On Thursday, Mark Fields, CEO of Ford Motor Company, said that he is "always open to talking with others" about partnering up on small cars. Although Fields was speaking in general about striking a joint venture to produce small cars, his statement comes in the wake of reports that Ford is considering a carmaking alliance with company rival, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA).
Fiat Chrysler's Chief Executive, Sergio Marchionne, had himself earlier stated that the company was on the lookout for partner companies to share small car manufacturing. Small cars, especially in America, have seen a cut in their already narrow profit margins thanks to the increased demand in big SUVs that came with lower gasoline prices.
Fields said," Ford is always open to talking with others because we realise that we have to be very realistic around what is the type of revenue that these vehicles will be able to command and make sure we have an appropriate cost structure to earn a reasonable return."
He continued on to say that the company first determines whether the need in the marketplace can be fulfilled by Ford itself. "In other cases we can say, listen, there are other great companies out there that we can approach and partner with," he said. The American giant has recorded a profit of $11 billion for last year, a figure that Ford is confident of matching or improving upon in 2016.
Reuter's reports that Ford's Chief Financial Officer, Bob Shanks, earlier spoke about how in fact, the Blue Oval has already implemented a cost sharing partnership with a rival company as Ford and GM are in collaboration over producing fuel-saving transmissions. He said, "I think there are all sorts of things that one can do in terms of partnerships and collaborations, at the vehicle level, and the component level, and elsewhere. I think everything's on the table."
