DETROIT (MarketWatch) -- Ford Motor Co (F) Product Chief Derrick Kuzak said Wednesday the auto maker plans to match North American efficiency levels with its Japanese affiliate Mazda Motor Corp. (7261.TO) by 2010 or 2011.
Kuzak, who in December was appointed Ford's global product chief by new Ford Chief Executive Alan Mulally, said, "We need to get to world class levels of efficiency." Kuzak's statements came during a dinner with media at company headquarters.
Ford has made various attempts to match its North American efficiency levels with Mazda - which is a profitable player in Ford's sprawling empire - but it still falls short, Kuzak said.
The company also has tried to meet Mazda-level efficiency in its Ford of Europe operation. For instance, Ford has laid out plans to implement a 100% efficiency improvement in Ford North America and Europe over a three-year plan, but Kuzak said those efforts, even if achieved, fall short of reaching Mazda's efficiency level.
In order to accelerate the effort to match Mazda, in which Ford owns a one-third stake, Kuzak said Ford will implement "global core engineering."
The effort is designed to have Ford develop vehicles in one location that can be sold around the world. The concept has long been implemented by Japanese auto makers.
General Motors Corp. (GM) also is striving to implement globalized product development. Kuzak said one of the top product development priorities is strengthening the Ford brand - which is Ford's trademark high-volume division worldwide.
"The Ford brand, the blue oval, is a precious commodity," Kuzak said.
Ford is in the midst of a major corporate overhaul aimed at fixing the company's North American operations and better coordinating business activities around the globe. The auto maker has plans to cut more than 40,000 jobs in the U.S. via plant closures, buyouts and white-collar cuts.
It recently secured more than $23 billion in available liquidity that could keep the company afloat until 2009, at which time Ford expects to post a slim profit. The auto maker backed much of the new liquidity by pledging most of its automotive operations assets.
Ford is expected to have had more than $40 billion in available liquidity as of Dec. 31. It expects to burn through $17 billion of it by 2009. The auto maker is looking to position itself to be a smaller company in the U.S., while chasing growth in emerging markets.