Lewis Booth

Ford Motor Company

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

As a global company, Ford is subject to a range of economic cycles as they occur in different regions of the world. One unusual aspect of the current financial crisis is that it is affecting large parts of the global economy at the same time. This means that many areas of our own business are under pressure as key world markets struggle with falling consumer demand and other recessionary trends.

At times like this, it is important that we do not lose sight of creating a sustainable company that balances the needs of our business and society. For example, when oil prices fall, as they did in the second half of 2008, we must not be lulled into complacency. Our assumption is that the dip in oil prices is almost certainly temporary. We expect the price of energy to rise over time as economies around the world recover and consumers once again begin buying new cars and trucks.

Our product decisions reflect that thinking, and reinforce the essential link between a financially sustainable company and a sustainable environment. We must find ways to develop the vehicles that consumers want and value while at the same time build products that burn less fossil fuel and reduce CO2 emissions.

We believe the best way to make a difference is to focus on solutions that reach not just hundreds or thousands of cars, but millions of vehicles. Our commitment is to be the best, or among the very best, on fuel economy with each new vehicle we introduce.

Furthermore, we are convinced that electrification is a significant part of the solution, and we're moving quickly to bring electric vehicles to market.

At the same time, we have sharpened our focus on shifting customer trends. In the 1990s and early this decade, Ford in North America put significant resources into producing full-size pickup trucks and SUVs. Our investments in generating cars that people would want and value trailed that of trucks and SUVs. While the move made business sense at the time, we were not as prepared for a change in customer trends as we might otherwise have been.

Customers want cars that deliver as much fun, emotion and value as their trucks and SUVs do. We are making substantial progress toward creating an exciting, profitable passenger car line, but we have undoubtedly been hampered by the continued slowdown in demand for new vehicles. Are we progressing fast enough? We're all impatient, so it's never fast enough.

But we can point to solid progress constructing a balanced portfolio of products that includes cars, crossovers, utilities, pickup trucks and commercial vehicles. We also are well into the process of realigning our manufacturing system so that we have the flexibility to match production capacity to market demand as it evolves.

A business that is less reliant on revenues from full-size pickup trucks and SUVs must find new ways to generate better profits from the rest of our product range. As such, under the banner of One Ford, we continue to improve how our product development, purchasing, marketing and manufacturing operations work together globally and more efficiently.

Our cars and trucks now and in the future will stand for safety, fuel economy, high quality and cutting-edge technology. This strategy puts us on the path for operating as a lean, global company that satisfies customers and makes a solid return – one that allows us to protect our shareholders and employees, as well as the interests of our suppliers and dealers.

I know we can produce cars that delight people around the world and meet society's expectations for sustainability. That's what Ford has been in the past, and that's what Ford will be in the future.