Keynote speaker Mark Fields (center), Ford Motor Co. executive vice president and president of “The Americas,” was welcomed to Dawda Mann’s 3rd Annual Automotive Industry Breakfast by (left to right) Dawda founding member Edward Dawda and Dawda managing member William Rosin.
By John Minnis
Legal News
For three years, the annual Dawda Mann Automotive Breakfast has become the ex-officio launch of the SAE World Congress, held annually at Cobo Center.
This year’s breakfast held in the elegant Grand Ballroom of the Westin Book Cadillac on April 13, the first day of the SAE 2010 World Congress, featured guest speaker Mark Fields, Ford Motor Co. executive vice president and president of “The Americas” for Ford.
Ford Motor Co. appears to be the darling of the SAE 2010 World Congress.
While Fields was speaking to an invitation-only group of some 200 attorneys, automotive suppliers, dealers and lenders, his underling, Paul Mascarenas, vice president of engineering for global product development, was the keynote speaker opening the SAE 2010 World Congress at Cobo Center.
Dawda Mann managing member William Rosin kicked off the breakfast by noting that the third annual event was the largest to date.
“We’re very thankful and supportive of all our automotive partners who made it possible,” he said. “This past year has presented us with unprecedented challenges, but surviving those challenges has made us stronger.”
Dawda Mann founding member Edward Dawda concurred with his managing partner that the annual breakfast was “a good time to meet old friends and make new ones.”
Dawda turned the podium over to Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano, who earlier in his career was the youngest man ever elected sheriff in the United States.
“I am obviously the warm-up act for our guest speaker, Mark Fields,” Ficano said.
The executive of Michigan’s largest county asked, “How many remember when they said the last one out of Michigan turn out the lights? Well, they were wrong then and they are wrong now.”
He also noted that truck traffic across the Ambassador Bridge is up 25 percent. “There has to be something going on,” he said, adding that Ford is Wayne County’s largest employer.
Ficano also spotlighted the planned “aerotropolis” for the area around Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
“Aerotropolis is a way of turning the airport into an economic engine,” he said. “They are typical around the world, but not yet in the United States. In America, we still think of airports as terminals for passengers.”
He said Dubai has pledged to provide any business partner “a warehouse within 30 days” near its airport. Ficano has pledged to do the same in Wayne County in 60 days.
The county exec said GE locating in a former Delphi plant in the “heart” of the aerotropolis was the largest thing to happen recently in Wayne County. Originally slated for research only, GE’s Michigan involvement has now expanded to include parts manufacturing for appliances.
“That was a totally unintended consequence,” Ficano said.
He concluded by referring to Michigan’s exodus of young people during and after college.
“The legacy is you should not have to get on an airplane to see your grandchildren,” Ficano said. “That means if we did our job right, your children do not have to move somewhere else.”
In introducing the keynote speaker, Dawda noted that his Bloomfield Hills firm has been outside legal counsel for Ford for 30 years.
Fields’s talk was titled, “Innovation and Collaboration: The Industry’s New Watchwords.”
“At Ford,” he said, “innovation is a big part of the business model today. Collaboration is absolutely critical for the problems we face today.
“The bottom line is customers demand more and expectations are going to continue to rise,” Fields said. “Like my kids, they want more and they want it faster.”
He said the watchwords at Ford are “quality, green, safety and smart.” Ford has surpassed Toyota in quality and is on par with Honda, Fields said.
Ford cars are getting greener with hybrid and plug-in electrics and more fuel-efficient internal combustion engines.
“The 2011 Mustang has a V6, 105 hp, that gets 31 mpg,” he said. “You feel good about being good to the environment and all the while you’re driving with a smile on your face.”
He said Ford is tops in quality by anyone’s standards, and the company is “smart” in providing the latest — and safe — electronic gadgetry.
He said collaboration with suppliers and other industries is essential. “We surely don’t believe one company or, for that matter, one industry has all the answers.”
Fields cited further partnerships with the University of Michigan and MIT.
“Young folks have a way with innovation that companies just cannot duplicate,” he said.
The Ford exec wrapped up his talk by promoting Ford’s new interactive Web site, www.thefordstory.com, where customers can share their stories and ideas.
“It is the Internet version of the suggestion box,” he said.
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