Yes, Ford made a profit this quarter.   Yes, they’ve got a new “whiz kid” running the company, Mr. Mulally, ex of Boeing.  Their last “whiz kid was Robert McNamara.  JFK rescued Ford by selecting him to be the Defense Secretary, and he ran the Viet Nam War into the ground, instead of Ford.  Ford got Lee Iaccoa instead.  Had the U.S. had Mr. Iaccoca as Defense Secretary, we’d probably have won the war.
   
But that’s neither the fault of Mr. McNamara or Mr. Mulally.  It’s not even the fault of the architect of the current disaster called the Ford Motor Company, Jacques Nasser.
   
It’s the fault of the Ford family.  Due to the unique stock structure of the company, they control it, even though they own only 28% of it.
   
But Ford’s recent profit has developed a certain euphoria which is unjustified.  Ford made money this quarter.  Hope, as they say, springs eternal.
   
Modeling is, in most areas of endeavor, a noble pursuit.  The idea is to see, on a small scale, how things will work out on a big scale.
   
In the case of the Ford Motor Company the model is the Detroit Lions.
   
Yes, the NFL team.
   
That NFL team.
   
The perennial losers.
   
The team that has been owned by William Clay Ford for 43 years.
   
The team that has an NFL record six straight 10 loss seasons.
   
Mr. Ford spoke to reporters yesterday for the first time in two years.
   
He offered excuses.
   
The man is in denial.
   
About the president and CEO of the team, Matt Millen, who led it to myriad defeats, Mr. Ford has this to say: didn't mesh well with his first two head coaches.”  Millen hired both of those two head coaches.

Ford hired Millen and didn’t fire him.
   
But there’s hope for the future.
   
Just ask Bill:
“We obviously have to show tremendous improvement.  I think it'll be plainly visible to all of you whether or not we're making the progress I keep saying we're going to make or hoping we're going to make.”
Really.

He’s been saying the same basic thing for years.

And losing.
   
Kinda sounds like the car company he and his family run, doesn’t it?