InTERVIEw

Ford Ireland has gone through some restructuring in recent time. what has happened and are there more developments to come? In particular at dealer level?

What has happened is that there has been a reorganisation of Ford’s business across Europe and as part of that action, Henry Ford & Son Ltd., the official name of Ford in Ireland, has been grouped with Ford of Britain, so instead of reporting into Ford of Europe, we report into the Ford of Britain organisation. The aim of the change is to make Ford a more targeted business with a strong focus on growing, in particular, our commercial vehicle business and providing passenger vehicle customers with a more defined portfolio. This is a similar strategy rolled out across many Ford European operations such as our Iberian markets all under the wings of Ford Spain and indeed, Switzerland and Austria under Ford of Germany.

The organisational change was coming into play just before the pandemic hit, so needless to say, our plans were seriously disrupted. But as business has started to get back to a certain level of normality this year, we are making real progress in implementing those changes and experiencing the benefits of the synergy and improve sales performances. These European wide changes are now bearing fruit for Ford’s business across Europe and we are on-track to achieve a 6% EBIT Margin in Europe in 2023.

In Ireland, there have been some changes at the dealer level, but the truth is, for as long as I have worked at Ford, there have always been changes within our dealer representation as the company constantly reviews our business performance and the key requirement of staying profitable in the Irish market context. We continue to work together with our dealer body in a spirit of partnership to build a stronger and more sustainably profitable Ford sales and servicing network for the future in Ireland that works for the mutual benefit of our businesses and for our commercial and passenger vehicle customers. In both the passenger and commercial vehicle segments, Ford has built up a loyal following across Ireland – no other brand can claim anything like the historic legacy that Ford has in Ireland, dating back 103 years, not to mention the origins of our parent company in the US are strongly linked to this country. We have a particularly strong leadership position in the commercial vehicle segment where the Ford Transit range has been king for decades now and is equally joined by our Transit Connect range and of course our Ranger pick up where sales continue to increase significantly year over year. We don’t treat that No. 1 position lightly, it is a hard-won position that has to be worked on year in and year out. It all starts with having a great product which the Ford commercial vehicle range has always been. We are moving forward with our plans to transition our entire commercial vehicle range into zero emission capable vehicles over the next 2.5 years so the future of Ford Commercial Vehicles is very strong . On the passenger car side, our plans are equally as exciting where we have just launched the all-new Mustang Mach-E, our first full electric passenger car capable of a range in excess of 600km. This will now sit alongside our much loved Kuga PHEV with zero emissions capability for over 50km where both vehicles will be the launch pad for how our entire passenger car range will shift to zero emission capability in the coming years. Currently, our traditional nameplates like Fiesta and Focus continue to deliver in the market, not to mention the Ford Puma, our compact SUV which is proving a real favourite with Irish customers if 2021 sales are anything to go by. The other key ingredient in the mix is the back up of state-of-theart support in terms of aftersales and technical expertise delivered through a nationwide network of award-winning service centres, more centres than any other brand in the market.

With the introduction of FORDLiive in January 2022, we will harness our vehicles technology to provide enhanced services for our commercial vehicle customers through the utilisation of our vehicles inbuilt modems. FORDLiive is an integrated suite of products and services designed to maximise the productive uptime of connected Ford commercial vehicles reducing vehicle downtime by up to 60%. FORDLiive enables smarter maintenance decisions, faster turnaround and dedicated, data driven technical support. Once registered with FORDLiive, through FordPass Pro or Ford Telematics*, our customers and Transit Service Dealers have real time access to the same smart support information. This means before

One-to-One with John Manning, Head of Ford Ireland

All-new Ford Ranger

a vehicle reaches a workshop the Dealer will be able to identify work required plus any upcoming work that might be best bundled together at the same visit. In addition the Dealer can best plan parts and technical support required to ensure the work can be completed without unnecessary delays

Presently, the automotive world is a dramatically changing landscape, how is Ford dealing with this progress in both car and light commercial sectors?

Yes, we are seeing as big a revolution in the automotive world as the one brought about by our company founder, Henry Ford, when he realised his vision of bringing motoring to the masses more than a hundred years ago. All aspects of the automotive sector are changing: retailing is pivoting to new trends, attitudes towards vehicle ownership are changing – connectivity, autonomous vehicles, car-sharing, online sales are all becoming buzzwords of the sector. And then of course, there is electrification. As the recent COP26 event in Glasgow showed, the world is in pretty much full agreement that our reliance on fossil fuels needs to change.

At Ford, we are very much embarked on that journey with a commitment that by mid-2026 – that is only four and a half years away – 100 percent of our passenger vehicle range in Ireland will be zero-emissions capable, all electric or plug-in hybrid; moving to all-electric by 2030. Our commercial vehicle range in Ireland will be likewise 100 percent zero-emissions capable, all-electric or plug-in hybrid in two years’ time, by 2024. Two thirds of commercial vehicle sales are expected to be all-electric or plug-in hybrid by 2030.

We have already seen the first step in that direction through the launch of the Kuga PHEV and Transit Custom PHEV in 2020 along with the Mustang Mach E in 2021. All said, we are now really looking forward to the launch of the exciting new 2-tonne E-Transit during 2022, our first full electric Commercial Vehicle product in Ireland which is already driving huge interest. Indeed, our plans for the overall commercial vehicle business are absolutely key to the future growth and profitability of the wider company and Henry Ford & Son, supported also by new products and services which will be a key differentiating factor within Ford versus the competition.

Ford is fully committed to an electrified future, no more so than by some of the timings and products I mentioned previously but by our overall drive to a fully electric future spearheaded by a $1 billion investment in a new electric vehicle manufacturing centre in Cologne and our global investment of over $30 billion in electrification by 2025. And as mentioned, the E-Transit for 2022, our first Europeanbuilt all-electric commercial vehicle. In relation to passenger vehicles, our first volume all-electric passenger vehicle for European customers will roll off the lines in Cologne starting in 2023, so a lot happening and lots to do.

The Ranger continues to enjoy great sales and awards success - what do you put this down to? will there be more new variants to come?

Well, in 2020, it added the International Pick Up of the Year to its trophy cabinet. A hugely important accolade, as you know, with a jury made up of Europe’s top commercial vehicle journalists, the Ranger beat off some stiff competition. For a number of years now, Ranger has been really making a name for itself here in Ireland and it is the number one choice for pick up customers here over recent years. All of our feedback shows that our customers love the Ranger – it really has that great mix of functionality, comfort and performance, and all in a very attractive package. We have had several variants of the Ranger over the last few years including the very stylish Thunder and Wildtrak models. The performance version, the Ranger Raptor that was launched in 2019, is in a class of its own and is amassing quite a fan base here in Ireland. The latest variants, the Stormtrak and Wolftrak, launched just this year, continue that trend of combining rugged performance in a visually appealing vehicle. The next chapter in the Ranger story will be a new model coming in 2023 – the sneak preview of that model shows a really attractive new design that I am sure is eagerly anticipated by Ranger fans both here and across Europe .

Regarding the collaboration between Ford and VwCV, the first fruits of the alliance was launched recently with the new Transit Connect Tourneo, based on the Vw Caddy 5. when is the van version due?

The Van is something to really look forward to as I am confident the vehicle will surpass the very high standards that Connect offers to the market today. Watch this space is all I will say.

will the new 5-tonne Transit make an impact at the heavier end of the LCV market?

Yes, recently arrived in Ireland, we expect the 5-tonne Transit, our largest Transit ever, to meet the needs of heavy-duty operators in utilities and construction and we are sure it will represent a significant conversion option for emergency services and for public transport. The 5-tonne Transit will provide customers with the best-ever payload and vehicle capability, while maintaining the durability, refinement and car-like driving characteristics that have made Transit a business favourite.