Questions for Raj Nair, Ford VP Product Development

[muzman]

Originally Posted by Thunderbolt

Bring back the Porno Red interior!

I was disappointed that Ford called our interiors Black and when my car arrived it was gray, what is with that? in NZ Black is Black mate, like the All Blacks rugby team they are not called the All Grays. Gandolf the Gray was Gray and not Black. What about a black interior for a change with some porno red highlights?

[Thunderbolt]

(In regards to 311-420's comment) Maybe 50 years ago that might have happened, but definitely not now. It's about nothing but the profit margin and how hard they can screw the customer to get it.

It would be nice though if they thought of the special productions above a normal line. It would also be nice if they gave you a discount on Ford's you keep constantly buying. My last 6 cars have been a Ford.

[4V FURY]

Originally Posted by 311-420

How about a respectable buy-back program for the current owners who wish to purchase a new Mach?

I was low-balled so hard when I went to trade into a new coyote that I just left. If Ford, themselves, cannot value their own specialty vehicles any higher than a base model why would anyone want to pay a premium when purchasing a new one only to know what they've got coming next time they want the next best thing Ford has to offer?

If Ford would value their product higher, so would everyone else. It's a win, win.

You were dealing directly with Ford? How so? If you went to a dealership, it was privately owned. It was that dealerships policy to low ball you not Ford Motor Company. Around here there are plenty of dealers, i would have just gone from place to place until i found an acceptable deal.

[311-420]

Originally Posted by Thunderbolt

(In regards to 311-420's comment) Maybe 50 years ago that might have happened, but definitely not now. It's about nothing but the profit margin and how hard they can screw the customer to get it.

It would be nice though if they thought of the special productions above a normal line. It would also be nice if they gave you a discount on Ford's you keep constantly buying. My last 6 cars have been a Ford.

I know it's about nothing other than money. That's why I find it funny that they want our opinions on how to improve their products. Lol. If they would like my help, I charge $250/hr. for consulting. Since it's all about money.

Originally Posted by 4V FURY

You were dealing directly with Ford? How so? If you went to a dealership, it was privately owned. It was that dealerships policy to low ball you not Ford Motor Company. Around here there are plenty of dealers, i would have just gone from place to place until i found an acceptable deal.

Ford credit could make something happen if they wanted to in regards to special vehicle buy-backs and trade-ins. They give rebates all the time through dealerships. They just don't want to.

[Tony Alonso]

Hello! The full report will be coming in a bit. I just got back this evening from Dearborn. It was an awesome opportunity.

I did see the 2015 Mustang - in camouflage! In other words, I saw squat

We were told that the senior management of the company is very excited about what is coming and that they worked hard on disguising the prototypes so the surprise will be worth it.

I did not get any details, as you might imagine. More to come on the visit! I've got some writing to do.

[falcongtho3]

Cool to hear, Tony!
Looking forward to the full report.

[not a gt]

I would ask him why, since the mid 80's, anyone with a Mustang had to, as their first mod, change the shifter since the stock shifter sucked and wouldn't go into third easy??? Even up to our 2003 Mach's, changing the shifter is a mod done as soon as you hit the house..then I would give him a hug and tell him I would NEVER buy anything but a Ford!!!

Dang, never mind, see you already went!!

[b3warnick]

Still waiting on the report ... what'd ya find out???

[Tony Alonso]

Sorry this post took so long!

I told Raj that I had multiple pages of questions mainly related to the Mustang, and of course, as you find when approaching any Ford person about the next car, they politely declined to answer specifics.

However, here are some of the specifics that he shared with the group who attended this event.

Raj, being the driver of a GT500 and a racing enthusiast, says that he wants all Ford cars to perform in such a way that a driver gets out of the car, feeling like they are better drivers than they actually might be :-) Said another way, he wants a driver to feel like the experience was one of mastery of the vehicle's dynamics and leave them with a positive impression. He wants both cars and truck to have "personality" and not just be appliances in the driving experience.

Raj also said that delivering a new vehicle to market is a team sport. He sees his role as ensuring that the engineers are able to infuse the aforementioned personality into it, as well facilitating whatever they can do to bring it to market while balancing cost, quality, features, safety, fuel economy - often conflicting priorities.

Regarding the next Mustang, he did share in general terms that Edsel Ford was extremely enthusiastic about the direction it was taking - design, feature content, etc. He was so enthusiastic they quickly moved into the funding to proceed full steam ahead with a minimum of bureaucracy. Raj said they of course were trying to keep enthusiast in mind along the way. In fact, he pointed out that parts availability is one of the many considerations when they are going through the engineering phases. When I asked him about parts for special edition Mustangs like our Mach 1s, he mentioned that he understands there are certain parts that might be difficult to get after the vehicle is out of production for a long time. He did say that Ford, in general, would be willing to review and perhaps collaborate to have other companies be able to produce them. He didn't make promises, of course, since there is a lot to getting these items released.

Raj mentioned that the input enthusiasts provide through Ford Racing and the Ford Customer Service Division is considered. Since the Mach 1 Registry is in partnership with the Ford Racing group (thanks, Dave Wagner, for agreeing to this), we have a direct link to the company that we can leverage over time.

He did conclude his remarks about the Mustang with the statement that "We will never be all show and no go with the base level car." He said the team's desire is to have a vehicle which is considered dynamically fun, not just styled nicely without the performance.

My general takeaway is that he gets it, and in his influential position as VP of Product Development, he would be pushing for the things that would make the next Mustang as fun as the current and past ones over the last 2 generations.

After the presentation, we were given rides with some of the ride and handling development engineers on the Dearborn Development Center test track. This is similar to what is arranged for those attending Mustang Alley get on the Friday before the event. We did see some prototype 2015 Mustangs that day on track. When I heard what I think was the V8-powered GT drive by, the exhaust note was really quite nice for stock.

I got to ride in a Fiesta ST model. Though powered by a small 1.6 liter turbo engine, the powerband and the handling performance were impressive. It was thrill ride to go airborne on part of the track where there dips on the straightway and in the S-curves. After that ride, I can safely say that we can believe the next Mustang will be full of performance personality.

[muzman]

Thank you Tony, that report does sound promising and leaves you with some positive anticipation.

[falcongtho3]

Thanks for reporting in. I'm sure you had a great time, and I know everyone is interested in seeing what Ford will bring to the table for the next gen ponycar.

[not a gt]

Thanks for a great report Tony and taking the time to write it up, well played sir

[24kmach]

That does it. I'm buying a 2014 Fiat 500 Twin Turbo. The truth is yesterday we traded our 2010 Fusion Sport in on a 2013 Edge Sport in red. It does have a 6 speed paddle shift. [On the steering wheel like it should be]. I hope the new mustang with an auto will have this also Tony.
I hope the new mustang will have the keyless entry. I really like that on the Edge. The Sony audio in the Edge has 12 speakers and sounds great. I hope the new mustang has a Sony option. The Edge also has a Tilt/telescope str column. I hope the new mustang will have this. Just a few things that Ford could incorporate in the mustang with parts already in the pipeline.

[muzman]

Quote: The truth is yesterday we traded our 2010 Fusion Sport in on a 2013 Edge Sport in red. It does have a 6 speed paddle shift. [On the steering wheel like it should be].

I like the idea of the paddle shift, would make it feel like a formula one!

[24kmach]

Originally Posted by muzman

Quote: The truth is yesterday we traded our 2010 Fusion Sport in on a 2013 Edge Sport in red. It does have a 6 speed paddle shift. [On the steering wheel like it should be].

I like the idea of the paddle shift, would make it feel like a formula one!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU9ZGPEcvik

[Mach351]

found another interesting old thread here along with the announcement that Raj Nair has joined Multimatic Inc. as president and COO...

From Automotive News:

Raj Nair, the Ford Motor Co. executive ousted earlier this year over unspecified "inappropriate behavior," has been named president and COO of Multimatic Inc., the Canadian supplier confirmed to Automotive News on Friday.
Multimatic works extensively with Ford, building the GT supercar — which was created while Nair was Ford's head of product development — near Toronto.
Road and Track reported Nair's hiring earlier Friday. The appointment was effective May 7.
“Raj brings an extensive amount of experience in the auto industry both in product development and manufacturing,” Michael Guttilla, the company's head of sales and marketing, said in an interview. “He is a real good fit for extending what Multimatic’s purpose is.”
Nair will split time between Canada and the company’s offices in Southfield, Mich., among its other global locations, Guttilla said. He’ll be responsible for each of the company’s business units, including manufacturing and engineering.

“The situation was thoroughly vetted,” Guttilla said. “Multimatic has the highest standards for all of our employees. We expect everybody to live up to and honor those high ethical standards. We have no concern that it will be an issue.”

Before being named head of North America in May 2017, Nair was Ford's head of product development and chief technical officer. In addition to the GT in 2016, he oversaw the launch of the the aluminum-bodied F-150, the 50th-anniversary Mustang and a plethora of other prominent vehicles. Nair took delivery of his own GT less than two weeks before leaving Ford.
Nair started at Ford in 1987 as a body and assembly operations launch engineer and held various positions on more than 11 vehicle programs in 13 assembly plants, according to Ford's media website. He also worked on assignments in Europe, South America and Asia Pacific.
Nair, 53, abruptly left Ford in February after an internal investigation found that "certain behavior by Nair was inconsistent with the company's code of conduct," the automaker said.
Ford has not divulged the nature of the complaint, which a spokesman said was submitted anonymously through a 24-hour company hotline. Ford said it had not previously received any such allegations against Nair.
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