Ford's Jim Farley Says A Lot More Work To Do in Europe, Supplier Relationships Improving

Ford's incoming President of Europe, Middle East and Africa says the automaker has already made a lot of progress toward transforming its European operation, but there is still a lot of work left to do. Jim Farley stopped short of saying whether more job cuts or plant closures in Europe would be necessary to right-size the automaker's operations in the region. Farley says that despite the challenges with Ford's business he is optimistic because auto sales are growing and he says Ford's big opportunity to capture market share may be in the sport utility segment. Here in the U.S., Farley says the trend toward consumers buying more SUVs in recent months will likely continue. Farley points to fuel economy. He says, 'We reached a tipping point where utilities are now a mainstream body style. They are getting cross-shopped against sedans now. Fuel economy of a sport utility vehicle are very similar to their sedan counterparts.' Ford says one in three of its sales could eventually be an SUV. TheStreet's Ruben Ramirez reports from Los Angeles.