Ford CEO Alan Mulally pitches David Letterman on the advantages of electric propulsion.
It wasn’t your typical auto show, but Ford CEO Alan Mulally was as boyishly exuberant as always when he rolled onto the stage for The Late Show With David Letterman in a new Ford Focus Electric – Letterman himself behind the wheel.
Grabbing a seat on the New York set normally reserved for movie stars like Emma Stone, and other celebrities, Mulally used his appearance to promote Ford’s fast-growing line-up of hybrids and battery cars, including the Focus Electric, which will hit market next year.
Deeply invested in motor sports but also a fan of electric power, the often acerbic Letterman could find nothing but praise for Mulally, starting out by trading stories about their early jobs – both had bagged groceries and delivered newspapers – before turning to the executive’s experience at Boeing. Asked to list the aircraft he’d worked on – everything from the old 707 to the more modern 777 – Mulally drew an enthusiastic response from the audience.
But he got his biggest round of applause reminding Letterman that Ford sidestepped Chapter 11 without having to plead for a government bailout. Letterman described Mulally as a “hero” who was “responsible for rescuing the Ford Motor Co. from the brink of bankruptcy.”
While Mulally avoided the chance to boast, he recalled how he had joined Ford, five years ago, at a time when the company “needed to move very quickly to a different strategy,” selling off it global luxury brands in order to focus on the Ford blue oval.
The appearance was a clear boon for Ford, a chance to promote its newest products, and the Focus Electric in particular, with Mulally giving Letterman and his audience a tour before the talk show host got in and drove the car across the stage.
Ford has navigated a fine line that few can cross in the late night wars. It provided Letterman’s chat show rival, Jay Leno, with an early version of the Focus Electric, which he has used on a number of his shows.
Mulally himself has found himself working audiences that automotive executives typically don’t see. He has been keynote speaker three times at the annual Consumer Electronics Show, for one thing, matching the record for Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
But few opportunities exist that could provide a better way to access a hip, young audience to pitch them on the promises of electric propulsion, as Mulally made sure to do during his segment of the Late Night show.