Requirements For Ford Motor Company

Abstract

The Ford Motor Company is one of the largest automakers in the world and it is notable due to its powerful position within the global marketplace. Still, aside from this, Ford is also notable from a business analysis standpoint, representing a firm that has lost its competitive position to the Japanese automakers, due to the inability to recognize changing market trends. Today, the American automobile maker is still reviving from the blow of the economic crisis, with its sales and profit levels still having to reach pre-crisis levels, but nevertheless, they proved that they are a resilient company. In such as setting, a potential situation arises in which the company might be interested in further increasing its global presence within the international marketplace. In order to formulate adequate recommendations in this sense, it is first necessary to conduct a thorough analysis of the organization and its financial capabilities.

The industry was highly affected by the 2007/2008 global financial crisis. Major players such as Chrysler and General Motor were majorly affected that it took the intervention of the government to bail them out. Ford Motor Company was the only major company that was not affected by the financial crisis. The company has been described by as the only automaker company which has survived the major crises that have hit the motor industry without a financial bailout by the government. (Pascus,2018)

The main aim of this paper is to examine and take care of the significant business issues faced by Ford Motor Company through a marketing perspective. It comprises of how the market shares of Ford have changed throughout the years how the organization will tackle the issue of the market shares the What is the business problem that needs to be solved, What would be the business requirements, What would be the data requirements, Where would the data come from, What issues are there in obtaining the necessary data, How much data is needed, Does the data need to be ‘fresh’ or historical, How to obtain/access the data needed.

Main body

The important issue is how to nail down that success and to restore the Ford brand identity to its previously held position. In terms of the worldwide market Ford could not lead the way. As of 2019, Toyota held the largest global market share at 9.5%, followed by Volkswagen Group at 7.4%. Ford was third with 5.8%. The increase in competition has been as a result of new emerging automotive and vehicle industries in South American, Eastern and Central European, and Asian countries. (Hendricks, 2019)

The business problem I’m trying to solve is to increase the market share of ford motor company from a marketing perspective. Ford stock has lost heavily in recent months, seriously underperforming the auto industry generally. The company faces a serious decline in profitability, as costs are rising faster than revenues. Ford management is addressing the underlying problems, but a turnaround will take time. Ford has been losing market share in every region. Its international sales are struggling -while European revenues increased, South American, Middle Eastern, and Asian revenues were down. The Fiesta and the Focus, Ford’s entries into the international small car market, hit their sales numbers, but mainly because Ford reduced prices. Company profits are down even as revenues are up, because margins are shrinking. With overall costs rising faster than sales, it’s an issue that Ford will have to address.

Market share

In terms of the worldwide market, Ford could not lead the way. As of 2019, Toyota held the largest global market share at 9.5%, followed by Volkswagen Group at 7.4%. Ford was third with 5.8%. Ford’s $23.2 billion of cash, which exceeds its debt, and its conservative balance sheet afford the company the ability to fund its product development and restructuring initiatives”. (Palmer, 2019)

Ford’s total revenue was $160.3 billion, a 2.3% increase from the previous year 2018. The company have achieved significant revenue growth since the economic crisis of 2008 and 2009, but it couldn’t return to its previous total sales volume. The company has experienced serious financial difficulties in the past 10 years.

Ford Motor market cap history and chart from 2006 to 2019. Market capitalization (or market value) is the most commonly used method of measuring the size of a publicly traded company and is calculated by multiplying the current stock price by the number of shares outstanding. Ford Motor market cap as of October 04, 2019 is $34.75B.

There are various factors that affect the market share of the organization and through marketing the organization has to provide the user with a valuable tool, the DSS must contain comprehensive information, about the market shares, profits, sales, what model of car sales are more and relevant factors of every car like Safety Car- safety is very important to reduce the occurrence of vehicle accidents and its consequences, Price -There is a need for the customer to determine how much money you can spend on the car. Fuel Economy/Speed-It should indicate the distance a vehicle can travel on one tank of fuel, and know which cars are more efficient than others, and determine the speed capacity of the vehicle. Make and Model: The model of the specific type of car like a sedan, SUV, etc. Finance: Based on what the consumer’s preferences are if he/she is looking to obtain a car loan or looking for monthly payments or ready to make a one-time payment, down payments. All these data should be collected to provide the customer the access to whatever preferences he/she has that.

Other: Also gathering information from the auto manufacturer’s website to make sure you have all the data about current rebates, lease specials, and financing deals.

One of the major requirements identified by its top-level management of the ford organization is to solve the problem to focus on selling its only most profitable models in the overseas market.

Ford is revamping its lineups all over the world, focusing on selling only its most profitable models. In the United States, this mostly means pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles. In Europe, this includes pushing the Ranger, its mid-size pickup, and offering higher-performance sports packages for the Fiesta subcompact car and Focus compact car overseas.

In 2018 Ford sold more than one million units of the iconic vehicle model family. This means that about two F-Series trucks were sold per minute. Overall global car sales came to almost 80 million in 2018. (Hannah, n.d.)

Big in North America, The Ford F-Series truck has a history of setting records in North America, as it is also the best-selling light truck model series in the United States and in Canada. Ford produces most of its cars and SUVs for the US market in North America.

The model is less popular outside of these two markets, though. Only a little more than 200,000 vehicles were sold in other markets. (Best selling car and light truck models worldwide 2018, n.d.)

As per the solution that have been suggested, we need to identify the source of data. In order to identify the most profitable model, the data to be sent or obtained from its overseas branch or unit. The major issue in obtaining the data required is that if it is to be obtained internally from the internal records of Ford, then it needs to assure about the fact that there is a strong system of internal control so that the most accurate data should come out before the decision-makers. There is a huge chance that the data obtained is highly misleading. For this solution, we need to have the data of all from the overseas markets wherein the most profitable models of Ford are being sold.

The data which is required in examining the overseas market share of the overall industry of the Ford Motor Company ought to be fresh since new information gives prompt and precise data about the organization’s market share of the overall industry. Additionally, the fresh information is progressively precise since the advanced method for collecting the information is utilized when gathering of data

For the data in relation to the overseas market share profitable model sales, we shall hold the in charge of every such unit responsible for the accuracy of the data sent to the Head office of Ford.

Conclusion

I suggest that the company should continue with the current marketing strategies and the other promotional channels it is already into. They should also engage into aggressive marketing and promotional activities to attract customers about the newly introduced products. Savvy marketing and a re-defined focus can be a good sign for this iconic company. The company should link up with the TV sponsorship and engage in public relations activities to attract the general public about how concerned the company is towards the social issues. Ford has a lot of scope for producing to improve market share and profits of ford motors worldwide with buses to take advantage of the growing needs of public transports, utility vehicles as well as other vehicles that may find their use in some other industries. For example, manufacturing buses and trucks for India and African nations, oil tankers for oil-producing countries, etc. It can also link up with uber like in India most of the Ola cabs are linked up with tata motors.

References

1. Pascus, B. (2018, September 16). GM, Ford, and Chrysler almost died a decade ago during the financial crisis – here’s how the auto giants have changed since. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/gm-ford-chrysler-almost-died-during-financial-crisis-changes-since-2018-9.
2. Hendricks, H. (2019, September 30). Company Analysis: Ford Motor Company – 2177 Words: Report Example. Retrieved from https://ivypanda.com/essays/company-analysis-ford-motor-company/.
3. Palmer, B. (2019, August 8). Ford vs. General Motors: Comparing Business Models (F, GM). Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/123015/ford-vs-chevy-comparing-business-models-and-strategies-f-gm.asp.
4. (n.d.). Retrieved from est selling car and light truck models worldwide 2018: https://www.statista.com/statistics/239229/most-sold-car-models-worldwide/
5. Best selling car and light truck models worldwide 2018. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/239229/most-sold-car-models-worldwide/
6. Hannah. (n.d.). Ford US car sales figures. Retrieved from http://carsalesbase.com/us-car-sales-data/ford/