"Ford has in recent months refined a strategy to leverage group strengths and fill the gap between the quality of its product franchises and returns that have lagged peers and lacked consistency," Houchois said. "There is something grounded and 'back-to-basics' in Ford's strategy of focusing on its strengths." "Ford has put together a coherent team mixing internal and senior talent from outside the auto industry including CEO Jim Farley's open mind towards new business models and inspiration from Tesla when applicable," he added.