I walked in and inherited a management group that I didn’t know very well. They didn’t know me, and we had a very short window to put together a credible recovery plan.

For all the progress, we recognize we’re very far from the finish line.

One of the things I’ve had the advantage of, growing up and being close to the top management of this company and other companies for most of my life, is seeing how CEOs start to believe in their own infallibility. And that really scares me.

I don’t ever want to believe my own press clippings, good or bad.

I think I was the first executive to ever speak at a Greenpeace business conference, in London in 2001. That didn’t play well here at Ford, but I thought it was an important signal to send internally, that these were the kind of issues we needed to be grappling with.

All things being equal, I think people would still prefer to do business with their hometown companies. That’s true in America, that’s true in China, that’s true in Germany.

As long as gas is cheaper than bottled water, we can’t be in a position of dictating to the consumer what to buy.

I don’t care where you are in the world, people are aware of what technology is available to others. If you’re in Nairobi, you’re certainly aware of the iPhone.

I think the world is filled with so much hype and PR bull. Frankly, it all comes out in the end. Good or bad, I’d rather just let our accomplishments really speak for themselves.

It’s amazing how much data is out there. The question is how do we put it in a form that’s usable?