The Car that Saved Ford

In 1985 the Ford Motor Company was in deep financial trouble, and bet 3 Billion dollars (not adjusted for inflation) in a new revolutionary way of working to create its last resort.

Gabriela Cowperthwaite

Apr 12, 2020 • 27 min read

4.75 (8)

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Transformation

Teamwork

Responding to Change

Enterprise Adaptability

Self-Organization

Summary

Ford's futuristic car, the Taurus was the most revolutionary-looking car on the market in the 1980s. It was something new in the American Automotive industry. However, when Ford was rolling out the Taurus, it was on the brink of collapse and the fate of the company was in the hands of the Taurus. The company was on the verge of going bankrupt as some described it was facing a ''financial disaster of epic proportions'' due to the influx of poorly designed and high energy-consuming cars it had in the market. The Ford Taurus was the last throw of the dice for the company. The automobile actually hit the market late but when it was put on sale, it was a blockbuster and netted a million in sales per year saving the company and entire American automotive industry.

Takeaways

Erick Taub, the author of a book about the Taurus, reiterates that Ford was in a bad shape. In 1970 Ford was facing what some called a ''financial disaster of epic proportions'' - because they were making cars out of step with the energy crisis.
Ford's futuristic car, the Taurus was the most revolutionary-looking car on the market in the 1980s. It was something new in the American Automotive industry. However, when Ford was rolling out the Taurus, it was on the brink of collapse and the fate of the company was in the hands of the Taurus.
Radical changes can be difficult to sustain. If you don’t keep motivating the change or evaluating the way you work, the benefit that comes with change has an expiration date.
The former Director of the Center for Automotive Research states that at the time of Ford's market downturns, companies like Toyota were beginning to revolutionize the business with improved quality cars.