It's been a long time since the Model T
rolled off the assembly line, but Ford
bigwigs are touting the 1983 new cars
as almost the second coming.
The company claims it's invested three
billion dollars in its new product.
The unveiling comes one day after the US
automakers announced that 1982 sales
were 16 percent below the year before,
although Ford recorded one of the
smallest sales slumps of the domestic
manufacturers.
The economy is partly to blame, but Ford
is betting the economy is getting better.
If I were
to show you the plotting of the
performance of GNP against car sales for
every past recession, they run in
tandem. And so as the economy expands
in real terms, car sales inevitably
will.
The company is also betting its quality
will become a sales point.
Ford officials admit that's been a major
sticking point with new car buyers.
There still is a perception out there
that relates to whenever
the last automobile was that I drove and
had an unpleasant experience with whether
that was in the early 70s or the 60s or
whatever. So it does take some time.
There are lots of buzz words in Ford's
1983 vocabulary economy,
European styling, labor management
cooperation.
But it all comes down to whether you have
the money and whether you trust the
product. Clinton Channel 5 Action
News, Dallas.