Editorial: Light bulb comes on at Ford

Monday, Jan. 9, 2006 | 7:45 a.m.

The Ford Motor Co. is expected to announce its turnaround plan on Jan. 23. News outlets report that many manufacturing plants will likely be closed and thousands of workers will be laid off.

But there may be some good news in the future for Ford, the No. 3 automaker in the world behind General Motors and Toyota. The company has a new president over its operations in the western hemisphere. His name is Mark Fields and he seems to understand what must be done in the future.

The Sacramento Bee covered his keynote address to industry officials at the Los Angeles Auto Show, which is taking place this week. Fields, who has extensive executive experience at Ford, said it is critical for automakers to be acutely aware of global competition while staying in touch with the "hearts and minds" of consumers.

If that philosophy could really take hold among General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, America's "Big Three" auto manufacturers, they could regain their world dominance. For the past two decades or more, however, they have operated more or less in a vacuum, bringing out whatever mechanically challenged gas guzzler they pleased and assuming that consumers would follow them.

At least Ford, anyway, seems now to be recognizing that it is the other way around. Automakers should be following the lead of consumers, who, as a whole, want safer, sounder and more energy efficient cars and trucks.