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Ford's Mulally makes shortlist for Microsoft CEO

Ford CEO Alan Mulally has made the short list to take over tech giant Microsoft, lending further credence to rumors that the 68-year-old former Boeing exec would ditch Dearborn and move to Redmond.
The report comes from Reuters, which claims that alongside Mulally, former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop and three candidates from within Microsoft are on the short list to succeed Steve Ballmer at the company's helm, although previous reports claim the Ford exec is the number one candidate. Mulally is currently working without a contract, although Bill Ford seems to believe that he isn't likely to depart. Despite this belief, Ford was quoted just last month talking about the depth of talent on the Blue Oval's executive team.
"There is no change from what we announced last November. Alan remains fully focused on continuing to make progress on our One Ford plan. We do not engage in speculation," said Ford spokesman Jay Cooney.

Ford says 70% of its models to get stop-start by 2017

Ford is following up on a report we posted a few weeks back that the Blue Oval would be adding stop-start technology to its entire model range. Now, the Dearborn-based automaker has announced that the fuel-saving feature would be available on 70 percent of the company's range by 2017.
Ford claims the technology will improve fuel economy by around 3.5 percent, although its actual effect will vary based on how the owner drives - apparently up to a 10-percent improvement is possible for those who sit in heavy traffic (Los Angelenos, this means you). The latest recipient of the technology is the updated 2014 Ford Fiesta with the company's three-cylinder EcoBoost powerplant.
Part of the reasoning for the new addition has to do with cost. Ford claims the tech is affordable and easy to implement. "Simply put, Auto Start-Stop helps customers use less fuel, which is an important component of Ford's Blueprint for Sustainability," Ford's global powertrain vice president, Bob Fascetti, said.

How tariffs in China could cause a meltdown in the American South

While BMW is clearly a German company, the crossovers that are exceedingly important to it are actually made in Spartanburg, South Carolina. And more than that, the Spartanburg plant (physically located in the town of Greer) is where the corporate know-how and capability for those vehicles is concentrated. These are the vehicles – specifically, the BMW X3, X4, X5, X6, X7 – that drove record growth for the company in 2018, according to BMW. But whatÂ’s most notable about BMW Group Plant Spartanburg, given current events, is that according to the U.S. Department of Commerce it was the largest automotive exporter by value for the fifth year running in 2018. ThatÂ’s worth emphasizing: largest automotive exporter by value. Not GM. Not Ford. BMW. And where might one assume that more than a few of those X vehicles are shipped to? China. Some 360 miles southwest of Spartanburg is Mercedes-Benz U.S. International, Inc., in in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. It started building vehicles in 1997. Since then, Daimler AG has invested in excess of $5.5 billion in the facility. It manufactures the crossover now known as the GLE, formerly the ML-Class. It also makes the GLE coupe and GLS. Daimler describes the Tuscaloosa facility as “the traditional home of SUV production” for those vehicles. When it reported its global 2018 sales, Daimler noted that on a global basis SUVs account “for more than a third of all Mercedes-Benz sales.” According to the Chinese finance ministry, on December 15th the Chinese government will impose a 25% tariff on automobiles (and a 5% tariff on auto parts) from the U.S. Certainly this is going to have a direct effect on the sales of vehicles that are manufactured in the U.S. and exported to China. BMW and Mercedes are going to take it on the chin for the vehicles that they make in plants that they invested in so heavily in the U.S. Which could potentially mean that people in places like Greer, South Carolina, and Vance, Alabama, are going to find themselves in the crosshairs of the combatants. Soo too could Lincoln, which produces vehicles in places like Louisville, Kentucky (Navigator), Chicago, Illinois (Aviator) and Flat Rock, Michigan (Continental). Although the Tesla Gigafactory 3 is rapidly nearing completion in Shanghai, it is worth noting that vehicles built in Fremont, California, are being sold in China in numbers that donÂ’t make Musk unhappy.