When you’re Ford Motor Company you employ well over 200,000 people, you operate on all continents and you have an awfully big, full plate of things to worry about. With so much going on in the global arena Ford does a great job keeping steadfast on all important environmental, human rights and sustainability goals. At times this comes at the expense of profit but they understand in the long haul, doing what’s right is important. As a small town Saskatchewan Ford dealer we’re nothing more then a tiny blip on a radar for Ford. For us it was a huge deal when we contacted some great folks charged with Ford’s digital communications via Twitter, who arranged a telephone interview with Thomas Niemann, manager of Ford’s Sustainability Report, which interestingly is Ford’s only report that isn’t a financial one.

When we got on the phone with Thomas we dived right into it, asking how he got his start at Ford.

After Thomas explained his interest in sustainability and the natural progression to becoming the global Sustainability Report Manager for Ford Motor Company I asked him for a little bit of background into life in the Ford Sustainability Department and  what he liked best about working in such a key role for FoMoCo.

Just last week, the Leafy Lundi was centered around the Transit Connect Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) in an article titled Get connected with a Green Fleet. It was launched at the Chicago auto show in the middle of February and is very impressive for small business owners. You can read all about it on our blog but we wanted to know when it was expected to hit the road in Canada for our customers.

The Transit Connect is great for small business but most folks are looking for a vehicle to get to and from work, get the kids to the rink on the weekends, go on a quick weekend excursion or hopefully to the airport for a brief winter hiatus to somewhere hot. The next question was how this technology could be adapted for regular consumers and more importantly what will be the next (BEV) coming down the pipe that isn’t a work van?

Ford is proud to feature EcoBoost technology, award winning hybrids and now the BEV’s, there are some competing elements there for a greener environment. We’re curious to know how they will all shake out going forward and if one will squeeze out another or if they are all in harmony as a well rounded “Green Ninja” of a portfolio.

In 2011 the Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or café as it’s normally called is raising the bar and broadening the scope of vehicles. This café could be incredibly taxing (well beyond Starbucks!!) for manufacturers. Forget headache, this will be a severe migraine for manufacturers who don’t meet standards. The requirements take every single vehicle sold across the US and Canada then assess a penalty of $5.50 USD for every 0.1 mpg under the standard….. so very roughly for Ford it would mean $80 MIL for ever 0.1 MPG not meeting the standard. We wanted to know how Ford stacks up against other car makers and what the plan is to high jump this raised bar.

Recently posted on The Ford Story website was an article about Ford’s Go Green Dealership program. As a dealership, leveraging Ford’s expertise in sustainability is an attractive offer. Capital Ford has implemented multiple recycling stations for paper and cans along with some electricity conservation measures but the voluntary Ford program takes it to another level. We wanted to know if we had a shot at being a Go Green dealer and if there are any being built or retrofitted to date.

Of course, what would a good interview be without a dig for something ground breaking that no one knows about yet and has yet to cover. We asked Thomas for a peek down the rabbit hole to what’s the next new, big extraordinary effort coming from Ford sustainability next.

On behalf of Capital Ford we want to acknowledge the interview with a huge Saskatchewanian “Thank You” to Thomas, who just before taking my call just ended a conference call with some European counterparts. He’s a very busy man and we’re privileged to take up a little of his time. I’d be crazy not to thank Ms. Gwen Peake for putting the whole thing together for us. As the Global Digital Communications Manager for Ford I’m confident she has little time to spare and we’re awfully lucky to have won her support.

You can check out all of Ford’s Sustainability Reports all the way back to 2001 on their website here.

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