Behind the wheel at Ford, Mulally gets to be "a car guy"

At a news conference Tuesday with Bill Ford, Alan Mulally, who drives a Lexus, at one point quickly corrected himself: "We'll continue to work on making the best airpla — cars, in the world that people want to buy."

Here are excerpts from the conference:

Mulally: "I'm clearly not an automobile person in my experience, but I'm certainly a product designer, and I care deeply about having a viable business."

Ford: "He also reduced the time to market dramatically on the new airplanes. A lot of the things we're facing, he's not only faced, but accomplished."

Mulally: "This is a United States icon, and Boeing is a United States icon, and some people think the United States can't compete in the design of products, and I think we absolutely can. We've shown that at Commercial Airplanes, and I think absolutely we can show that at Ford."

Ford: "I was dogged in my pursuit of him. ... It took some persuasion, but it was worth it, because he was clearly the best candidate for the job."

Mulally: "I can't wait to be a car guy." Regarding the new job, he's "nervous, but not afraid" and "nervous, and I think that's good."

Ford: "He'll be a great mentor to a lot of our younger leaders. He's a great team builder. Our team needs a steady hand from somebody who's been through turnarounds and knows what it takes. ... One of the primary drivers of this decision was that the rest of the management team needed somebody who had been through this, had been through the wars, had battle scars and came through victorious, and that is Alan."

Mulally, 61, was asked if it's a four-year job for him. His answer: "It's a lifetime commitment."

Ford: "Look at him. Doesn't he look great for 61? This place will change all that."