From the Bronco to the Maverick, Ford has had some of the hottest products on the market the last few years. CEO Jim Farley seems to want to keep that ball rolling after making some interesting comments at the Detroit Auto Show, where he said he wants Ford to be “the Porsche of off-road” vehicles.
Farley’s latest remarks come to us by way of Automotive News. At a presentation during the Detroit Auto Show earlier this month, Farley spoke about how Ford’s main rule is to not make boring vehicles:
“We do not make shampoo,” Farley said during a Jan. 9 presentation at the Detroit Auto Show. “Rule No. 1 at Ford: no boring products.”
Jim Baumbick, Ford’s vice president of advanced product development, said Farley directs designers and engineers to think about it another way: “We’re not trying to make toasters on wheels,” Baumbick told Automotive News. “We’re not trying to make just commodity products. It’s all about emotion.
“Our industry is in the midst of a disruption,” Farley said. “But one thing remains true: Great products always win.”
They have a point. Recent product introductions like the Mustang Mach-E Rally, Maverick Lobo, and the wild Mustang GTD show that Ford wants to make products that get people into showrooms. Where the brand really wants to shine is with off-road vehicles, which made up 20 percent of Ford’s sales in 2024. Said Farley:
Ford wants to be the No. 1 undisputed off-road brand in the world. We want to be the Porsche of off-road.
Auto News says Ford has plans to expand its off-road offerings by bringing the Tremor lineup to more pickups and SUVs. Farley also wants Ford to do more off-road racing, with recent entries in Dakar and King of the Hammer. “We’re racing at Dakar not only to race; we’re racing to learn, improve the product and feed that back into our product development to advance our capabilities,” said Jim Baumbick, Ford’s vice president of advanced product development.
Weirdly, this off-road expansion could also come to the traditional Mustang lineup. The brand has reportedly shown dealers an off-road “Baja” version of the Mustang complete with lift and off-road tires, though Farley has publicly denied that a model like that would enter production, calling it “unlikely.”