It's a roll of the dice but Ford is betting that building cars that can be sold everywhere on the planet is the way of the future. Of course, Toyota and others have been doing this for years. The new head of Ford, Alan Mulally, has wrested control of the company and is staking his reputation and the company's future on this theory.
The first car to come out of the world pipeline is the new Focus, introduced this week at the North American International Auto Show held in Detroit. The sexy looking hatchback and sedan carry the hopes and dreams of the American auto companies. People don't make purchse decisions based on global sales strategies that will save a company money. They buy because they like a car. Ford's betting that their existing customers, the ones who bought a generation of SUVs and pickups will come back for Focus and that they'll peel some Honda, Nissan and Toyota buyers away too.
