The SPIES Want To Know: Ford's Risen From The Ashes, But How AND Why?

I think it has been a steady stream of uniquely styled vehicles and the fact that Ford has been taking some chances in the design department. They have been willing to show some style rather than building a bunch of blandmobiles. I don't think the public really cares who accepted bail-out funds or who didn't. IMO, they will buy distinctively designed, well made product and that's what Ford has been delivering.

Now...if they could just get Lincoln back off the ground.

Umm... Dude, (or chick) whatever you are: That was lame.

Honestly Ford took a gamble on Mulally and it is paying off. He came in and asked a lot of great questions about product and recognized that the industry is all about product. They also saw the need for funds and mortgaged some assets and sold others to get those funds before the market made that more difficult.

Ford started to build cars that are more like the cars that they sell in the rest of the world....Stopped "Dumbing Down the Product".Ford closed factories and cut back on expenses...More than anything else Mulally brought COMMON SENSE back to Ford...I mean, COME ON...Whose "Better Idea" was it to drop the name Taurus?

Oh yeah, Bill Ford Jr.

The thing I dont get about Ford's turnaround is why hasnt the same thing happend with Lincoln or Mercury? Lincoln and Mercury basically have the same product underneath as Ford, so why?

I have friends who have Likncoln, and unfortunately (even they admit), the Ford version are just as good. The Mercurys and Lincolns dont necessarily justify the price premiums to the right audience.

But overall, even I have to admit that the bottom line is, Ford has used positive marketing and put out cars PEOPLE WANT TO DRIVE AND THAT LOOK GOOD.

I myself have never owned a domestic vehicle, but even I would at least now consider Ford in a future purchase. The Fusion and Taurus SHO IMO look pretty solid

I miss Knight Rider. In the same way that Fifth Gear is a great substitute when Top Gear is a on a break and has repeated many times on TV, I wish that they gave 2008-2009 Knight Rider series another chance. Of course, I liked the character KITT more than anyone else, even the girl. :P

Ford was in the toilet a few years ago. They are much better off today due to the way Alan Mulally has run Ford since coming in and some good luck: GM & Chrysler getting bailouts, and Toyota recall troubles.

But ultimately Ford is building much better cars today then it was a few years ago. Mainly in terms of styling, since quality/reliability takes some time to gauge properly.

I have a Toyota and a Acura right now, but there are definately Ford products I would consider today such as the Ford Fusion, upcoming Ford Fiesta, Ford Focus, the Ford Edge, Flex, and Explorer. The Edge, Flex, or Explorer to replace our Sienna.

A short 5 or 6 years ago, I swore I would never buy another Ford product after the horrendous quality of my 96 Probe GT(which I loved anyway because it was soo much fun to drive), but the quality was definately lacking. From a manual tranny that had a mind of it's own, to plastic trim that started cracking at 60K, to warped exterior plastic pieces.

Hopefully in a few years we'll know if quality like the above is banished from Ford products and I will buy one also, again.

how and why? thats a good question, oor. try to figure it out before you ask the "audience"

I know why, but it is important to see if our audience is in line with the survey's results.

There are many religious, redneck, not-so-well read, nationalistic Americans and with GM and Chrysler taking tax money, they've shifted over to Ford.

Toyota's bad press doesn't hurt Ford either.

Almost 120 years history and around 350 000 000 vehicles produced all around the world = F O R D

The facts speak alone for themselves!

They did not take the bailout money. They refinanced themselves 2 yrs before the credit melt down.They have been coming out with better products.They have gotten a good review on quality and reliability in the press.Their product line is much improved. If Ford wants Lincoln Mercury to do better it will create products that are specific to Lincoln Mercury and not Ford. But frankly Ford has been focusing primarily on Ford products. Lincoln does have some products but they are not individualistic enough from Ford.It will come in time.

I bet Mazda shared some of its technology with Ford..

and volvo

Mazda had to Ford had controlling interest. Volvo was owned outright, technically all Volvo tech is Ford tech.

they have obviously made dramatic improvements to the quality of their products. no one has mentioned sync... I think that sync works well, it is convenient and compelling. I think that sync is really helping them sell cars.

If you think ECOBOOST is bad... read the Autoblog story on the 5.0 v8 win Independent Variable Camshaft Timing (Ti-VCT) engine. One would think no body has ever driven an engine with overhead cams . The sad truth is most of the people who read the advert press blurbs will buy it as a FORD first :)).
Ofcourse 3 months later when somebody else is "paying" for a blurb .. The mustang will be panned for its "cheap suspension", "dead steering feel" or "short cuts in interior finish" .
But for now .. its better than a 650i Beemer or an Audi s5. Ahh nothing quite like the advert dollars to write the latest crpatastic article.

Ford used to own 33% of Mazda, but the HQ of mazda was still in Japan, I think now mazda is wholly Japanese now..

Media perception is definitely helping FORD

1) Toyota has lost the plot because it has "8 million recalled" vehicles most of them orchestrated by at the UAW's insistence and some extremely biased jingoist media coverage .. can some one say "James Sykes" . Its no secret that Toyota is no.1 target of UAW as they want to either "unionize" it or "crush it"

2) Quality Myth : FORD is great despite having 14.6 million recalled vehicles in the last 5 years. That there are 3 potential recalls pending against it are why i would hesitate to recommend any of them. Its so called quality is most validated not by Eng. outfits but by "magazines" and "websites" whose legendary adherence to any sort of reporting standards is well known.

3) The media bashing of Toyota will take a short time toll. Protectionist bashings are often like that. Long term for Toyota is yet to be seen. They seem to be on the ball much better and March sales will determine if they take the fight to the competition. Lets see what it is. Perception polls can turn in an instant.

4) Mustang v8 is awesome, but if gas continues to spike this summer (say 4:25 ) in California. It will be a win win for Toyota despite all the naysayers. They have a deep line of upcoming hybrids that are betting on such an outcome.

There are many reasons why but I can tell you that since Autospies has been negelecting articles about the new models for the most part coming from Ford my Ford stock has been rising and rising.

Examples being they can't get us any info on the US bound Focus powertrains and numbers associated. No additional info on the fact that the Fiesta hatch is outselling the sedan in the US pre-orders. Further specs on the Fiesta coming out soon. The new Edge was not really covered except for some opinion pictures. The new Explorer is due out soon, and a 2012 Fusion is on the way. But leave it to the spies to worry more about speculated next generation BMWs than what is actually coming to market.