Leading The Blind

I must be missing something really big. Ford Motor Company has just announced they are going to rename the Ford 500 and make it the Ford Taurus. After an initial launch that saved the company in the late 70's and early 80's, Ford left the car to go stagnant and finally killed in last October. The car was left virtually unchanged for 10 years and went horribly stale while they piled up huge profits on the Ford Explorer and other big SUV's. It seems that Ford banks on miracles to save themselves and I think their angel has left the building.

Ford launched the Ford 500 Sedan last year to a yawning public. It is basically a cereal box on wheels. I understand the interior is slick but if you don't like it well enough to drive it, a great interior does not mean much. Now they are going to take the same ugly car and hope to inspire potential buyers by putting the Taurus name on it. If they mount the horns of a bull on the front at least it might make people curious. I can't envision any other way to get poeple interested in an out of the box pine wood derby mobile.

If Ford is going to pull another miracle out of the hat, they are going to need to

be inventive and out of the box like Chrysler. Chrysler has been the only American auto manufacturer pushing the envelope on styling over the last 20 years. GM has finally come out with it's Saturn Sky and Pontiac Solstice but until then, it was a race to be mediocre. Ford has failed in minivans, lost in luxury, crapped out on the SUV market. The only domain left for them is the working man's truck and that is a long way from where they need to be.

So hopefully they are taking the eye patch off the seeing eye dog that is leading Ford. Maybe the canine stereo vision will provide the guidance to get the tarnished blue oval back on track. If not, another American icon will be nothing but a footnote in the pages of the Harvard Business Case Study required reading.

Icool

Cobb