Ford and Jim Hackett’s big bet on an electric Mustang
Corner Office from Marketplace
Marketplace
4.8 • 545 Ratings
🗓️ 18 November 2019
⏱️ 25 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When Jim Hackett became CEO of Ford Motor Co. in 2017, he pledged to make the automaker leaner and invest more in electrics and hybrids. The Mach-E, an electric Mustang SUV, is the first look at that investment and Ford’s strategy to take their best-selling brands and electrify them. An electric version of the F-150 is expected in 2021. Will it be enough to overcome other challenges for the auto industry today, like tariffs, climate change and changing consumer preferences? Kai Ryssdal spoke with Hackett at the launch of the Mach-E Sunday night in Los Angeles to find out.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hey, everybody, it's Kai. |
| 0:01.7 | Rose Dahl, a brand new and kind of special, actually, episode of the Corner Office podcast. |
| 0:05.5 | I am in an airplane hanger, not far from LAX, the Los Angeles International Airport, honestly, |
| 0:10.8 | where Ford Motor Company is about to officially show off an all-electric Mustang SUV. |
| 0:14.9 | They are calling the Mach E. |
| 0:17.3 | The launch of this car and using the Mustang to do it is a big deal. |
| 0:20.8 | It's part of a strategy around electrics from the new-ish CEO of Ford Jim Hackett. |
| 0:25.4 | He's been here since 2017. |
| 0:27.0 | Before that, had a career running steel case, the office furniture company. |
| 0:30.7 | And now he is today's guest talking about electrics and trade and a whole bunch of other things. |
| 0:34.6 | First, though, I'll look at the car. |
| 0:36.2 | This is our brand new Mach E. First, though, I'll look at the car. This is our brand new Mock E. |
| 0:39.5 | And, Kai, this is a labor of love right now inside of the company because we had an original |
| 0:46.1 | idea. We tore it up. And we started... You had an original idea for a Mustang electric vehicle? |
| 0:52.1 | No, no, nope. it was the first electric vehicle |
| 0:54.8 | notion yeah and uh I've got a colleague and Jim Farley and I went and looked at it with him |
| 1:00.4 | I said it's not good enough and he agreed and he came back with the inspiration to make it part |
| 1:05.3 | of the Mustang family so that's a gutsy move right because one messes with the Mustang at one's peril |
| 1:10.5 | it's actually phrased by me Because one messes with the Mustang at one's peril. |
| 1:15.5 | It's actually phrased by me as you're messing with the heart of the company. Yeah, no joke. |
| 1:16.4 | And so the diligence we put into it and the care is extraordinary. |
| 1:22.1 | In fact, it had to earn this badge. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Marketplace, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Marketplace and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.