Research

CHEVY

Description

New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has a continuing mission: to seek out and fund new startups, and to boldly go where no VC has gone before! Well, maybe that's a tad overdramatic, but the firm does provide venture capital and growth-equity backing to development-stage and emerging companies involved in information technology (communications, electronics, computer hardware, and software) and health care (pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and health care IT and services) in the US, China, and India. The company is making inroads in new energy technologies as well. In 2010 NEA closed its latest venture fund, worth nearly $2.5 billion, upping its capital under management to some $11 billion.The fund, the company's 13th, is one of the largest venture capital funds raised in the US since the economic downturn hit in 2008.NEA typically buys stakes in about 20 companies per year, and has invested in more than 550 of them since the firm was founded in 1978. More than 150 of those companies have gone public, and about 250 have been merged or acquired. The company's current portfolio includes interests in approximately 175 firms.New Enterprise Associates has offices in Baltimore and Chevy Chase, Maryland; and Menlo Park, California, as well as Bangalore and Mumbai, India; and Beijing and Shanghai.

FORD

Description

Ford Motor began a manufacturing revolution with mass production assembly lines in the early 20th century. One of the world's largest auto makers, Ford brands include Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury. Among its biggest successes are the redesigned Ford Mustang, the F-Series pickup, and the fuel-efficient and techno-savvy Focus. Finance unit Ford Motor Credit is one of the US's leading auto finance companies. Ford owns a small stake in Mazda and controls the Volvo nameplate; the automaker has agreed to sell Volvo to Zhejiang Geely Holding, parent of Geely Automobile, for about $1.8 billion. Though it operates about 90 plants worldwide, Ford Motor gets more than half of its sales from North America. Geely, China's largest privately owned car maker, agreed to acquire Ford's Volvo unit in early 2010. Though Geely was rumored to be the preferred buyer as early as mid- 2009, there were significant financing and government approvals that had to be worked out; the deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2010. Ford does not intend to retain any ownership in Volvo, but will provide engineering support and access to tooling for some components; Ford will also supply powertrains, stampings, and other components for a time after the sale. The sale will give Ford an opportunity to focus on the Ford brand worldwide. At $1.8 billion, the value of the deal is about $4.5 billion less than what Ford paid for Volvo in 1999. The global economic downturn hit the auto industry particularly hard, especially in North America, one of its largest markets. Although Ford didn't seek loans from the US government or go through bankruptcy as Chrysler and General Motors did, the company took a huge hit to its bottom line in 2008, after a couple of years of lackluster results. However, Ford responded more quickly than its peers to changing consumer demands, and restructured its production facilities to be more flexible, able to shift with consumer preferences as well as produce various combinations of transmissions and engines. One of its top priorities since 2008 has been to decrease costs in North America. Ford reduced its North American salaried personnel by roughly 20% from 2008 through the end of 2009, and cut back on production. The company also reduced its 33% stake in Mazda to 11%, effectively ceding control back to the Japanese. Ford plans to trim its number of global suppliers from 2,500 to about 750 over the next few years. Ford was also the first of the major US automakers to respond to changes in the market, as gas prices soared and jobs disappeared. The company worked to improve fuel economy, launched hybrid versions of its Focus and Fusion models, and has even announced a Ford Super Duty truck that gets around 30 miles to the gallon. The company is engineering and building its own truck engines, after a falling out with Navistar International in 2009. The dispute centered on Ford's agreement to buy Navistar's diesel engines: Navistar took issue with Ford's venture into making its own smaller diesel engines, and sued for breach of contract. The drive towards fuel-efficiency, safety, and design has paid off. In February 2010 Ford's year-over-year sales were up by 43%. The company is introducing new or redesigned versions of the Fiesta, Focus, Edge, Explorer, Super Duty, and Lincoln MKX; it is also promising upgraded engines and powertrain transmissions, such as the 2.0 liter EcoBoost which combines direct fuel-injection and turbo boost to lower emissions and raise miles per gallon. Like many other car makers, the company is looking to emerging economies -- including China, India, and Brazil -- for growth. Ford is planning to import its Edge model -- which will be introduced at the 2010 Beijing Auto Show -- into China by 2012. The company is also developing all-electric versions of its Transit Connect urban delivery vehicles; small delivery trucks are popular across Asia. In mid-2009 the US Department of Energy approved $5.9 billion in low-interest loans to Ford for converting its US plants to making cleaner, more efficient engines, transmissions, and vehicles. As a result, Ford reported it would spend $550 million to convert its Michigan Assembly Plant, where Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator SUVs were produced, into a modern facility for making its next-generation Focus small car. The new Focus will begin rolling off the assembly line at the facility in 2010, with an all-electric version of the Focus to follow in 2011. Ford will consolidate operations from its Wayne Assembly Plant as part of the project, and is working with the UAW on more flexible work rules for the Michigan Assembly Plant. In addition, Ford is converting its Cuautitlan Assembly Plant in Mexico from SUV production to assembly of small cars. The Mexican plant will begin building the new Fiesta subcompact in 2010. Ford and Mazda entered into talks in early 2010 to dissolve the three-way partnership they have with Chongqing Changan Automotive (known as Changan Ford Mazda Automobile Corporation); the joint venture has been thwarted at times with disagreements regarding production plans. Mazda had a lead in the decision and believes that a break-up will allow for more manufacturing freedom in China. Ford and Mazda will continue their strategic alliance (AutoAlliance); in July 2009 the companies launched a new $500 million car plant at their AutoAlliance location in Thailand. Passenger cars Ford Fiesta and Mazda 2 will be manufactured at the new facility. The plant is expected to produce 275,000 units per year. After clearing all of the antitrust and labor hurdles, Ford sold Land Rover and Jaguar to India-based Tata Motors for about $2.3 billion in 2008. (Ironically, one of the other firms bidding for the two car companies was One Equity Partners, an entity led by former Ford CEO Jacques Nasser. It was Nasser that oversaw the creation of Ford's Premier Automotive Group, which included both Jaguar and Land Rover.) Ford agreed to deposit some $600 million into the Jaguar and Land Rover pension funds.The Ford family owns about 55% of the company's Class B stock.

Ryan Cunningham