Ford’s extravagance, held in the Joe Lewis arena, during the North American International Auto Show focused on small cars: showing all the coming versions of their new Ford Focus. This compact staging brought the heads of all three global units, America, Europe and Asia/Africa on the stage to talk about them. With Ford CEO Alan Mutually opening the presentation and Ford Chairman Bill Ford closing it, the message was clear. Ford is all about growing, and it will be in the small car market. With truck sales inching upward, they wanted us to see the unity of their high command in this strategy. The most interesting of the Ford models is the CMax. With sliding doors and a seven-seat layout, it’s as big as a compact-platform vehicle could be. The idea is to convince Americans there’s enough room inside for family life, but still retaining the advantages of driving a micro vehicle. This is the essence of the battle for American hearts in the small-car world. Whether the lip service for efficiency and environmental concerns will survive the reality of daily driving will be key to the success of this strategy.
