Why Ford has troubles

As you know, I’ve recently returned from the NAIAS and I’m an opinionated person.
 
What you don’t know is that I was accompanying the guy that runs this blog on this expedition, a fella who loves BMWs, is difficult to understand because his native language is French, and a man who barely notices that there are such things as pick-up trucks. Also a carefree bachelor.
 
I, on the other hand, have in-laws. Those in-laws all drive trucks. I pay attention when Ford and Dodge are introducing the next new thing. They’re going to ask me questions. Besides, I kinda like trucks.
 
So, it would be the French guy that picked out – instantly – the reason that the Ford Motor Company ain’t about to be doing good anytime soon. 
 
It still irks me that I missed it.
 
It is all about the tailgate on the new F-150.
 
Now, there’s some background to all of this.
 
By brand, Ford’s always been the biggest selling pick-up in America. (GM actually outsells it, but because their production is split between Chevy and GMC, Ford always claims the top sales position.) Toyota thought that was a juicy market, so it introduced the new Tundra.
 
One of the things that’s really hurt the Tundra’s sales is that the tailgate can’t handle the weight of an ATV. The welds won’t take the stress. 
 
A pick up truck with a collapsing tailgate is not exactly well-built.
 
Ford, on the other hand, has been advancing an ad campaign about being “Ford Tough” for a very long time. And, there’s substance behind that message. Ford trucks seem to deteriorate to a certain point, and then no further.
 
But Ford needs the new F-150 to be a very big hit, because the company is so screwed up that they cannot figure a way to get the Verve to our shores in less than two years. In the meantime, they need cash flow.
 
So, they need the F-150 to be hot, super hot.
 
To do that, they’ve decided to go gadget. They’ve got “platinum editions” which are Ford versions of an Escalade truck and they’ve got every option under the sun on the option list.
 
Including the tailgate step.
 
This baby is an engineering marvel.
 
Here’s how it works:
 
You drop the tailgate. Then, from the top lip of the tailgate, you pull out a step supported by two metal braces, which then drops down so that you can put your foot on the step and step up onto the tailgate. A rod rises from the tailgate for you to grab as you lift yourself up on the step.
 
AND THE TWO SUPPORT BRACES REST DIRECTLY ON THE PAINTED SURFACE OF THE TAILGATE.
 
And then promptly crack through the paint to expose the bare metal underneath, as they did on the F-150 at the NAIAS. That support rod, by the way, wobbles back and forth so much that it could be the John Kerry support rod, one that supported something before it didn’t.
 
When you hear stories about how Alan Mulally has got it under control, how Ford is committed to quality, and how they’ve really, really got a future,
 
Remember the F-150 that they showed the world at the Detroit Auto Show.
 
The one that had the latest innovation, the one they wanted on the front page of every paper,
 
The one with the chipped paint.
 
The one that will rust.