Ford Affirms Commitment to Environment
15 December 1997
Ford Affirms Commitment to Environment
AACHEN, Germany, and ORLANDO, Fla., Dec. 15 -- Alex Trotman,
chairman and chief executive officer of Ford Motor Company , and
William C. Ford, Jr., chairman of the Finance Committee and the Environmental
and Public Policy Committee of the Ford Motor Company Board of Directors,
today spoke of the company's commitment to the environment.
Trotman, speaking at the dedication of a new research center in Aachen,
Germany, said that almost 50 percent of Ford's entire scientific research lab
budget in recent years has been devoted to environmental issues. The new
research center in Aachen is state of the art and will further strengthen
Ford's position in Germany and Europe. "A lot of people are talking about the
environment, but we're spending billions of dollars on it," he said.
Ford was the opening keynote speaker at the 14th International Electric
Vehicle Symposium and Exposition in Orlando, Fla. He told the gathering, "We
need to make it easy for people to say: 'I'm an environmentalist and an auto
enthusiast.'" He said that Ford Motor Company's commitment to alternative
fuel vehicles goes back more than 30 years and that the company has devoted
more research dollars to alternative fuel vehicles than any other
manufacturer.
Full text of these remarks follows.
Ford CEO Dedicates New Research Facility
The following are remarks, as prepared for delivery, by Alex Trotman,
chairman and chief executive officer, Ford Motor Company, at corner stone
laying ceremonies at Ford Forschungszentrum Aachen in Germany, on Dec. 15,
1997.
It's a pleasure to be in Aachen for the corner stone laying ceremony of
Ford's new state-of-the-art research center.
A research lab, by its very nature, is optimistic and forward-looking.
That's the role we see for this facility -- it's an investment in our future
and it's also a symbol of our commitment to Germany, to Europe and to the
environment. A lot of people are talking about the environment, but we're
spending billions of dollars on it.
Earlier this year, Ford announced an extensive investment package for our
plants in Cologne, Saarlouis, Duren, Wulfrath and Berlin, along with
development work in Merkenich. This new research facility will further
strengthen our position in Germany and in Europe.
Our company has a long and rich history here. You may not know that
within weeks after Ford Motor Company incorporated in 1903, we made our first
international sale. By 1913, we were selling cars throughout Europe, South
America and Asia.
In 1925, we established Ford Werke AG and an assembly plant began
operating in Berlin a year later. Then in 1931, a new assembly and
manufacturing plant was opened in Cologne.
Today in Europe we employ around 105,000 people at 47 Ford automotive
manufacturing locations in addition to research, testing, parts depots and
national sales companies in 19 countries.
Last year Ford sold more than 1.8 million cars and commercial vehicles in
Europe, representing 11.8 percent of that market. Ford was the most
successful single nameplate with three of the top ten best-selling cars --
Fiesta, Escort and Mondeo.
Today Ford-Werke AG employs about 45,000 people -- almost half of Ford's
European workforce. We operate 11 manufacturing, assembly and component
plants here. And we have a network of nearly 2,500 dealers throughout
Germany.
In addition, Germany is home to Ford's small and medium-sized vehicle
center which designs and develops exciting new products -- such as Ka and Puma
-- for this critical market segment. Small and medium-sized vehicles account
for more than 50 percent of the business transacted by Ford worldwide. And we
expect this segment to expand substantially as the markets in Latin America
and the Asia-Pacific region grow.
The Ford Forschungszentrum Aachen will help us accelerate our efforts to
satisfy our customers in every way. It will allow us to expand our European
research activities in areas such as atmospheric science, alternative
powertrain technologies, diesel engine fuel efficiency and emissions, vehicle
dynamics, pedestrian safety, and manufacturing technology. In other words, it
will help us design and build better quality vehicles more efficiently --
automobiles that are safer, more fun to drive and more environmentally
friendly.
Environmental preservation is a growing concern and perhaps the most
pressing issue facing the auto industry. The recent meeting at Kyoto was only
the latest manifestation of these concerns; they're going to grow. We think
Kyoto will impose significant costs on developed economies without achieving
genuine environmental benefit, because it doesn't include commitments from
developing nations. In any event, Ford's work on reliable, affordable,
energy-efficient products and technology will continue.
In the next millennium, we want to make it possible for people to be both
auto enthusiasts and environmentalists. Accomplishing that will take
continuous improvement of existing products and processes, breakthroughs in
technology and enlightened public policy.
On the product side, we need "pull" technology -- breakthroughs that offer
customers clear advantages in cost, utility, function and environmental
friendliness. The alternative is "push" technology -- regulations,
restrictions and marketing incentives. Those aren't good for the customer or
the industry. And they're not the best way to help the environment.
At Ford -- and throughout the auto industry -- we're making encouraging
progress and improving every day:
. Tailpipe emissions have been dramatically cut on all vehicles over the
past several decades. Hydrocarbons and nitrous oxides have been
reduced by 95 percent, carbon monoxide by 95 percent, and particulates
by 67 percent from uncontrolled levels in the mid-1970s.
. Ford was the first automotive company to issue worldwide vehicle
recycling guidelines to its suppliers and engineers. Today a typical
Ford vehicle, such as Mondeo, is up to 85 percent recyclable.
. Ford was the first automotive company to commit to ISO 14001 -- the
international environmental management system standard -- for all of
our manufacturing facilities. Our Halewood, England, plant was the
first automotive facility in the world to achieve certification and our
plant in Saarlouis, Germany, was the second. Now we have 19 ISO-
certified plants around the world -- more than all other manufacturers
combined.
. Ford is the leader in the development of alternative fuel vehicles and
we have one of the industry's most aggressive hybrid vehicle programs.
We recently announced that we'll be expanding our global leadership
position by offering a series of new bi-fueled alternative fuel
vehicles products in Europe beginning next autumn. These new entries
will include five compressed natural gas and liquified petroleum gas
cars and commercial vehicles over a three-year period.
There's a lot more coming, so stay tuned.
Much of our accomplishments can be credited to Ford's two research
facilities -- in Aachen and in Dearborn in the U.S., working in cooperation
with our four development centers in Cologne, Dunton, England, Yokohama,
Japan, and Dearborn. About 250 people at these locations work on more than 70
environmental projects. In fact, almost 50 percent of Ford's entire
scientific research lab budget in recent years has been devoted to
environmental issues.
As you can see, we've come a long way and this is just the tip of the
iceberg. We intend to accomplish much, much more.
Facilities like Ford Forschungszentrum Aachen will help us pursue vast
possibilities at full speed. Through our own proprietary research and by
collaborating with other laboratories, institutes, universities -- like the
university here at Aachen -- and even other automakers, we intend to be in the
vanguard of environmental leadership into the 21st century.
That means providing the products our customers want and the returns our
shareholders demand, while being environmentally sensitive.
We are committed to this vision.
Henry Ford once said, "Everything can always be done better than it is
being done." Facilities like this new research lab in Aachen will help us
achieve the technological breakthroughs we need to remain competitive.
When it comes to innovation, Ford has a long history of industry "firsts"
dating back to the earliest years of our company. You all know Ford is the
automaker that introduced the moving assembly line. But did you know we were
the first to use safety glass as standard equipment, offer modern, popularly
priced air bags and CFC-free air conditioning?
In my opinion, the best way we can honor our company's past is by
inventing its future. That is the challenge that I offer to the men and women
of Ford Forschungszentrum Aachen.
I feel so strongly about your role in determining the future of our
company, that I've brought this memento to remind you of your charge. It's a
model of Henry Ford's first automobile, the quadricycle. Inscribed on the
plaque are the words, "Honor our past by inventing our future."
Our company was born from one man's ideas, and it has grown for the last
94 years because of the ideas of all of its people.
Cars and trucks were the dominant invention of the 20th century because
they met customer needs. In the next century, in order to continue enjoying
the personal freedom and economic benefits that automobiles provide, we have
to deliver products that not only meet and exceed the expectations of
customers, but of society in general.
Creative thinking and advanced technology will become even more essential
to achieving our ongoing success as a company. You play a critical role.
The engineers and scientists here -- and at our other research labs around
the world -- are the architects of Ford's future. I have every confidence
that you will help us build an exciting and rewarding one. Congratulations.
Ford Opens 14th Electric Vehicle Symposium
With Call for Commitment to Environment
The following are remarks, as prepared for delivery, by William C. Ford,
Jr., chairman of the Finance Committee and the Environmental and Public Policy
Committee of the Ford Motor Company Board of Directors, before the 14th
International Electric Vehicle Symposium and Exposition in Orlando, Fla., on
Dec. 15, 1997.
It's great to be here. Having this opportunity to speak is an added
bonus, and a real pleasure, because EVS-14 focuses on two things that I'm
passionate about -- the environment and the automobile.
When I spoke to the Society of Automotive Engineers recently about being
an environmentalist and an auto enthusiast, I got quite a response. It
surprised some people, but it shouldn't have. Many people in the auto
industry feel the same way.
For people who are concerned about the environment, this is an exciting
time to be in the automobile business. Or, as it really should be described,
the personal transportation business. There are great challenges, and great
opportunities. There is the very real potential for more rapid and radical
change than at any other period in the industry's 100 year history. We're on
the threshold of a new century of automotive technology.
That's a good thing, because the times demand it. The entire concept of
personal transportation is being challenged because of the role motor vehicles
play in our global environmental concerns.
All of us in the industry -- including our customers and stockholders --
believe environmental preservation is going to be one of the most important
issues for the 21st century.
The recent meeting at Kyoto was only the latest manifestation of these
concerns -- they're going to continue to grow. We think Kyoto will impose
significant costs on developed economies without achieving genuine
environmental benefit, because it doesn't include commitments from developing
nations. In any event, Ford's work on reliable, affordable, energy-efficient
products and technologies will continue.
The coming millennium -- little more than two years away now -- will
generate more soul-searching and future gazing that will only increase
awareness of environmental issues.
That's what makes EVS-14 so exciting. We're at a critical time and place,
and the whole world is watching. There's no question that there will be
change in the personal transportation industry. The only questions are what
will change, and how soon?
There are a lot of different scenarios we could speculate about. But
what I'd to talk about this morning is what I consider the best case scenario:
the personal transportation industry leading the drive to exciting,
breakthrough products that are friendly to the environment, and are not only
acceptable to our customers, but highly desired by them. Products they want.
Products they can afford. Environmentally friendly vehicles that satisfy our
customers' wants and needs for utility, performance, safety, and comfort.
As I told the SAE, we need to make it easy for people to say: "I'm an
environmentalist and an auto enthusiast."
Today, I'd like to describe how I think we can do that, and ask for your
renewed commitment and enthusiasm for making it happen. In short, how we can
make "Driving the World" not just the theme of this conference, but the
reality of the future.
I'll start with some background.
To get a true perspective of where we are today, you have to go back 100
years, to when the industry was just getting started. At the last turn of the
century, the automobile fleet was 40 percent electric powered, 40 percent
steam powered, and less than 15 percent gasoline powered. The future of the
automobile was exciting but uncertain.
One fellow who worked for the electric company back then was busy in his
spare time working on a gasoline-powered car. Most of his co-workers at the
electric company thought it was funny that he was working on an engine that
wasn't going to use electrical energy. One person, however, offered
encouragement.
When this electric company employee -- whose name was Henry Ford -- showed
the owner of the company, Thomas Edison, his plans for a gas-powered car,
Edison told him "Young man, that's the thing! Keep at it!"
Today the internal combustion gasoline engine is the dominant source of
power in the automobile industry. But once again there are visionaries --
inside and outside of the industry -- who see a different future.
At Ford, our commitment to developing alternative fuel vehicles goes back
more than 30 years. We've devoted more research dollars to this than any
other manufacturer. We're proud of what we've accomplished, and we've had
some success. In the 1997 model year, Ford accounted for 95 percent of the
alternative fuel vehicles sold in the U.S.
For the 1998 model year we continue to offer the broadest line of AFVs of
any auto manufacturer, selling 12 vehicles in North America powered by natural
gas, propane, alcohol fuels or electricity.
We recently announced that we will be expanding our global leadership
position by offering a series of new bi-fueled AFV vehicles in Europe
beginning next Fall. These new entries will include five compressed natural
gas and liquefied petroleum gas cars and trucks over a three year period.
I use Ford as an example, but obviously there are a lot people doing
similar work around the world. You only have to pick up a newspaper to see
how competitive the race for alternative vehicle technology has become.
Practically every month an automaker, supplier, university or government lab
announces a breakthrough concept of one kind or another.
I think that's great -- because no one technology has emerged as the
winner and perhaps no one technology can meet the varying needs of our
customers. I think we'll find that no rule or regulation can push technology
to the forefront as fast as today's competitive global market. Which is not
to deny the impetus that the zero emissions mandate has given electric vehicle
technology.
Let's talk specifically about the electric vehicle technology that's the
focus of this conference. The industry has put massive resources into its
development. Take Ford's work as an example.
In the early 1960s, Ford built two-seater electric commuter cars in
England that are on display at a London museum. In the mid-1960s, Ford
invented the sodium-sulfur battery. In the mid-'70s came the electric Ford
Cortina, which used a composite of available technologies. In 1979, Ford
built the first hybrid vehicle, using a Ford Econoline van.
The work leading up to today's generation began in the early 1980s with a
series of EVs, including the ETX1, the first unitized transaxle EV; the EVXII
in the mid-'80s, which was based on an Aerostar; and the Ecostar demonstration
fleet that began in 1989. During this time, we accumulated more than
1 million miles of EV driving experience.
The result of all those years of sophisticated testing and development is
our new Ranger electric vehicle, which had its Job One ceremony last week.
This new Ranger EV, which will be delivered to customers next month, is
based on our best-selling compact truck. It's loaded with world-class
componentry, and features a state-of-the-art battery management system
designed to give it a superior level of reliability and performance.
It's based on extensive consultations to get the "voice of the customer"
-- to be sure the product was what the customer wanted. And it included a
three-year development program aimed at making the vehicle highly serviceable
and reliable.
The Ranger meets all customer expectations ... for utility, safety,
performance, comfort ... except range, which is directly proportional to how
much energy is in the battery. A breakthrough in the powersource has been and
remains the obstacle to an affordable high-range electric vehicle. Today's EV
is a prisoner of its battery.
We're very excited about the Ranger EV, and we've already got 250 orders.
But it's only the beginning of our EV efforts. On Friday, we announced our
national dealer network, our new nickel metal hydride battery, a fast charging
option, and a new diagnostic system. Stay tuned, there's more to come in the
months and years ahead.
We'll keep working hard toward a breakthrough in electrochemical
batteries. But we may need to broaden our horizons to other propulsion
systems -- and I see that all of the possible approaches, including hybrids
and fuel cells, are on the conference agenda. Major progress has been made in
electrochemical conversion systems, such as fuel cells. Or, it may be that we
have to abandon the strictness of a zero-emission vehicle to allow
technologies like hybrids that can deliver more range.
I've talked about Ford's efforts, because I'm most familiar with what
we're doing. But if you look around here at EVS-14, it's obvious that a lot
of individuals and organizations are putting tremendous resources into
developing breakthrough transportation technology. Industry engineers should
be proud of their work. But despite all these efforts, we are not where we
need to be.
Numerous technical and logistical obstacles to the widespread use of
electric and alternative fuel vehicles still remain. Questions of range,
performance, charging infrastructure requirements, and affordability have not
been fully answered.
The gasoline-powered internal combustion engine sets high standards for
convenience and affordability, and it's a moving target that keeps improving
in terms of emissions and efficiency.
That's a formidable challenge, but one that shouldn't discourage you. You
are trailblazers, and trailblazing is never easy. I have no doubt there will
be change, and it will be good for customers, and the planet.
What we need are real-world, customer-driven solutions. The idea of an
efficient, zero-emission or near-zero vehicle is no longer an academic
exercise or pie-in-the-sky research. It's something the world is demanding as
a solution to pressing global concerns. It's also a compelling business
opportunity.
I'm chairman of both the Finance and the Environmental and Public Policy
Committees of Ford's Board of Directors, and I don't see the two as being in
conflict. I think there is tremendous business opportunity for the company
that can take the lead in technological breakthroughs that protect and
preserve the environment.
As a matter of fact, if it's going to be effective, what we're doing to
help the environment must succeed as a business proposition. New automotive
technology has no value for society until it has value for customers. A zero
emission vehicle that sits unsold in a dealer's lot is not reducing pollution.
We have to make electric vehicles a self-sustaining industry. There's no
incompatibility with doing the right thing and making money. I told the SAE,
in effect, that you can't make money in the long term unless you do the right
thing. I would tell this group that you can't do the right thing in the long
term unless you make money.
So where do we go from here? What are the next steps for electric and
other alternative fuel vehicles?
As I said earlier, we need to make it possible for people to be
environmentalists and auto enthusiasts, with no tradeoffs on either side. In
addition to continuous improvements in existing products and processes, that's
going to take breakthroughs in product technology and enlightened public
policy.
On the product side, we need "pull" technology -- breakthroughs that offer
customers clear advantages in cost, utility, function and environmental
friendliness. The alternative is "push" technology -- regulations,
restrictions, subsidized costs, marketing incentives. Those aren't good for
the customer or the industry. And they're not the best way to help the
environment.
On the public policy side, this symposium offers proof that the vehicle-
makers are stepping up to the task of putting products on the street. There's
a lot of exciting, innovative vehicles on display here. We now need
governments and utilities to step forward with the early orders that can pull
these vehicles into the marketplace.
At Ford, we've been consistently disappointed with the level of orders of
alternative fuel vehicles, even from governments, which clearly have an
obligation -- and in some cases a requirement -- to lead. We also need a
partnership on infrastructure.
In the state of California, a leading proponent of electric vehicles,
there are just over 100 public charging sites. In the state of New York,
which is requiring that two percent of auto sales in the 1998 model year be
Zero Emission Vehicles, there are a total of five public charging sites.
This is the Field of Reality, not the Field of Dreams. Just because we
build it, doesn't mean they will come. We need infrastructures that provide
convenient, timely, and affordable refueling for our customers. Automakers
can't do that alone.
We're not looking for handouts or subsidies -- just a cooperative approach
that will help resolve a wider social issue.
That will take the combined efforts of all interested parties, including
governments. Not just making demands, but making contributions. We clearly
can't afford to have anyone coaching from the sidelines anymore. We need to
have everyone in the game if we're going to be successful.
We're already headed this way, with programs like the USCAR Advanced
Battery Consortium and the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles. But
we have to accelerate all of our efforts.
We have to create products customers want, that produce acceptable returns
for shareholders, and have a positive effect on the environment. To achieve
wider social goals, we have to move our efforts and products into the
mainstream.
As I said at the beginning of my remarks, the whole world is now watching
our efforts to make the automobile more environmentally friendly. They are
cheering -- or, in some cases, jeering -- us on.
In the next session, you're going to hear the opportunities and roadblocks
that lie ahead, by region. I hope you'll use what you learn there and in the
rest of the symposium to begin finding the solutions we need to keep this
vital work moving forward.
Cars and trucks were the dominant invention of the 20th century because
they met customer needs. In the next century, in order to continue enjoying
the personal freedom and economic benefits that automobiles provide, we have
to continue to deliver products that not only meet and exceed the expectations
of customers, but of society in general.
Environmental compatibility is high on that list, and getting higher. The
challenge is clear: we must lead the green revolution. It's not only the
right thing to do, it's a great business proposition.
Right now we're at a critical juncture, for the personal transportation
business, and for the environment. The world is counting on us to make the
environment and the automobile compatible, so that future generations --
beginning with the one that will grow up in the first years of the 21st
century -- can continue to enjoy a clean environment, and the freedom and
prosperity that our industry produces.
If we truly are going to start "Driving the World," then everyone needs to
step up and do their part. I'm optimistic that's going to happen. I can
guarantee you Ford Motor Company will do its part.
SOURCE Ford Motor Company
