford, the company founder (Binder & Rae, 2020). This approach enables the company to enhance productivity and minimize production costs. The marketing strategies target increasing sales and market share.

The company maintains selling to the existing customers while at the same time penetrating new markets through dealerships and global alliances. Like any other company, they make good use of social and print media to popularize their products. The company’s corporate culture influences the its drive to achieve success. The organization culture, defined by the One Ford Plan, defines the values, traditions, and customs affecting individual and group’s behaviors (Lombardo, 2017). Besides, it also supports corporate social responsibility as part of its mandate to solve global challenges. 

Increasing Ford’s Presence in the Global Market

Ford can increase its global automobile market share by partnering with foreign institutions. For example, partnering with organizations in other countries and supplying them with cars at affordable costs to meet their organizations’ needs. The company can also switch to local assembling rather than exportations. This will reduce costs and ensures that the cars are affordable to the local consumers. Lastly, the firm should develop better and accommodative customer relations and service through dealerships to ensure the availability of spare parts and high standard repair services.

Conclusion

The Ford Motor Company continues to expand its market dominance through sound corporate strategies, improved product design, and production methods. The strategies focus on increasing sales and revenues and solving emerging issues related to climate change and environmental pollution. However, to ensure that the company remains competitive, it is important to expand its global visibility.

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