Auto execs get crass, personal
"I'm going to beat Chevrolet on the head with bat. And I'm going to enjoy it," Farley says.
"F--- GM. I hate them and their company and what they stand for," he says. "And I hate the way they're succeeding. Ford is back because people trust us. And that is a powerful message."
GM spokesman Jay Cooney responded: "We would not have expected such crass words coming from Ford."
GM, however, has lobbed a bomb or two at the hometown competition. In a Detroit News interview last month, GM Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson suggested Ford's struggling luxury brand, Lincoln, couldn't survive. "You might as well sprinkle holy water. It's over," Akerson said.
Asked for Ford's reaction to the book, Ford spokeswoman Karen Hampton said the company has "not yet seen the book" and couldn't comment on quotes. "This is a passionate, competitive industry, and we truly respect all of our competitors," she said.
The Detroit News obtained a preproduction copy of the book, which may be further edited before its final printing."
"Like Farley, Ford Jr. is quoted in the book as criticizing GM's corporate culture. "GM can be so arrogant," Ford Jr. said. "We were known as a culture of infighting. And they are a culture of arrogance."
"I grew up in this town and GM was the giant," said Ford Jr. "We were a very tough competitor, but they were the giant."
"Things were testy at Ford, too. Mulally is critical of Detroit, noting the Big Three's once 80-percent market share. "But they were arrogant," he says in the book. "They made fun of the Japanese. And then they made shoddy products."
Ford's then chief financial officer, Don Leclair, labeled as "stupid" or "idiotic" much of what was said by Ford Americas president Mark Fields. Fields is quoted saying Leclair "sucks the life out of the room."
At a meeting, Leclair said Ford needed to cut product spending, because "we're going to go bankrupt if we don't." Fields said "Don and I almost literally went at each other's throats." Reached Wednesday by phone at his home in Canton, Leclair declined to comment.
Through a spokeswoman, Fields declined to comment."
"I'm going to beat Chevrolet on the head with bat. And I'm going to enjoy it," Farley says.
"F--- GM. I hate them and their company and what they stand for," he says. "And I hate the way they're succeeding. Ford is back because people trust us. And that is a powerful message."
GM spokesman Jay Cooney responded: "We would not have expected such crass words coming from Ford."
GM, however, has lobbed a bomb or two at the hometown competition. In a Detroit News interview last month, GM Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson suggested Ford's struggling luxury brand, Lincoln, couldn't survive. "You might as well sprinkle holy water. It's over," Akerson said.
Asked for Ford's reaction to the book, Ford spokeswoman Karen Hampton said the company has "not yet seen the book" and couldn't comment on quotes. "This is a passionate, competitive industry, and we truly respect all of our competitors," she said.
The Detroit News obtained a preproduction copy of the book, which may be further edited before its final printing."
"Like Farley, Ford Jr. is quoted in the book as criticizing GM's corporate culture. "GM can be so arrogant," Ford Jr. said. "We were known as a culture of infighting. And they are a culture of arrogance."
"I grew up in this town and GM was the giant," said Ford Jr. "We were a very tough competitor, but they were the giant."
"Things were testy at Ford, too. Mulally is critical of Detroit, noting the Big Three's once 80-percent market share. "But they were arrogant," he says in the book. "They made fun of the Japanese. And then they made shoddy products."
Ford's then chief financial officer, Don Leclair, labeled as "stupid" or "idiotic" much of what was said by Ford Americas president Mark Fields. Fields is quoted saying Leclair "sucks the life out of the room."
At a meeting, Leclair said Ford needed to cut product spending, because "we're going to go bankrupt if we don't." Fields said "Don and I almost literally went at each other's throats." Reached Wednesday by phone at his home in Canton, Leclair declined to comment.
Through a spokeswoman, Fields declined to comment."
