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"There are others who we never thought five
years ago would be competitors for us," Fields said on
Wednesday, stopping short of naming which companies were
emerging as sector rivals. Software maker Google recently
unveiled an autonomous vehicle.
"Guess what, they are looking at our industry, not taking
anything for granted, they are questioning tradition and they
are knocking down walls. I want to make sure Ford doesn't end up
like the handset business," Fields told an automotive conference
in Bochum. He added that most mobile phone makers had become
reliant on the business model of telecom providers.
He did not elaborate on his point. But as cars evolve
technologically and become more connected to smartphones and
similar devices, opportunities for new business models - such as
car sharing - are emerging. These put less emphasis on owning a
particular brand of car and opens up the industry to new
competitors who rent out fleets of cars in large cities,
charging users a fee for time spent in a car.
Ford must stay on top of innovations to remain competitive,
Fields emphasized. "There is always that pull to take things for
granted. And to say that is the tradition. Our opportunity is to
take those blinders off," he said.
Separately, Fields reiterated that Ford was adjusting output to
lower demand in Russia. "Russia will continue to be a drag on
our earnings," he said. This, combined with higher pension
costs, were the main reasons for Ford's losses in Europe.
Ford was working together with its local partners in Russia to
mitigate the fallout from the crisis.
"We are making sure production is matched to demand," Fields
told Reuters on the sidelines of the conference. "We are making
sure we are making appropriate cuts to overhead costs, but
continuing to serve the market."
(Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
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