Thomas Says Another Hit Could Save Ford
If there’s one thing that can save Ford Motor Co., it is another hit, says Freeman Thomas, Ford’s director of strategic design. “This company was founded on the Model T,” the famed auto designer adds during a break at a product review Tuesday.
Whenever the automaker was nearing danger, hit products always arrived to save the day. In the 1960s, the Mustang was the hero. Two decades later, it was the Taurus. Both vehicles took a mallet to existing concepts of what a car could and should be. Also, both were game-changers for the company and for the industry in its entirety. Today, Thomas and his team at Ford’s advanced design studio in Irvine, Calif., are trying to do it again. Good thing Thomas knows a thing or two about designing hits.
Before defecting to the Dearborn automaker a couple of years ago, Thomas was the design guru at Chrysler Group. There, he designed the concept that became the Chrysler 300. It was the vehicle that almost single-handedly altered Chrysler’s fortunes, at least for two years.
Thomas also played a key role in designing the concepts that led to the Volkswagen New Beetle and Audi TT. “It’s hard to find a car designed by a single person,” says analyst Jim Hall of AutoPacific Inc. in Southfield. “But he pushes people. He gets good things out of the people around him. And he’s great at selling design ideas. There’s another one in him that he’ll get out eventually.”
Thomas calls design the great differentiator — the thing we auto purchasers buy when they are shopping for a car that says “me.” But great design is unworkable without great risk. That’s a problem for many of the suits in the boardroom, says Thomas.
“Design, to many in the senior-most levels of a company, is scary,” he says. That’s why Thomas likes Ford CEO Alan Mulally. “He’s not afraid,” Thomas says. “Alan has been extremely open-minded. He seems to be very respectful of what design is and does.”
Mulally, the former CEO of the Boeing Co., a commercial aircraft, has encouraged closer collaboration between designers and engineers. Thomas delights in the change because it allows designers to influence the shape and feel of an automobile at a more fundamental level.
Thomas said the production version of the New Beetle missed the high mark set by the original design because of a lack of coordination between the designers and engineers at Volkswagen AG. “The auto industry is a dinosaur,” Thomas says. “It’s going to take someone like Alan to reinvent the industry, because he isn’t steeped in the stereotypes.”
One of those stereotypes involves great-looking concepts that wow auto shows and are never seen again. Ford has been carped for this in the past, and Thomas said Mulally has little patience for the practice.
Thomas said he would rather work on vehicles that are actually destined for sheet metal, but he still thinks his Interceptor is pretty cool. Though it won’t be produced, the Interceptor serves as a platform for several cues that Thomas says will be incorporated into future Ford products.
Thomas added shoppers will also see an ongoing trend toward smaller cars, as well as what he calls “guilt-free designs” that give shoppers the speed and space they want without sacrificing the environment in the process.
In the near term, that means working on new bodies for existing platforms, enhancing Ford Explorer parts, and more. So, does Thomas think he has another game-changing hit in his studio today? “I definitely do,” he says. “But I can’t tell you what it is.”
Help answer the question about Audi auto
Audi A4 FSI battery changed; now computer is in german, only 1 trip mode works, no auto windows, how do I fix?Audi A4 FSI 2004 model year.
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Audi unleashes the R8 GT, Gumball 300 kicks off, and Ford kicks itself, with the Mustang DUB edition, and Tesla talks crossover. That’s all today, from Times Square, hosted by Derek DeAngelis.
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Anthony Fontanelle -
About the Author:
Anthony Fontanelle is a 35-year-old automotive buff who grew up in the Windy City. He does freelance work for an automotive magazine when he is not busy customizing cars in his shop.
It is the Audi Automatic Climate Control button, Set the temp to whatever is comfortable and hit the "AUTO" button. The myriad of sensors will keep the interior of the vehicle at the preset temp.
@RammiejAudi ja, leider nix für mich..ich Hartze ja auch
..aber egal..hab dafür total viel Zeit den ganzen Tag YouTube Videos zu schauen. Eigentlich lustig, wenn ich bedenke, dass ich mir YouTube Filmchen zu Lasten des Steuerzahlers reinpfeiff 
The fuel system is suppose to be in constant pressure even with the engine off. It might be that your fuel pressure is dropping after the engine shuts down (for a long time).
Try doing this: start the car cold (crank it for 5 to 10 second like you normally do). Let it run for about 5 seconds. Shut it off. Now try to start it again. If it started easily, then it is the fuel pressure problem (because now the pressure is back up). If it still have problems starting then it is probably something else (temp related).
I agree with your dealer, live with it. It is cheaper to replace a starter then to go chasing ghosts.
Good Luck…
P.S. I own 2000 Audi A4. Normally I would suggest you fix a problem while it still small before it become big problem. But I have a feeling this problem is not going to get any bigger.
@EinzelstueckMuc
Ich schaue mir auch oft Videos an…und manchmal ist das stinklangweilig
Wenn ich das den ganzen Tag machen müsste…mannomann, wozu bin ich dann geboren worden!
Kainer vom den kan es miet den Mercedes and McLaren SLR aufnemen
Coding may be able to be changed by anyone with a VAG-Com or you could go to the dealer. In order to talk with the ECM, its got to go through the OBD port though. So if this is not with the car, you may have an issue trying to find someone to change this. Also, coding may not make a difference as it depends on the type of vehicle it came out of as well as the year etc. You might be able to get a new ECM for the car that is pre-coded to a manual trans vehicle but this may be hard to come by.
yes they do, surprisingly when the automatic is shifted into s drive, it's a little quicker than a manual…I've driven manual for awhile and when I purchased my 06 Audi A4, it came with paddle shifters, it's way more fun than a manual because it's not a pain in traffic like a manual, and when you want to, you could just shift it back to normal automatic mode…
If you own a newer Audi or VW you better take it to a recognized shop in the area.
Look at http://www.barsomauto.com
You won't hurt it. Sport mode just keeps you in the lower gear a bit longer. It does cost more fuel, so be mindful of that. Also, don't run your engine too hard if it is cold.
Too much..Find an audi you want with automatic.
@ Kastri:
Der kostet auch 3x zu viel
Any competent car repair shop can do the brakes in your Audi. If you just need pad replacement, it should be no more than $200 for both the front and rear. Figure on another $100 for each rotor, if you need rotors. For example, if you need the front rotors replaced, that will add around $200 for the parts and about $100 additional labor. (It will certainly cost more at a dealer but I'm talking about a competent neighborhood car repair shop.)
On most cars, the front brakes and rotors wear much faster than the rear brake pads and rotors. Don't automatically assume that the rears need to be replaced if the front brakes are worn. You can save a bunch of money by having only the front brakes replaced.
Finally, replacing brake pads is fairly easy — you may be able to do it yourself and save a bunch of money. Ask your friends and neighbors… one may be a closet car geek and can show you how to replace the brake pads yourself. It's very liberating to know how to do stuff like this.
hamma geil
das ist mein lieblingswagen
Was steht da oben?? quattro? die meinen wohl 4Motion ich könnt kotzen wenn ich die neuen karren sehe.
My guess is the multifunction switch. It can cause some strange problems and since you where able to turn the car off and restart it and have it run normal my guess is it's not mechanical although trans problems are hard to pin down,