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Hau Thai-Tang Leaving SVT for Brazil


robertlane

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I doubt we'll see SVT elevated to the status that it was once for many, many years. I think Ford struck gold when they aligned with Shelby because this has taken a lot of pressure off of Ford. There is still a place for SVT, especially with a Fusion or maybe even an Edge or Lincoln MKR.

 

For Tang, I think sending him to run a large operation will give him the practical experience he needs in order to run bigger operations in the future.

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Agreed...the last and biggest SVT car made with Carroll Shelby and the last with the best engineer in the car world...I think th 07 Shelby will make history (or something like it!).

I have to agree with you 99% on that one. I hold the other 1% untill I get my GO.

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Thanks for the heads-up Robert -- I expected more executive grooming for HTT, just not quite yet.

 

HTT is likey being fast-tracked for 24months or so, so he can get some executive hands-on broadened business experience and will then string-back to Ford NA, I'd bet Mark Fields holds the string.

 

Unlike many, I don't believe for a minute SVT is dead. It's a common practice to 'protect' key human resources by placing them in a matrix organization serving two [or more] areas when a product-plan hiccup would otherwise obviate their need in the short term. Look ...the SVT engineering team are the cream who found themselves in the situation of Ford not having the right product staging to effectively maintain continuity in their skill-use, so they were restructured in a matrix org with HTT holding the string to bridge the needs of FRP, traditional SVT, and likely other special prjects we are unaware of, and do it with a reduced staff -- that's just good business in the interim. As the product plan gets back to serving up viable candidate vehicles for SVT to do its magic on (the F150 gained 800lbs so was no longer an SVT candidate against the Ram SRT-10, the Ranger isn't ready and the Focus, well, let's not go there for a few years, and Fusion hadn't happened yet).

 

As the plan re-alligns on new platforms, H/Boss initial production gets underway, and the 3.5L V6 ramps to full production, I fully expect SVT, regardless of whatever it's called, to be reinvigorated. Lightning, Fusion, Focus, Edge, Interceptor and, of course the refreshed Mustang (and beyond0 are all candidate SVT 'canvases' to my mind. I guess only time will tell. In the meantime those engineering resources are being used on choice engineering work on various platforms, advanced projects and FRPP. As that work matures, I'd expect to see SVT's role to show more clearly as the next crop of performance variants finally make business sense again -- because the right platforms, programs and pieces are in place to support SVT's traditional magic.

 

HTT will return -- about when the Mustang '09/'10 refresh is due, which is when work will start in earnest on the MY'12 ground-up Mustang and derivatives. I expect HTT to wind up owning all of that -- just my hunch based on 30 years of Fortune-10 corporate work, ...but the fun will be in the specifics for sure ;-) just my $.02

 

-Dan

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