* Minimal engineering investment, minimal durability testing (SVTs and Ford GTs you can't drive hard without overheating) * Maximum marketing the bejesus out of it (and you’re not an American if you don’t buy it) * Morbidly obese weight (4000 pound Mustangs) * Trot out the glories from a million years ago (poor ‘ole Shel almost looks like Captain Pike) * Appeals to low common demoninator (Americans are stupid, so as far as they know this stuff is the best there is) * Build the best stuff overseas (Aussie Falcon and Euro Focus - Americans are stupid, so as far as they know we get the best there is) * Claim everything is new when it’s not (2008 Escape with yesterdays engine and transmission) * No suspension sophistication at all, borderline dangerous (4000 pound Mustang) * Cheap Plastics (Ford or Lincoln - who can tell?) * Bury the best engineering (missing IRS for Mustang - developed and then cancelled) * Tide things over until what you really needed was ready (3.5 V-6 mysteriously delayed) * Cancel everything and anything Jacques did because you know he was better than you (cancelled product plans, cancelled small rear wheel drive chassis, cancelled LS/T-Bird project, cancelled IRS and Cobra, cancelled large rear wheel drive platform, cencelling Euro Forcus for North America) * Spend the company money like there is no tommorrow (and by canelling the product plans, there isn’t) * Use everybody else’s platforms but your own (Mazda and Volvo make up the majority of products now) * You’re rich so you don’t have to worry about a job (70,000 departures, 38,000 buy-outs).
