Why We're Not Driving Fords

A few years ago Michael Moore once suggested that if General Motors no longer wanted to build Buicks in his hometown of Flint, Michigan, maybe the city fathers might want to get Ford to build a plant there. As Ford just demonstrated, they're in no position to help Flint. Ford announced plans to buy out 75,000 union workers and cut 10,000 additional white-collar jobs. This will eliminate a third of its workforce and reduce capacity 26 percent from last year's levels. Not only is this devastating to the auto industry, it's especially devastating to Michigan, which is losing jobs faster than it can create them - a problem for this union state in an increasingly right-to-work-shop environment.

Ultimately, Ford is ailing for one reason - boring products. About the only products of theirs that had any pizzazz were its sport-utility vehicles, and gasoline price instability - still in progress despite dropping prices at present - have made Explorers and Expeditions less attractive than they used to be. As the slogan asks, "Why aren't you driving a Ford?" Well, have you actually seen the Ford Five Hundred sedan? Sort of like the old LTD, only with a numerical name instead of an alphabetical one. The best thing I can say about it is that it doesn't remind me of the LTD II. And the Focus is still ugly.

That's why.

It says a lot, by the way, that one of Ford's best models - the Fiesta - is a European model currently not in its North American lineup.