Ford serious about retaining truck sales crown

In a room that smells of musty waders, surrounded by camouflage hunting jackets and power tools, a small group of men is plotting strategy -- not for catching the big one or bagging a 12-point buck, but to defend Ford Motor Co.'s leadership of the domestic pickup truck market.

"Can you smell it?" Ben Poore asks. "There's a purpose to that."

Poore, Ford's truck group marketing manager, said the purpose behind the smell and everything else in this simulacrum of your uncle's garage is maintaining a laser-like focus on the customer. It is the headquarters for Operation 34, Ford's plan to extend its 29-year leadership of the truck segment for another five years.

This is only one of a series of secret "war rooms" that have been set up in its Regents Court complex in Dearborn to encourage Ford's strategists to get outside their Detroit-centric mindset and into the heads of their customers and competitors.

Full article here

Zino - 5/25/2006 9:17:47 PM

+1 Boost

Good for Ford to ship these geniuses out of Dearborn and stick 'em in a strip mall. But how about sending 'em to Stuttgart or Paris or, best of all, Tokyo? Let's see how they do with a foreign language, weird food, and steering on the right side. And buy them some clothes! Look at this guy, Ben! He looks like the dweeb in those Apple commercials that plays the 'PC' character.

Pack them off to Milan for the furniture expo, to Cupertino for some cool computer design, to Akihabara for a little consumer electronic sizzle... inspiration from an old garage?

Good design (not styling, DESIGN!) is a product of culture. Dearborn, nice as it surely is, might not be the most electrifying spot...

SteveL - 5/26/2006 2:51:13 PM

+1 Boost

Fords got a long way to go

truckmen - 6/26/2006 3:24:43 PM

+1 Boost

To the blog above that is a web hosting site try to "google water powered car" For the 1/2 ton I like the ford the best because it sits higher than the rest! If I would never take it off road and not require it to carry much weight I would go with the 2007 chev because they are the best 1/2 ton on gas!The honda ridgeline gets 10miles to the gallon when towing!For 3/4 and 1 ton trucks Dodge is the way to go, especially the power wagon! It is the only truck you can buy with some off-road capabilities!Are you listening ford!I think they all could loose weight!I owned a 1993 F-250 4x4 with 35in tires and it weighed 5,500.lbs,why do they weigh so much now? How about better gas mielage or better yet water power (hydrogen)as mentioned above!