Ford Motor Co. launches national comeback tour

Ford Motor Co. is trying to solidify its shrinking domestic market share numbers – it dropped to third in July after being passed by Toyota – with a national tour highlighting its historic flagship vehicle: the Mustang.

Greg Pawlowski, product specialist for Ford, is in charge of the national Mustang tour, which features the 2007 Shelby Mustang GT Convertible.

“We needed a vehicle that would get the attention of the consumer, something that’s identifiable with the company,” he said. “We chose the 2007 in the grabber orange color to get attention. We wanted to say, ‘Here we are, take a look at us. We’ve got bold and exciting products now, and we have a lot more coming, so hang with us.”

Pawlowski said the tour is designed to take the Shelby to the main streets of the United States.

The Aug. 4 tour stop in Springfield was at Springfield-Lincoln Mercury-Jeep. The local Ford dealers are optimistic that the tour and marketing efforts can help their businesses.

Tim McKee, sales manager for Friendly Ford in Springfield, said that the tour is build hype around the company’s new vehicles – vehicles that are increasingly targeted toward specific demographics.

“This Mustang has some retro styling to it,” McKee said. “And, man, when people see that car, instead of getting the 20-year-old wishing he could afford to buy it, you’re getting the 40- or 50-year-old saying, ‘I had one like that, and I want this one.’”

A corporate U-turn

The tour is one small part of the massive Way Forward restructuring effort for Ford, which has seen a rising sea of red ink as its market share continues to shrink.

Ford’s market share has dropped from 20.2 percent in 2002 to 17.4 percent in 2005. The company announced Aug. 18 that it will cut its North American new car production by 21 percent for the fourth quarter of 2006.

The result: 9 percent fewer vehicles to be built in 2006 than in 2005.

One problem for the companies – both Ford corporately and Friendly locally – has been the emphasis on sport utility vehicles.

“We were huge in SUVs in Springfield,” McKee said. “And then gas jumped a year ago, and people panic. We think it’s going to be OK, and then it happens again in March and April of this year. Now all of a sudden, Ford says we have too many SUVs in the pipeline. We spent a lot of money building what people were buying, and then the market changed and we got caught.”

The cutback, according to Pawlowski, is part of the company’s restructuring plan, which is aimed at making the company profitable by 2008.

“The market is changing, the targets we have are ever-changing, and our plans have to change accordingly,” he said. “It was a realization that this is what we have to do now, in order to get where we want to be.”

Friendly Ford’s McKee said the move also signifies increased efforts to incorporate more dealer suggestions into Ford Motor Co.’s business plans.

He’s noticed the increased communication efforts when accessing the dealers-only Web site used to order new vehicles; dealers now regularly get pop-up windows asking their opinions on everything from popular vehicle colors to which options to include in new models.

“They never used to do that,” McKee said. “In the past, the domestic companies have built cars and then asked the dealers to sell them rather than finding out what the people want, building those cars and letting the cars sell themselves.”

That increased feedback also let the company know that some dealers were asking for smaller on-lot inventories.

“If I can get fewer cars on the lot and spread them out – so a customer can get up close and see it, rather than having to squeeze between cars – and the salesman can let you open the doors and let you see it, it’s easier to make up your mind,” he said.

Spokesman Pawlowski said communication is essential to the success of the company’s turnaround efforts.

“Good ideas and innovations are not exclusive to the top levels of the company,” he said. “The idea was to open up the communication channels so that everyone had an opportunity to be heard.”

The Way Forward

Mark Fields, executive vice president of Ford Motor Co., describes Ford’s Way Forward restructuring plan during a Jan. 23 press conference:

“We expect more than 300 nameplates (in the U.S. market) by the decade’s end – a 50 percent increase in only seven years. That’s unprecedented, and it has spelled the end of the Big Three as we know it. Today, it’s the up-for-grabs Big Six and a competitive shootout like we’ve never seen before.

“We have addressed many of these problems in a significant way since 2002. We reduced capacity by nearly a million units. We slashed material costs. We added new products. And we refocused on our core business again. But our revenue didn’t keep pace with higher costs.

“That is what the Way Forward is about. It’s not a cost-cutting exercise or a retreat into smaller markets. It’s a retaking of the American marketplace.”