Here are some of the comments from previous years' speakers:
Technology Zooms Ahead
"We are heading to a new world to bring the consumer significant improvements in technological advances which are considerably more as an entity than the value of each one to its own. The human-to-vehicle interface needs to be as natural as possible, there is not time to read a manual (in today's complex car)."
---Venkatesh Prasad (Ford Technological and Group Leader)
"Don't bet against technology!"
---Ed Zandel, Chairman & CEO Motorola
Stay Loose
"There are many important forces in today's business environment. I say we don't have a perfect storm, we have a perpetual storm. The fully flexible corporation is the perfect answer to the perfect storm. A flexible corporation can design and build anything anywhere and maximize the selection or customization for the consumer."
---Tom LaSorda, Chief Operating Officer, Chrysler Group
Global Opportunities Are Huge
"70 percent of the world's population has never been in an automobile. We are in the early innings of a great ballgame."
---J.T. Battenberg III, Bd Chmn, CEO, President, Delphi Corporation
Are We in the Perfect Storm?
"Is this highly competitive market stressful for us? Most certainly! Is it good for us? Absolutely! Does it lead to better products for the customer? Without a question!"
---Fujio Cho, President, Toyota Motor Company
"Weathering the perfect storm (in the auto industry) involves the five p's: product, process, people, place and public policy."
---J.T. Battenberg III, Bd Chmn, CEO, President, Delphi Corporation
Future Work Force Concern:
"As the boomer generation retires, we will face a shortage of qualified workers in the 30-50 year-old range. Last year, China graduated 700,000 engineers or scientists, India graduated 300,000, but only 62,000 engineers or scientists graduated in the United States.
---J.T. Battenberg III, Bd Chmn, CEO, President, Delphi Corporation
Does Toyota Need Reinvention?
"Why in the world would Toyota want to reinvent ourselves when business is good? Because any company not willing to take the risk of reinventing itself is doomed. The world today is changing much too fast. If you are not busy reinventing your company I guarantee you are falling backwards. Even worse, your customers are probably looking elsewhere."
---Fujio Cho, President, Toyota Motor Company
No More Rustbelt!
"The 'rustbelt' nickname doesn't?t work any longer. We're talking High Tech now. The 21st century automobile is the most sophisticated, technologically advanced consumer product you'll ever own."
---Honorable Jennifer Granholm, Governor, State of Michigan
New Partnerships
"We want to be the automakers? partner. We all must work together for the future success of this important industry. From our perspective, a good strategy for business in Michigan includes a good business climate, new business models, industry innovation working with automotive intelligence."
---Honorable Jennifer Granholm, Governor, State of Michigan
The Need to be Proactive
"Opportunities will multiply. We need to seize them. As Thomas Alva Edison said, 'The best way to predict the future is to invent it.' "
---J.T. Battenberg III, Bd Chmn, CEO, President, Delphi Corporation
"The future in OUR hands!"
---John Devine, Vice Chairman and CFO, General Motors Corporation
"This is OUR game to play!"
---Jim Padilla, COO and Chairman, Automotive Operations, Ford Motor Company
Low-Emission Vehicles
"If automakers don't reduce smog-forming emissions?greenhouse gases?and the need for petroleum?I believe we won?t be in business."
---Fujio Cho, President, Toyota Motor Company
"The Escape Hybrid is the cleanest and most fuel-efficient SUV on the planet. We drove this SUV for 752 miles on the streets of New York City on one tank of gas. It got 38 miles per gallon. It is a great example of Ford?s commitment to helping create a better world."
---Jim Padilla, COO and Chairman, Automotive Operations, Ford Motor Company
"We still think that a big part of the future is with fuel cells."
---John Devine, Vice Chairman and CFO, General Motors Corporation
Toyota?s Globalization Explained
"Worldwide expansion for our company 'like many others' takes place in three stages. It begins with sales. Establishing a sales network says that you believe people in another country would want to buy your products. In 1957, we set up a sales operation here in the U.S. at a former Rambler dealership in Hollywood. Our business has steadily improved, and last year we sold more than two million Toyota, Lexus, and Scion vehicles in North America for the first time ever! The second stage is manufacturing. By building where you sell, you further integrate into the communities where you conduct business. As a result, you are able to alter product mixes faster so you can better respond to the changing needs of your local customers. The third stage is research and development. When a region is so important to you that you want to design unique products for it, then you re truly becoming a global company."
---Fujio Cho, President, Toyota Motor Company
Big Issue: Health Care Costs!
"15 percent of the country's GDP is health care, and it?s rising 14 to 18 percent a year. One big factor is the costs of drugs. We have the highest cost in the U.S. for health care, but not necessarily the highest quality. Catastrophic health care costs must be addressed. We have a competitive disadvantage for U.S.-based companies. We spend $700 more per vehicle (for health care) than the imports. General motors spent $4.3 billion in 2003 on health care for 1.1 million employees, retirees and their families. (One of our retires is 106! God bless 'em.) The average vehicle requires $1,400 in health care costs to manufacture. The costs are unsustainable. This is a huge drain on earnings and capital. I note that both political parties are discussing the issue of catastrophic health care this year."
---John Devine, Vice Chairman and CFO, General Motors Corporation
"If we do this right, we can improve the quality of health care for everybody. It may prove to be the best example of collaborative work."
---Jim Padilla, COO and Chairman, Automotive Operations, Ford Motor Company
Those Fabulous Niche Vehicles
"Specialty-vehicle owner satisfaction scores are much higher than other vehicles. These same vehicle designs are attracting new customers to other brands in the same showroom. Specialty vehicles are improving loyalty and have a direct 'halo effect' on other models in the showroom."
---Paul Wilbur, Pres. and CEO, ASC
Autoworkers Are People Too!
"Some of the smartest people in our company are on the shop floor. We need to find ways to incorporate them into the overall process. We don't want just their backs and arms, we also want their minds."
---Jim Padilla, COO and Chairman, Automotive Operations, Ford Motor Company
Take This Test?
"What do we really think about our cars? This was recently reported on CNN. It?' about research. The question is, ?which of these following items could you not do without??
Car, Microwave, Cell Phone, Toothbrush, Personal Computer
"Here are the answers in order of the 'most responses:'
Toothbrush, Car, Personal Computer, Microwave, Cell Phone
"So people would rather give up their cars than their toothbrushes!"
---Patrick Murray, VP, VisionWorks, Lear Corporation
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