Motor Trend's MacKenzie Plays Friendly Game of Interview Softball With Jim Farley

Motor Trend, a part of the “TEN: The Enthusiast Network” machine, grabs the marketing attention of automaker C-suites in ways that this humble blog can’t — and won’t.

Using its clout, you’d think Motor Trend would dig up the goods when given the chance to sit down with Ford’s main man in Europe, Jim Farley. You’d think wrong. Instead, Motor Trend offers up this stunning, 530-word game of interview softball.

To MacKenzie’s credit, he does lay out some of the challenges facing Ford of Europe in the future: traditionally budget-conscious brands (Hyundai) are moving up, luxury brands (ze Germans) are moving down, and Ford is seemly stuck in the middle with nowhere to go.

Therefore, you’d think MacKenzie would dig up the goods and lay out a plan for Ford’s European future. After all, the piece is titled, “ What Ford is Doing to be More Competitive in Europe: An Interview with Jim Farley.”

Instead, we’re presented with passages such as:

“We have to be selective with where we compete. We can’t be this brand with all this choice. We have to stop investing in nameplates where we have no line of sight for profit.”

Some Ford model lines will therefore disappear over the next few years, though Farley won’t say which. Ford sources suggest the Fiat 500-based Ka is one on the list, however.

None of this is new news. Many have suggested the death of the Ka is nigh.

Impressed with what Daimler has done with AMG, Farley wants to better leverage Ford’s ST and RS performance brands. “Our performance heritage is so strong, and we have real credibility,” he says. “I think it’s high time for us to give more people that experience.”

Isn’t that what the Ford Performance-gasm was all about?

And when speaking of going up-market:

That something nicer is Vignale. Initially offered on the Mondeo (aka Fusion), Vignale, which among other things offers special paint, Bentley-quality leather, and VIP dealer service, has now been introduced on the Kuga, Edge, and S-Max. Only 2,000 Mondeo Vignales had been sold in the first four months, but Farley says 20 percent of buyers traded a premium brand vehicle to buy an ultra-luxe Ford.

Farley insists Vignale is not a Lincoln substitute. The concept will not be coming to the U.S., where Lincoln is again being revamped to take on luxury brands, and he says it doesn’t rule out Lincoln returning to Europe. But when it comes to premium, the Blue Oval is clearly hedging its bets.

Emphasis mine.

“Why is Vignale not a Lincoln substitute?” would have been a great question to ask here. Lincoln is floundering on this side of the Atlantic as the same time that Ford continually makes bank. Do you really think more people would buy a Lincoln MKZ over an ultra-luxurious Ford Fusion? Maybe in China.

Between 2005 and 2008, North American pickup truck buyers said, “Nope, the F-150 is fine,” when presented with the option of buying a rebadged F-150 in the form of the Lincoln Mark LT. Since then, Ford’s been adding as many trim levels to the top of the F-150 as the market will bear — and it seems the market can bear even more than the OEMs offer.

I’ve contended that Ford will go downmarket in Europe ever since my brief encounter with Farley before Ford shipped him off to Europe. Even Motor Trend thought the exchange was interesting enough to run it then. Yet, MacKenzie failed to probe Farley about that side of the low- and high-end squeeze.

Maybe we’ll see more in the second inning. Or maybe we’ll see more Apple Car urination.

[Image: Sam VarnHagen/Ford]