Ford Motor Company: Understanding the history and legacy of automakers
From groundbreaking assembly line innovations to iconic cars like the Model T, Mustang and F-150, we explore the rich history of the Ford Motor Company.
- Ford Racing is a profitable driving unit that spans racing programs, road cars, experiences and products.
- This strategic shift creates a direct pipeline from track to street.
Ford Motor Co.’s Performance Division brings together roads and racing programs as one division called Ford Race to better coordinate what happens with the car manufacturers from the truck to deliver what happens at RaceTrack.
Founded on September 4th, the new Ford Racing organization will include not only roads and race cars, but also customer experiences, merchandising and brand activities around the world.
This is a business transformation that Ford calls it, as Ford creates one single profit driving department that shares technical learning from Motorsports vehicle development in Ford’s regular lineup. This means that the technology used in trucks will drip down one day on a Raptor or Mustang sitting in the driveway.
“We’re building this as a major business within Ford Motor Co.,” Will Ford, general manager of Ford Racing Global, told Detroit Free Press, part of the USA Today Network. “This is a commitment to finding product opportunities that arise from the efforts that have emerged from the efforts that have emerged from the efforts that have emerged from the efforts that have never been before. It is a highly profitable unit and we expect to continue to grow.”
Hello Effect
Ford has a long history of relying on racing pedigrees to sell production cars.
In fact, Ford Performance is about to enter its 125th year since Henry Ford won his first and only race at the legendary sweepstakes in 1901, Ford said. The victory was based on technological innovation, and Ford gave financial support to launch Ford Motor Co.
As Ford Motor prepares to return to Formula One, other big series and races from Dakar to Bathurst, Le Mans and Daytona, Ford said it was right to rebrand the team into Ford Race.
By integrating racing efforts and performance production vehicles, Ford “have gained all ounces of technology transfer, R&D and learning from the world’s largest torture test in a motorsport environment and can see that it continues to improve its performance road cars.
That means the engineering that drives the Dakar-earned Ford Raptor T1+ will flow directly into the dealer’s production Raptor, Ford said. Or, Mustang GTD’s engineering has a race pedigree that customers can buy and experience.
“There’s another important factor in what we’re doing here: to offer brand halo on a blue oval,” Ford said. “We will reveal aspects of the brand identity that come with that name change over the next few months. It is intended to provide Hello to all of Ford Motor Co..”
The halo effect in marketing means that one brand, in this case, Ford’s performance race cars, will shed a positive light on other brands that are Ford’s customer lineup, or create a halo.
New Organization Chart
As part of the move, Ford said the merged Ford Racing teams will all work together under one roof in Loucheville, Dearborn, Michigan, which is Ford Racing’s global headquarters.
They have also made several “critical organizational changes” to ensure that people who worked on motorsports are more closely integrated with those who worked on Ford’s production vehicle program to share technical learning, Ford said.
Ford added that Mark Rushbrook remains the global director of Ford Racing, “He was leading our motorsports program, so now we include all performance production vehicles.” However, the new Ford Racing Unit now falls under Kumargarhhotra, Ford’s Chief Operating Officer.
“This allows us to be very intricately woven into Ford’s industrial system in the right way, which is truly important in many ways to this future, as Ford Race has a unique need for the way this team operates,” Ford said. “The engineering team focused on motorsports and performance spaces has unique talent, which must be properly integrated into Ford industrial machinery and reported to Kumar.
Maintain off-road leads
Ford said the unit will add profits to Ford Motor’s revenue by building Motorsports, the “most thrilling part” of the company, into the “most thrilling part.”
“Looking at our lineup of performance vehicles, we have a really incredible lineup of some amazing Mustang products, Raptor products. They were very successful and very profitable products for us. “Our core mission here is to strengthen our race-to-road strategy.”
That means kicking out the best performance products, whether it’s a vehicle that focuses on sports cars and trucks, or off-road or dirt-focused like Ford’s Raptor Trim.
“With this initiative, there are some very exciting product plans that I look forward to sharing with you at a later date,” Ford said. “But this is about building a business and brand.”
For example, Ford has been selling the Raptor version for 15 years, and its roots date directly to the Baja 1000, Ford said.
“Every time we compete for raptors in the Baja 1000, everything we learn from all the vehicles that are circling is what we see in the next version of the Raptor to make that vehicle better and take the Raptor at least one step ahead of the potential competition,” Ford said.
He said Ford must maintain a lead with the Raptor in off-road space, as there are many other automakers looking to take part in off-road performance vehicles.
“Doubling this commitment to racing, incorporating those learnings and bringing them to our road products will expand the Raptors’ position not only in their fan base but also in the market space,” Ford said.
Better Ford Cars
In short, Ford said the new division will provide better products and more of them to the public for car buying, and he said racing technology may even apply to family cars.
“The team will focus on winning on the track and creating performances across the lineup,” he said, using all the technology developed in motorsports, “we’re being fooled by the whole family of Ford products.”
“It’s not a name change with a new visual identity,” Ford said. “We’re beginning to see Ford Races appearing in many great customer experiences. We’re going to make our brand come true through great products and products that our fans and customers can buy.”
Jamie L. Larrow is a senior Autos writer covering Ford Motor Company for the Detroit Free Press. Please contact Jamie at jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jarouan. Sign up for our car newsletter. Become a subscriber.
