Ford Motor Company has actually named its initiative to halt the hemorrhaging of its market share, taking a que from Alice Walker and naming it “The Way Forward”. Cold comfort to the 30,000 workers who will be left behind.
Rumor has it that Ford was considering holding meetings to discuss the possibility of manufacturing products that people actually want to buy, and even resurrecting their old chestnut, “Quality is job one”, but all of the meeting rooms were booked.
Still, it could happen. The automotive branding world has been full of resurrections in the past four years. Buick’s dead man designer Harely Earl was dug up back in late 2002, while in the same month Chevrolet turned to Jesus for inspiration, and an odd coalition of lefties and righties launched “What would Jesus Drive?”. Just last November Audi began playing God, with talk of “Inteligent Design”.
Clearly, Ford’s “The Way Forward” has missed the Ark.