Dearborn, Mich. – With more buyers defecting from once-popular sport utility vehicles by the day, the Ford Motor Co. hopes to lure them back into showrooms with new crossovers and all-wheel-drive cars.
The struggling automaker unveiled its 2007 lineup Wednesday, hoping the models will slow its sliding market share and help get it back on the road to profitability.
The announcement, at a new Dearborn auto testing facility, came as Ford’s stock hovered near a more than 13-year low and a report came out that car buyers are losing more of their appetite for new midsize sport utility vehicles.
Ford’s new models include the sleek, five-passenger Edge crossover vehicle, which hits showroom floors in November, and a Lincoln version called the MKX.
The company also reworked its Expedition SUV and added an extra-long model with more storage capacity, plus Lincoln counterparts, the Navigator and Navigator L.
Ford did not introduce any completely new cars, but it is offering all-wheel-drive in the Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln MKZ models. The MKZ replaced the Zephyr. It also will roll out the new Shelby GT500, the most powerful factory-built Mustang ever, powered by a growling 500 horsepower V-8.
Mark Fields, president of the Americas division, said the new models, plus behind-the-scenes development of future products, have the company on target to reach its goal of returning to profitability in North America by 2008.
“We remain very, very committed to this and we are on track,” he told reporters.
But Peter Morici, an economist and professor at the University of Maryland School of Business, was skeptical, saying that Ford isn’t offering enough fresh vehicles to ignite consumer enthusiasm.
“The basic problem here is that we’ve seen most of what Ford has for this cycle, and most of it has not caught fire,” he said. “They’re not getting anywhere. They’re making better cars, but everyone is making better cars.”
Fields acknowledged that the market is shifting away from trucks and SUVs, once Ford’s profit center, to crossovers and cars, but said the company should be able to build on sales of its top-selling Fusion and Milan mid-sized cars.
“We’re still not even where we need to be in terms of awareness of those vehicles,” he said. “And that’s why you see us advertising consistently and not launching and abandoning as we have in the past.”
Jim Sanfilippo, senior industry analyst with Automotive Marketing Consulting Inc. of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., said Ford’s strategy of trying to catch SUV owners as they leave the market is a good one. He estimated that there are 4 million Ford Explorer SUV owners who may be ready for new vehicles in the coming years.
