Theodore, I should have specified 32MPG HWY, not combined cycle.

Okay, that gets you one – the Mercedes E320 Bluetec. 210 hp, 32 mpg highway. Of course, it’s a diesel. And it’s $53,000.

Fuel economy has many enemies. One of them is horsepower. At the moment, you can have either a powerful car or a fuel-efficient car. You can’t have both.

/end article.

Give me a Fusion with this vaunted EcoBoost engine, 6-sp manual, 32MPG, and at least 200Hp.

I’ll do you one more realistic. Skip the 32 MPG /200HP and just give me a 6-sp stick with AWD, poor man’s A4. The Fusion is already track-able in I4 guise. Give me the function I want for less than a Subie or Audi. I’m in the target market for SYNC, I’ve dropped > $300 on iPod compatible stereos in my last two cars, and I’ll do it again for the next one. The Drivetrain is a deal breaker. It’s all about product.

I really hope Ford gets its small cars together in the US, right now they don’t offer anything I would buy. They have the manual is for the stripper mentality. I’ll drive one once they put together one I’d want to buy.

Give me a Fusion with this vaunted EcoBoost engine, 6-sp manual, 32MPG, and at least 200Hp.

You don’t ask for much, do you? There are precisely zero cars on the market today making 200 hp and 32 mpg (EPA combined cycle.) Sure, I’d love it if Ford made a car like that – I’d love it if anybody made a car like that – but geez…

Until then, I have been considering every body’s favorite (car to hate) – the Jeep Patriot…

With it’s standard stability control, 4 cylinder, manual trans, and optional AWD, the price & fuel economy are very attractive to handle my current budget and winters in my new-found home of Western Michigan…

(though I’m holding off till ‘09 models are available to see if there is any long term reliability & also to see the new interiors…: )

P.S – As someone who lived 6 years of Escape Hybrid development, I can tell you that all that Ford ever received from Toyota regarding hybrids was a hard time and a bad name….

The Escape Hybrid (and soon Fusion Hybrid) battery management, energy management, and controls were (are) from the sweat of Ford’s brow – Ford simply “received” the OK to use a powersplit transmission architecture and associated hardware from Toyota’s in house supplier, Aisin.

If you believe Mulally delivers on the profit by 2010 (ne–they will make it in the short -term)—you MUST wait until the line-up looks like this (see below) to deliver the full monte:
1) New Fiesta
2) New Focus
3) Re-Freshed Fusion
4) Refreshed Taurus
5) Flex
6) Edge
7) Refreshed Escape

Certainly alot more credibility and permission to believe from a consumer standpoint against this line-up.

Said another way—you can spend your capital on Boones Farm now or wait until the Napa Pinot arrives. I’ll spend my capital on the Pinot from Napa any day my friend…and I think Ford has the 1-2 years necessary to do so.

I’ll take a shot.

Ford should be a mass-market brand – no point in running away from that heritage – but a brand that brings something previously enjoyed by the upper classes to the common man.

When the automobile was derided as a plaything of the rich, the Model T brought “automobility” to the masses, and revolutionized the country.

When only luxury cars were “styled,” either by coachbuilders or, in the case of the LaSalle, by a young Harley Earl, Ford brought style to the masses with the Model A. Today we forget how stylish the Model A looked to people at that time, and how revolutionary that was for an inexpensive car. Edsel Ford I styled it to look like a miniature Lincoln, and people loved it.

When only luxury cars had any semblance of performance in stock form, Ford brought out the 1932 V-8, and thus brought performance to the masses, and almost singlehandedly created the hot rod culture.

When two-seaters were fussy, exotic machines for the well-to-do who lived in the New York and Los Angeles areas, Ford brought out the original two-seat Thunderbird. It was a stylish, sporty (as opposed to a pure sports) car that offered the reliability and features that most Americans expected. While not an inexpensive car, it was more affordable than most two-seaters – and more practical (from a service availability and reliability standpoint), too.

When small, affordable American cars seemed to be styled with either the utilitarian outlook of George Romney and Robert McNamara or Virgil Exner’s oddball approach, Ford introduced the Mustang, which offered the charisma, style and features associated with foreign cars, but with reliable American mechanicals and a shockingly low price. The Mustang probably did more to popularize the bucket-seats-and-floor-shifter interior layout among Americans than any other car.

When Americans were showing an interest in European cars, especially at the upper end of the market, Ford brought the style, ergonomics and attention to detail of the good foreign cars (particularly the Audi 5000, which was THE car of the day from a design standpoint) to the masses in the original Taurus. While that car had its problems (which made it more European than Ford probably ever intended), it did move us away from the square-box style that started with the 1975 Cadillac Seville and continued with GM’s downsized full-size and intermediate cars.

I would say that Ford needs to stress its roots as a mass-market brand, but as the mass-market brand that is bringing to ALL Americans a special attribute or quality. Ford doesn’t necessarily have to have introduced something first, just make these features available in its vehicles before its mass-market competitors, and then promote the heck out of them. Promoting Synch in the Focus is a good start. Promoting five-star safety in the Taurus is a good start. But each vehicle line needs, a “hook,” that will mesh with an overall brand slogan.

I’ll let others figure out what the slogan should be.

I would stay away from the quality angle. Any mention of quality – even with the improving results – will inevitably lead to: 1. the public remembering that Ford’s quality ranged from good to mediocre to awful not too long ago; and 2. the constant reminder that Toyota and Honda still set the gold standard in this area. This is just free advertising for Toyota and Honda.

Ford, like it or not, needs to let Consumer Reports, JD Powers and, ultimately, word-of-mouth, spread the good news. This is tough, but this is the only way for Ford to handle this. Ford needs to keep its nose to the grindstone and continue on the “road to redemption” through hard work and attention to detail. But the impartial reviewers, the vehicles and ultimately the customers must do the talking. Fortunately, with the internet, good news can travel quickly.

Ford has an opportunity here. With the faltering economy, rising gas prices, an imploding housing market and tightening credit standards, “affordability” is a big concern among many people for the first time in many years. Living in Pennsylvania, and being bombarded with ads from the Obama and Clinton campaigns on an hourly basis, I get the feeling that most people don’t feel especially rich right now, and it’s not a good time to be flaunting wealth.

That BMW 3-Series or near-luxury SUV that seemed attainable 1-2 years ago now looks like a foolish indulgence for many people. The car company that can offer “more” or “something extra” at a price most people can afford, without cheapening the product, will reap benefits. Ford has a history of doing just that (when it’s on the ball). It needs to remember that heritage, build vehicles that reflect it, and promote those vehicles in ways that make people understand what a Ford offers them for their hard-earned money.

Given the amount of money that Mr. Farley has made and now makes, I doubt that the kind of people in his neighborhood are really in the market for Fords, Chryslers, Chevies, Nissans, Hondas, etc. other than maybe a few special sports car models (e.g. Corvette, Dodge Viper, Shelby GT500 Mustang, etc.).

The title has been changed or it was a previous edition.

BTW: visit the the Despair.com web site. It it is great fun.

BTW Robert—I’m very surprised that your timeline is “NOW”…when product will not be in place to support it….that is making the assumption that you think product is the most important element in the marketing mix.

What exactly are we waiting for? What is a Ford? Define it, build it, market it. Only Ford doesn’t have time to reinvent all its products. So it better figure out a way– A WAY– so sell what it’s got.

As far as a marketing plan—-a best in class one (if done right) takes at least 24 months to make a meaningful and sustainable impact. The issue for Farley is that he does not have the most important foundational element in place (top to bottom product excellence) to execute the “full monte” plan he probably wants to do NOW…that will not happen until product is right.

BTW Robert—I’m very surprised that your timeline is “NOW”…when product will not be in place to support it….that is making the assumption that you think product is the most important element in the marketing mix.

Let’s put it this way, and take any domestic/foreign bias out of the equation: If GE tells me that an appliance marketing campaign will take 5 years to evaluate I will grant them that, because I expect them to have 5 relatively distress-free years to evaluate it. If Delta Airlines tells me the same about a marketing campaign I just have to laugh, because in the intervening 5 year period they may have filed for bankruptcy protection 2 or 3 times.

Bose has been doing this successfully for more than forty years in the home audio market. Why is it such a stretch to believe that Ford couldn’t pull the same trick off, especially with the company’s recent improvements in build quality?

As Katie or someone commented in the last Ford DW – Put your money where your mouth is. If they put a lifetime powertrain warranty on the Focus I’ll buy one tomorrow and drive the effing wheels off of it. Ford is guaranteed to lose money on that one.

Sorry, got distracted by my own zeal. Timeline. Right. How about… now?

Napoleon wanted trees lining French roads to shade his troops on their way to death/battle and/or back from their Russian ski vacation. A general said, “Listen short stuff. It’ll take a hundred years for those trees to grow.” “Then we must start at once!” Nappy replied. And then ordered the general decapitated.

Capisco?

Brownie—easy to criticize—harder to dimensionalize a solution. The question I posed to Robert is yours (or anybody’s) to answer.

Not being a fan of Dr. Who, I’m not sure if I can dimensionalize. But the answer to your question is simple enough. Forget Drive One. Pick one. One unique selling point. Then hammer it home in every way, all the time, everywhere, forever. Oh, and don’t forget to make products that actually embody this focus. Better than anyone else in the entire world.

And they didn’t even have to fly me to Vegas…

Also, from your vast marketing and brand management experience / perspective give us examples of LIKE brands, product, and companies that have the major marketing issues that Ford has AND have solved their problems in YOUR aforementioned “sense of urgency” timeline. When I say solved—I am not talking about an academic exercise but tangible business results.