Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Robert Farago of The Truth About Cars takes aim at Ford's "Bold Moves" not quite a "Death Watch" but Ford must be stinging


The man who started the infamous GM Deathwatch over at The Truth About Cars site has now set his sites on Ford. Now I don't get the feeling he's going to start up a deathwatch for FoMoCo, but he's not pulling punches as he comments on the Bold Moves from Dearborn. I'm not sure I agree with everything he says, hell I know I disagree with his comments about selling Mazda, but it's an itneresting read.
Ford doesn't seem to understand that just saying you're making "Bold Moves" and then shipping out the same crap won't work. It's not enough to say you're "Driving American Innovation" you've actually got to do something. Words are cheap and the last few months have seen nothing but words coming out of Dearborn. "Life in D?" What the hell is that supposed to mean? Life in Dull?
It's not enough to stand between clay models and talk of the "Way Forward." Ford needs to make some Bold Moves on the Way Forward, by Driving American Innovation and bring out some interesting new cars. Not another catchy campain.
I'm so sick of "Dave" and all this other nonsense. I want to know why Ford can compete around the globe, but can't quite get it at home. Why is Europe getting "Kinetic" design and the North American market gets Dave?

Why won't FoMoCo take some risks?

Robert Farago is a real journalist, with far more experience and knowledge of the industry than I, but I can't agree with a lot of what he says. What do you think? Should Ford sell off Mazda and Jaguar? Should Ford trim back models? Read his piece and let me know what you think.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sell Mazda is He nuts, Doesn't Ford have Eight models based on the Mazda 6 platform.

Be Bold , Bring out a RWD full size Galaxie, Next Gen Focus, Reflex Two seat sprty car.

Bring out a Hot Rod Lincoln , let Mercury have some origional content.
Mazda & Volvo are keepers, Jaguar wait and see what happens with new XK Coupe/Convertible. Land Rover again play it out, after all the bleeding is US Ford. Fix whats Broken , Don't through all your assets at a problem and have no plan.

Bobzoom

Anonymous said...

Fargo is just another typical journalists that is piling on. If he knew what to do, he would be making millions in the automotive industry. It's easy to complain, but it's another to actually get in the game when it is 4th and 20 with 1 sec in the shoot clock, 2 strikes, and you're facing a power play.

Yeah I know, Ford can blame itself for the mess, but heck with it, what else would we be talking about?

Big Ford Fan said...

Bob Zoom, I wouldn't call Farago nuts, I just think he's following a similar formula he suggested for GM.

Shawn, Farago seems a little different from most automotive journalsists. He doesn't seem afraid of biting the hand that feeds him, or telling the truth as he sees it. He's highly respected by automotive bloggers and journalists. I just don't agree with him on this.