Msfitoy
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Sid
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2019
- Threads
- 61
- Messages
- 7,748
- Reaction score
- 22,624
- Location
- North Carolina
- Vehicle(s)
- 2019 Ranger, 2003 MINI Cooper S, 2021 Honda CT125
- Occupation
- Automotive, Industrial Designer
- Vehicle Showcase
- 1
I was there in the design studio (Dearborn) during the Nassar days...that guy messed up more than a few projects...Hi Dmeyer,
Yeah...I have a few comments. We had a new Ranger in the works, called the P273 P is for Pickup and 273 was the 273rd program to come before the Top Brass of Ford for a go or no go. We had prototypes running around and were about one and half years into the program when our CEO at the time Jacques Nassar and our Group VP, Derrick Kuzak killed the program because Nassar wanted to put all the money into luxury vehicles to increase profitability in his ill fated dance with Wall Street and Kuzak wanted it killed to force people into the F150 Short Wheel Base as the P273 was more of a midsize than the then current Ranger and Kuzak wanted to retain the Title of Top selling brand for over 40 plus years. All the prototype new Rangers were sent to the crusher...It was a sad day at Truck when the program was killed.
Nassar was an awful CEO in my opinion. He had an idea that an employee that felt he/she could loose their job at any moment was going to be more productive than an employee that felt secure in his/her job. He was hated by so many people. I was at the SEMA show in Las Vegas when Nassar was given the boot. Many of us at the Ford display celebrated way long into the night... Kuzak was a straight shooter that made a bad decision and got axed for it as we gifted Toyota the compact pickup segment. I worked directly for Derrick and always liked him. But he caved to Nassar's pressure and got canned as well. Our leadership for the FI50 was never threatened...
best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired
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