SWOT Analysis: Ford Motor Company

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Company Name: Ford Motor Company

SWOT Analysis

Opportunities
Internal External Expanding access to auto loans gives Ford a great opportunity to expand and sell more vehicles, at higher prices. With customers having more access to loans, companies such as Ford have been able to raise prices to meet rising material costs. The average price of vehicles rose from $25,000 to over $33,000 from 2008 to 2014 (David & David, 2017). As wage disparities around the globe shrink, Ford will face a new opportunity to bring more manufacturing practices back to North America. Doing so puts factories closer to Fords largest markets drastically reducing shipping costs and promoting control over operations (David & David, 2017). Another opportunity for Ford is to expand on its line up of eco-friendly vehicles. Ford has already placed a great emphasis on reducing emissions and fuel efficiency with its line up of EcoBoost engines and the company has an excellent opportunity to continue to expand in this. Opportunities include expanding into new technologies and producing eco friendly vehicles that are powered through new efficient means (“Ford SWOT analysis 2019 | SWOT Analysis of Ford,” 2019). Digital marketing is an extremely popular and successful form of marketing that utilizes various avenues such as the multitude of social media platforms, enabling companies to reach a vast number of people from one single source. Ford has an opportunity to develop upon and expand their digital marketing capabilities to grow both customer and supplier engagements (“Ford SWOT analysis 2019 | SWOT Analysis of Ford,” 2019).
– Size: Ford is second largest US Automaker & fifth largest in the world (David & David, 2017).- Variety: The company produces an array of vehicles including both entry level and luxury cars, trucks, SUVs, vans, and performance vehicles for both private and commercial use (David & David, 2017).- Research and Development: Ford is committed to improving upon existing products while developing new ones that are better for the organization and for the planet. Ford has placed a large emphasis on performance and fuel economy, which they have been very successful at accomplishing both with its line up of EcoBoost engines (David & David, 2017).- Global Recognition/Customer Base: Ford is very well known as an automotive brand across the globe due to its success in global marketing and advertising which has created a large and loyal customer base (“Ford SWOT analysis 2019 | SWOT Analysis of Ford,” 2019). – Popularity: Ford produces the single most popular truck in the world (32 Consecutive years) in the F-150 and also has the top selling series of pickups in the world in its F-Series line up (David & David, 2017). -Global Network: Ford has an immense global network of suppliers with a manufacturing presence spanning 62 countries. The company is invested in various fuel sources and has an outstanding global supply chain (“Ford SWOT analysis 2019 | SWOT Analysis of Ford,” 2019). Global Market: New product launches such as the Ford Mustang in Europe and expansions in manufacturing boosted Ford’s global market share to 7.6% in 2015, up one-tenth percent from the previous year. Fords global market share continues to expand with the brands popularity and new product launches (David & David, 2017).  
Threats
Internal External  
– Large Competitor Presence: Ford faces am enormous competitor presence in both the US and global markets (David & David, 2017). -Tech: Ford has fallen behind others such as GM and Google in some areas of new vehicle technology. GM and Google have been working heavily in the area of self-driving cars and the technology has expanded rapidly in companies such as Tesla. Ford has placed far less emphasis on this technology, which may hamper its performance line up (David & David, 2017).-Poor Reputation in Lincoln Luxury Brand: Fords luxury brand is considered to be far inferior as compared to other global competitors luxury brands such as the various English and German luxury brands (“Ford SWOT analysis 2019 | SWOT Analysis of Ford,” 2019). – Raw Materials: Ford, much like all other automobiles manufacturers is affected heavily by the purchase of raw materials such as steel, aluminum, and rubber. About 75% of all revenue goes toward the purchase of new raw materials (David & David, 2017. – One of Fords largest threats is its continued battle with an outrageous number of competitors. Many of Fords competitors are highly aggressive in both marketing and innovation, an area that Ford needs to place emphasis on in order to remain relevant (“Ford SWOT analysis 2019 | SWOT Analysis of Ford,” 2019).- Increased raw materials costs are another aspect that poses a threat to Ford now and into the future. Rising prices in steel and aluminum have a direct impact on the company’s production costs and profit margin (David & David, 2017). – Stringent regulations and compliance threats have increased over the past few years due to various safety and environmental factors. Vehicles face many new public safety and quality inspections as well as emissions inspections. Ford will face serious challenges and consequences if the company is unable to comply with and meet the standards within these regulations (“Ford SWOT analysis 2019 | SWOT Analysis of Ford,” 2019).
How the above information will be used:
Ford Motor Company has been very successful at maintaining its position as one of the top automotive brands in the world. The company is currently the fifth largest automaker overall within the global market, and the company is second overall in the US market, behind only General Motors. This success can be directly tied to Ford’s ability to address concerns that are raised within the organizations SWOT analysis. Performing a SWOT analysis allows the organization to identify strengths that it may use in an effort to overcome weaknesses, exploit potential opportunities, and to address threats. The SWOT analysis of Ford paints a picture for how the firm is more than capable of addressing internal and external factors within its business. Ford can use the information within this SWOT analysis to continue to sharpen its focus on innovation and expansion in an effort to support the organizations desired growth and performance improvements. Ford’s aim is to sustain and grow its position as a leader within the global automotive industry, to do so; the company must include the issues identified within its SWOT analysis in its strategic planning process (Rowland, 2017).Ford could use the information provided within this SWOT analysis to further refine its business practices and approaches to capitalize on strengths and overcome weaknesses. Ford can use its strengths of size and variety of offerings as a means of overcoming one of its major weaknesses of being heavily dependent upon North American markets for revenue. Ford, being a globally recognized brand can continue to expand into new markets and broaden its product offerings to new customers. As more and more markets are penetrated and creating, Ford should see revenue produced from other areas. Ford could also use its immense variety of vehicles to introduce current vehicles into new markets. An example would be the release of the Ford Mustang into the European market. The 2015 variant of the Mustang became the first Mustang to be offered in this market and quickly became one of Fords top selling products for the segment. Ford may also capitalize on its expansive network of global suppliers to overcome raw material costs. The company may be able to use this information to develop new sources or new means of obtaining resources from suppliers. Ford may be able to reposition or restructure specific sources in order to make raw materials more easily accessible, possibly reducing shipping costs for these materials. References:David, F. R., & David, F. R. (2017). Strategic management: A competitive advantage approach, concepts and cases (16th ed.) [VitalSource Bookshelf version]. Retrieved from https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780134167947 Ford SWOT analysis 2019 | SWOT Analysis of Ford. (2019, July 14). Retrieved from https://bstrategyhub.com/swot-analysis-of-ford-2019-ford-swot-analysis/Rowland, C. (2017, February 5). Ford Motor Company SWOT Analysis. Retrieved from http://panmore.com/ford-motor-company-swot-analysis
 

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