Trying to bounce back from one of the worst crises in its history, new Ford Motor Company (F) chief executive Alan R. Mulally,
met with Toyota Motor Company (TM) chairman last week to get some pointers.
Toyota is on the verge of becoming the world's largest auto company next year, if sales projections are met. Besides Mulally, Mark Fields the head of Ford's operations for the Americas, attended the Wednesday meeting with Fujio Cho, chairman of Toyota.
Both companies actually have a long association with each other that stretches back to the 1950's. When Toyota was trying to regroup after World War II, Ford allowed managers to study the operations at its giant Rouge complex in Dearborn, Mich. Toyota also came to Ford in the 1980's when it was looking for an American partner with which to open its first plant in the United States.
Toyota ended up entering into a joint venture with General Motors (GM) instead. The possibility of Ford and Toyota working together this time is great but with Ford being the one needing help to regroup from a third-quarter loss of $5.8 billion in North America.
Read the full NYTimes.com article here.
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