Ford Motor (F) shares are up 11 cents, or 0.8%, at $13.45, after an interview with CEO Alan Mulally in today’s Financial Times, by Joe Leahy, in which the Mulally remarked that the company is picking up “more and more” customers from competitors, particularly those that “before had selected Japanese products,” in a reference to Toyota Motor‘s (TM) numerous recalls over the last several months over safety issues.
Last year, 30% of Ford customers were those that had migrated from Japanese cars, said Mulally, though he couldn’t predict just how many the company would pick up this year.
Ford is keeping a “conservative” forecast for U.S. auto industry sales this year of 11.5 million to 12.5 million units, Mulally said, thanks to the “fragile” recovery in the U.S. The U.S. market presents a challenge, with 10% to 15% overcapacity, he observed.
Meantime, The Wall Street Journal’s Josh Mitchell notes this morning that U.S. investigators “have yet to find evidence to explain what may have happened” to the Toyota Prius driver who said the car’s accelerator pedal issue caused him to speed out of control on a California highway last week.
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