Wall St Journal - May 1, 2007
..Sales of Ford cars and light trucks...fell by 8% last year and are down by 15% for the first three months of this year. Ford brand sales in 2006 were one million vehicles behind the brand's sales in 2000.
..Chicago-area resident Scott Young, who had been a loyal Ford customer for more than 30 years, says he has been turned off by bad experiences at dealers and quality problems he has had with Ford vehicles. He says he will likely buy a Honda the next time he shops for a vehicle. "I don't know what they could do to get me to change my mind," Mr. Young said.
Barry Engle, Ford's North American marketing chief, says, "I want it to be cool to buy a Ford again."
Engle's latest hook is a new ad campaign that kicks off today for Ford's the F-150 pickup truck
..Toyota Motor Corp. spokesman Bill Kwong said the company is still studying the four-star rating because internal tests showed that the Tundra deserved five stars.
Sales for the F-series this year are down 14% through March, but [lead] the new Chevrolet Silverado