Automotive News Canada - November 2019 - v2 - 5

* N O V E M B E R 2 019

Stoneley says he's unfazed
by faltering Explorer sales
CEO says slow launch
and early production
glitches contributed to
the 53 per cent drop
By JOHN IRWIN
TORONTO BUREAU

OAKVILLE, ONT. - FORD CANADA
expects Explorer to rebound from a
53 per cent decline in sales once more
of the redesigned utility vehicle is
shipped into the country, and as Ford
resolves manufacturing issues at the
Chicago plant where it is built.
"There was a big changeover in
Chicago," CEO Dean Stoneley said.
"It was really complex, so there is
that gap of balancing out the old one
and bringing in the new one.
"That would be why we see the
year-over-year [sales] decline, but we
expect to get that back up."
Through September, Explorer sales
in Canada were down 53 per cent to
6,955 units from a year earlier, making it one of just two Ford light-truck
models to have a year-over-year sales
decline, according to the Automotive
News Data Center in Detroit. Ford
no longer reports monthly sales, so
October numbers were not known.
Explorer sales were also down in the
United States.
Joe Hinrichs, Ford president for
automotive, said the company "took
on too much" with the redesigned
Explorer and the US $1-billion investment in the Chicago plant.
The new Explorer began arriving
at dealerships September, said Ford
Canada spokeswoman Lauren More.
Stoneley was optimistic the new
Explorer will sell well in Canada, particularly the ST performance trim level.
Despite just getting started, he said,

sales to date "have a high mix of ST."
Stoneley discussed a number of
issues with Automotive News Canada
Managing Editor Grace Macaluso and
Reporter John Irwin Oct. 22 at Ford
of Canada headquarters in Oakville,
near Toronto.

ON NEW AND REDESIGNED FORD
AND LINCOLN PRODUCTS

Our product cycle is kind of coming to an end in
many of our key
segments, so we're
right now on the
cusp of launching a whole lot of
new vehicles. And
by the end of next
year, 75 per cent
of our lineup will
be new. "We expect that we'll only go
up from there.

ON SALES NUMBERS
The market is down about four per
cent year-to-date. We're down about
three per cent when you just look at
combined [Ford and Lincoln] sales.
We're off a bit, and I would think part
of that [involves] aging products. I
think the reason that we've gained
share ... is a testament to our dealers;
they've done a great job of being able
to not just serve customers, but really being able to sell the value of our
products. It's difficult when you've
got a four-year-old or five-year-old
product and you're competing against
brand-new products.

ON INCENTIVE SPENDING
We've been disciplined in terms of
incentives. If anything, we've de-escalated in our key segments. So, if I look
at F series, if I look at Super Duty,

Noting that other Ford vehicle lines increasingly offer
electrified versions of their models, Ford of Canada
CEO Dean Stoneley declined to say whether there will
be a made-in-Oakville electrified Edge.
PHOTO: FORD CANADA

Ford of Canada CEO Dean Stoneley sees
upcoming labour talks with Unifor as a
collaborative process. "Ultimately, we want
the same things." F I L E P H O T O

we're underspending versus our competition. And again, that's on a truck
that's approaching the end of its life
cycle.
Being in that position helps us
spend less because we have that equity and that customer base, so we're
not chasing our competitors.

ON PRODUCT BUILT IN OAKVILLE
The Edge has been amazing for us.
This plant has been exporting to many
countries around the world; righthand drive, left-hand drive, different
powertrains for different markets. We
also build the Lincoln Nautilus there,
which is actually our highest volume
Lincoln plant globally.
We've had flexible manufacturing
in that plant, which ... allows us to
flex between these various products,
both Ford and Lincoln.

ON THE POSSIBILITY OF AN ELECTRIFIED
EDGE UTILITY VEHICLE
We're not sharing our future products right now or the next cycle of the
Edge. But if you look across the lineup, with the Escape and the Explorer
and some of the ones we're launching
right now, all of those have electrified
versions, as will F-150 next year.

ON THE FUTURE OF THE OAKVILLE
PLANT, WHERE 450 WORKERS WILL BE
LAID OFF IN EARLY 2020
Like any plant, we take the long
view. When we look at a plant, we're
looking at what we're building today
and looking at what the next generation of products are. We're always
taking the long view on things. That's
really all I can say on that.
(Note that this interview took place
before Ford announced the job cuts.)

ON 2020 LABOUR NEGOTIATIONS
WITH UNIFOR
Really, it comes down to competitive cost structure, right? That's what
we're focused on. We'll be going into
negotiations next year with Unifor;
that's a very collaborative process
for us, and we see them as partners.
Ultimately, we want the same things.
We want a strong manufacturing base
in Canada, and we want a competitive
cost structure that makes sense. We
fully believe that we see a way there.

ON THE FUTURE OF AUTOMOTIVE RETAIL
If you go back to 1903, dealers had
to teach customers how to drive their
car, what to do with their feet and pedals. That transfer of knowledge was
critical.
If you look at recent decades,
customers have become a lot more
self-sufficient. They find out things
for themselves on the Internet and on
forums.
I think we're at an inflection point
where it's going to start going the
other way. I think as all of our cars
are now connected with modems and
things like over-the-air updates, subscription models, driver assist technologies and all the autonomous features, the role of the dealer is going to
become more crucial over the next 10
years.
That transfer of knowledge is going
to become even more important [and]
that relationship with the customer
will be key.
Online will also be key. People
want the convenience, whether it's
booking a service appointment or
research and information. I still think
that with a high-involvement purchase like a car, people are going to
want to see it, feel it and experience
it with a dealer to help them through
that process. - ANC
- Michael Martinez contributed to
this report.

Automotive News Canada - November 2019 - v2

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