Ford VP Jim Farley dropped the F-bomb on General Motors

Earlier this week, we have discussed about the rivalry between Hyundai and Kia, which seemed to be a little bit out of place when concerning two “sister companies.” It seems that phenomenon is spreading towards U.S. manufacturers Ford and G.M. A new book about the Detroit auto industry rebuilding itself is showing that old rivalries are still alive and kicking behind closed doors.

“We're going to beat on them, and it's going to be fun, F*** GM. I hate them and their company and what they stand for. And I hate the way they're succeeding. Ford is back because people trust us. And that is a powerful message. I'm a car guy. I wake up each morning thinking about cars. Watch out. We're only going to get better. I'm going to beat Chevrolet on the head with a bat. And I'm going to enjoy it." Jim Farley, Ford Group Vice President of Global Marketing, Sales and Service was quoted as saying in the book “Once Upon a Car”

Comments like this might be considered trash talk, but this type of conduct can only raise question marks about the conduct of CEOs, as cases like this tend to appear more often. After seeing the comment Ford came out with a statement saying that: "We have not yet seen the book and are unable to comment on the specific quotes. This is a passionate, competitive industry, and we respect all of our competitors."

As a funny remembering, in the early 1990s, GM had handed out baseball bats to various assembly plants which were labeled with the words ”Beat Toyota”.