Bill Ford on Tipping Points and Thinking Small

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With cars like the hot-selling Focus, Ford hopes to build a fuel-efficient image Rebecca Cook/Reuters

Kerkorian and his team "obviously have ideas," says Ford, "and we listen to them" Kevork Djansezian/AP Photo

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Maybe the reason that they haven't been terribly specific is that they have bought into what we're trying to do. They agree with our goal to be the fuel-efficiency leader in each segment. There certainly have been no contentious discussions at all.

When you look back over the last couple of years, do you have any regrets about putting Jac Nasser in as CEO, maybe leaving him there too long [1999-2001], and then eventually having to fire him and put yourself in as CEO? Even though you had the right vision, you maybe needed an industrial engineer like Mulally.
I don't really afford myself that luxury. I mean, you know, one of the things I feel good about is that when I stepped in as CEO, we were losing a lot of money. We turned it around, and we had three straight profitable years when a lot of our competitors did not. But it was clear to me that I really needed somebody like a Mulally who could come in and drive the operations of this company on a daily basis. And so I feel really great that Alan is here. I mean, I couldn't feel better about it.

Do you think Chrysler will be sold?
I have no idea what's going to happen to Chrysler.

How about GM? You think it will survive?
I think it will. GM (GM) has a lot of strengths. You know, they're obviously struggling with the same issues that really the whole industry is struggling with now. But GM has some great brands, some very good technology, and very good management. Yeah, they'll get through this.

You must have had some tough meetings with the family over the last year or so. How are they taking all of this?
They're supportive. I mean, this family's been in this company for over 100 years, and our name is on each product. There's a tremendous amount of pride. Everyone in our family grew up loving Ford and loving what Ford stood for in the world. And so, yeah, I mean, nobody's happy to be going through what we're going through now. And it's not just the impact on their personal finances. It's because we have such a strong emotional attachment to the company. It hurts us to see the company go through it, and most important, it hurts us to see the employees of the company suffer. That has the biggest impact of all.

Maria Bartiromo is the anchor of CNBC's Closing Bell .