Automotive News - September 30, 2024 - 43

September 30, 2024 * 43
final assembly
F
ord Motor Co. CEO Jim Farley is busy
working on fixing the automaker's quality
issues and electric vehicle business. At the
same time, he tries to keep things in
perspective.
" The biggest thing I try to remind myself is
to be kind, " Farley told Automotive News
Publisher KC Crain at a Sept. 23 dinner
honoring the 2024 Rising Stars. " It doesn't
come natural to me. "
The crowd laughed, but Farley said he was
serious.
" You're trying to get through a UAW strike, "
Farley said, referencing the testy contract
negotiations last fall. " Try to be kind when
[UAW President Shawn Fain] is saying the
kind of things he said about our company.
No joke, it's not funny. It's really important to
be kind. And most of the people you deal
with have some kind of burden they aren't
explicit about, and you have to account for
that. "
To help keep himself grounded, Farley said
the only item on his desk, aside from a family
photo, is a saying attributed to Plato: " Be
kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard
battle. "
Despite being a source of frustration, Farley
said, the UAW has helped identify talent.
" We had 10 people around the table from
7:00 [a.m.] to 11:00 at night for three months, "
he said. " We worked together. We compared
our sleep cycles. We knew each other really,
really well. It was very easy to tell who was up
for it and who wasn't. "
Farley said the best way to evaluate the
right talent for the company is past
experience.
" Has this person displayed the kind of
emotional resilience, not just working hard,
but emotional resilience to get through a very
difficult transformation? " he said. " And then
we need to reward people who are willing to
put the hard work in, because it is oldfashioned
hard work sometimes. "
That was among many pieces of advice
Farley gave from his time in leadership at
Ford and Toyota. Another was to keep
Q3 sales: Go to autonews.com on
Tuesday for coverage of third-quarter
U.S. light-vehicle sales reports.
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Ford CEO Jim Farley on Plato and pressure
perspective and not get caught up in the daily
requirements of a job.
" I think many of us who got more and more
responsibility, we were in some sense so
focused on doing a good job that we didn't
really appreciate the moment to relax and
learn, " Farley said.
He cited his time as head of Ford's Europe
operations, from 2015-17, when he was
tasked with restructuring a money-losing
business quickly.
" I remember thinking, 'We lost $6 million
today,' " Farley said. " I go into the office the
next day, that's $12 million, $18 million -
every day. There's a lot of pressure. "
He said then-CEO Mark Fields was calling
frequently to see how fast he could
implement changes.
" I remember being under so much daily
delivery that I never took the time to learn as
much as I could, " Farley said. " Learn about
the markets, learn about the union's
perspectives, because as a CEO that could
have been very useful. "
DEAN STORM
Automotive News Publisher KC Crain, left, and Ford CEO
Jim Farley discussed identifying talent and managing time.
Flaming E-tron
on service lift
a tricky task
for firefighters
F
irefighters in Indiana had to lower a burning
electric vehicle from a dealership service lift
YOUTUBE
Police arrest a man who got trapped inside a
Chevrolet Corvette while allegedly trying to steal it.
Would-be thief
gets trapped in
car by electric
door latches
A
would-be car thief in Florida was foiled in
humiliating fashion by the electric door
latches on a Chevrolet Corvette C8.
After visiting a Starbucks in Miami Beach, Julio
Solano found a man inside his Corvette begging
for the door to be opened. He filmed the man's
pleas on his phone while waiting for police to
arrive.
" My brother, this is not your car, this is my car, "
Solano told the man, later identified as 33-yearold
Ravesh Rabindranauth.
" Can I get out? " Rabindranauth can be heard
asking.
" No, you can't get out, " Solano replied. " We're
calling the cops. "
Officers arrested Rabindranauth, who was
charged with burglary.
" The car's electrical components don't function
without the keys, and fortunately, he didn't know
about the manual door release under the seat, "
Solano told TV station WPLG in Miami.
Chevy has used door release buttons instead of
pull handles on the Corvette for nearly two
decades. The setup has occasionally trapped
owners who weren't aware of the manual override
lever in cases of dead batteries or malfunctions.
and roll it outside with dollies and a forklift to fully
extinguish the flames.
The blaze started in an Audi E-tron GT that was
being serviced at Audi Indianapolis and filled the
service department with heavy smoke.
" The dealership did have a sprinkler system,
CHEVROLET
A promotion for the 2024 Chevy Equinox EV at an Erewhon in California offers a free
limited-edition Electric Juice to those who try out the SUV at the high-end market.
Chevrolet juices up
Equinox EV test drives
C
hevrolet is teaming up with Erewhon,
an organic grocery chain in Los
Angeles, to give away bottles of a proteinrich
drink made from blue algae to people
who test drive its Equinox electric vehicle.
Equinox EV Electric Juice is a " limitededition
wellness beverage " from
Erewhon's Instagram-famous Tonic Bar,
which collaborates with Hollywood
celebrities on creations such as the $19
Hailey Bieber's Strawberry Glaze Skin
Smoothie.
Electric Juice is made from chocho, a
nutrient-rich legume from the Andes
Mountains, and blue spirulina, which
Chevy described as an " electric-blue
superfood that matches the Equinox EV's
signature color. " The drink - " designed to
energize and recharge, " according to the
General Motors brand - is free to anyone
who tries out an Equinox EV at Erewhon's
Studio City market Sept. 27.
" We are looking forward for more
customers to discover the Equinox EV -
a fun-to-drive electric SUV, " Chevy CMO
Steve Majoros said in a statement. " This
relationship allows us to connect with
potential new EV customers in Southern
California, an important market for
Chevrolet. "
Chevy calls the Equinox EV, which will
start at $34,995 with shipping when the
base model arrives this fall, " America's
most affordable 300-mile EV. " Food
Republic, citing $22-a-pound
strawberries and $10 cartons of eggs, last
year called Erewhon - named for the
1872 novel by English author Samuel
Butler - " one of America's most
expensive grocery chains. "
which probably helped the spread, but it wasn't
putting that out, " Tim Griffin, a spokesperson for
the Carmel Fire Department, told TV station
WISH. " It took the firefighters and us getting hoses
in there and on that car to cool it off enough to
actually be able to move it. "
In a Facebook post Sept. 16, the department said
it had planned for battling a lithium ion battery
fire in an enclosed building and moved the vehicle
outside to prevent the flames from spreading. The
EV reignited several times while being relocated,
Griffin said.
" If one of these vehicles catches fire on the
roadway or in a parking lot, it is hard enough to
extinguish, " the department said in its post,
" however, one in a garage or other structure
presents a whole new set of issues. "
After the fire was out, the E-tron GT was loaded
onto a flatbed and escorted by a fire engine to a
salvage yard.
CARMEL FIRE DEPARTMENT
The blaze started in an Audi E-tron GT that was
being serviced at Audi Indianapolis.

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Automotive News - September 30, 2024

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