It was twenty years ago when Sir Nick Scheele's view on the automobile industry changed. He was watching a video at the time. Just a run-of-the-mill market research video, but the findings electrified Scheele. It showed consumers of Japanese products versus American consumers. "Both sets were pointing out the things wrong on their vehicles, and the contrast between the number of faults on the American cars- compared to Japanese cars was stunning. I thought then, 'the Japanese are really coming after us.'" This led to a radical change in Scheele's beliefs about quality, in the middle of his long tenure at Ford, which to date has lasted nearly 40 years. "I had previously thought that quality costs money. In fact, poor quality costs far more, both from the consumers' and manufacturer's viewpoint. I realized that a focus on quality was absolutely fundamental going forward." Ford has had a long time to benefit from this view, Scheele started his career at Ford in 1966, working in both the UK and European operations in purchasing, before moving to the US in 1978. A post as senior executive of Ford Mexico beckoned in 1988, where he directed manufacturing and marketing operations.
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