How does an American classic make the ultimate crossover to the Philippines?

by Rick Baker, Ford

FORD, one of the world’s most respected automotive companies and an iconic American brand, has spent a decade in the Philippines convincing local motorists to drive safe, drive clean, and drive a Ford.

I have only been with Ford Philippines for a short eight months. But while I may be considered “new” here, I am no stranger to Ford. In a span of 30 years, I have held various positions in Thailand, Taiwan, South Africa and most recently, Indonesia. Each assignment has been unique, but the Ford brand encompasses borders, cultures, and languages. Fortunately, my posting in Manila has allowed me to appreciate and see first-hand the love Filipinos have for their cars (never mind the traffic!). This undoubtedly has challenged me and the Ford team to aggressively roll out an accelerated growth plan for our business operations in the country.

More importantly, Manila serves as a great canvass for Ford—from our tough Rangers, to our complete line-up of SUVs comprised of the compact Escape, mid-sized Everest and Explorer, and full-sized Ford Expedition. A sedan completes our stable in the Ford Focus.

Incidentally, Mazda belongs to the Ford family as well. Globally, the Ford/Mazda relationship has been growing for over 26 years and is one of the most successful partnerships in automotive history. The young, edgier look of today’s Mazda speaks out to today’s generation of drivers who know what they want—including a nifty car that defies the laws of reinvention. Today’s Mazda 3 and Mazda 6 and the Tribute, epitomize the Style, Spirit and Innovation behind the brand.

We also opened 2007 with a new tagline to mark the aggressive and creative positioning of our Ford vehicles: Make Every Day Exciting. It is a brand proposition that captures the essence and spirit of Ford: that of making cars, trucks and SUVs that are not only hardworking and functional, but a whole lot of fun to drive as well.

But while a lot of our marketing efforts have hyped on Ford’s distinct vehicle features, each Ford that rolls off the assembly line is part of the company’s bigger thrust. The aim is for us to go global, and to recognize and celebrate the workmanship of the world-class Filipino talents who churn out our vehicles at the Ford plant in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

But even as we put the pedal to the metal, Ford in the Philippines is also a staunch supporter of a number of causes, particularly those that concern road safety and the environment. Our yearly Sustainability Report, which is regularly posted on the Ford website, outlines how we did in the past year as a business, as a neighbor, and as a global citizen. Locally, some of our advocacies have reached out to the youth, and to believers of clean, eco-friendly driving.

Road Safety

Each year, some 1.2 million lives of men, women and children around the world are cut short due to traffic accidents, while millions more are affected due to serious injuries. The problem of road safety is so serious, studies show that by the year 2020, road accidents are expected to be the 3rd leading cause of death in the world.

In 2004, the World Health Organization (WHO) dedicated its World Health Day to Road Safety to jumpstart a massive effort to bring down the number of accidents and lives lost on the road.

Ford was one of the first automotive manufacturers in the Philippines to heed WHO’s call as we rolled out our own road safety campaign dubbed “Road Safety: Our Lives Depend On It.”

What differentiated Ford’s road safety initiative from other similar programs was our choice of tapping the youth as road safety ambassadors, bearing in mind that driving habits start being ingrained as soon as young people get their hands behind the wheel. We formed a Road Safety Youth Council and rolled out R.I.D.E (Responsibility in Driver’s Education) seminars.

Numbers-wise, the R.I.D.E. sessions have successfully reached some 50 schools and universities, and 6 corporate clients. It has educated over 7,000 individuals. Meanwhile, the Youth Council has 35 core members from different schools and universities, and over 800 members to date. The recruitment of new members is ongoing, as we believe that the more young minds we reach, the more young people we could save.

Flexible Fuel Vehicles

Because these are challenging times not only for Ford, but for our planet and its inhabitants, we’ve also turned our attention to the issue of global warming. Simply put, global warming is a change in climate due mainly to large emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) produced by human activities.

From 1990 to 2002, significant increases in CO2 have been recorded, with the total combined CO2-equivalent emissions in the ASEAN region growing from 37% to 48%. More than 60% of the CO2 emissions come from the burning of fossil fuels, which are used to produce energy, or utilized in transportation and industries. The transport industry accounts for about 25% of CO2 emissions.

In 2005, Peter Daniel, then President for Ford Asia Pacific & Africa made a commitment to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo that Ford would not only establish the Philippines as a strategic regional export hub, but would also: (1) play a leading role in helping develop the local bio-fuels industry, and (2) support the energy policies of the Philippine government, which was then drafting the first legislative mandate for the use of alternative fuels in Asia.

During this time, Ford Philippines accepted the challenge to take the lead in the country’s bio-fuels program by implementing a Flexible Fuel Vehicle (FFV) Development Program for the Philippines. This promise was realized when Ford introduced the first FFV E20 capable vehicle in the country, the Ford Focus in April 2006, and shortly thereafter, began construction of its state of the art, world-class and P1 billion FFV engine production plant.

The establishment of the Santa Rosa, Laguna-based FFV engine plant reaffirms Ford's commitment to the Philippines, further strengthening the country's role as Ford's ASEAN Center of Excellence in FFV Technology and ensuring the Philippines of a cheap, clean and renewable energy source.

The road forward

I defer to our Executive Chairman Bill Ford and President & CEO Alan Mulally’s sentiments in our Sustainability Report that the economic dimension of sustainability looms large for the Ford of 2007. To quote: “We are continuing to align our capacity with demand, accelerate the development of desirable new products and support our people….in the coming year, you will see us moving to become more globally integrated and aligned to meet our goals. This approach will help us tackle both business and sustainability challenges, and provide a new generation of products with significantly less impact on the environment.”

This is the Ford of 2007, and we can only challenge ourselves to look and work for even better times ahead. I am confident that while the road may be rocky, it’s going to be one exhilarating ride.