Ford’s Turnaround Doublespeak

This from Automotive News, via Autoblog: Ford (F) CEO Alan Mulally has announced that Ford, seeking to grab some market share in the wake of the Chrysler and GM bankruptcies, is going to build more cars.

But what cars will it build more of? If you look at the April 2009 sales figures, Ford has two vehicles in the top 10: the Fusion sedan and … surprise, surprise, the F-150 full-size pickup truck. Even in the worst new car market in 80 years, the three main Detroit trucks—the F-150, the Chevy Silverado, and the Dodge Ram—still hold down three top-10 spots. And across the board, truck sales are down almost 50 percent.

So what’s Mulally talking about? The Fusion does seem to be riding a wave of positive press, so it probably makes sense to up its production to take advantage of that. But while this is a fine American sedan, it’s hardly the green vehicle of the future that the Obama administration has called for. I wonder if Ford is beginning to project a rebound in the truck market and has begun salivating over the fat profits that would follow. The F-150 has been top dog for more than 30 years.

And while Mulally may be personally riding high as the only Detroit CEO to not preside over a bankruptcy this year—and while he continues to talk the talk on hybrids, electric vehicles, and so on—he has to know his Ford history. And that history says trucks have never gone away.