FIELDS'S DAY WITH THE PRESS

Ford Motor Company's "President of the Americas," Mark Fields gave a taste of his scheduled Traverse City speech to reporters at dinner yesterday, according to the Automotive News.

Expectedly, Fields spent plenty of time on the decline in truck sales and the corresponding widening of FoMoCo's losses in the second quarter of 2006. He also danced around questions on a "someday" sub-Focus minicar for "the Americas."

Fields believes that $3/gallon fuel forces FoMoCo to accelerate "The Way Forward" plan.

However, Fields's comments underscore the obvious fact that FoMoCo had no contingency plan for sustained high fuel prices.

Because F-Series trucks reportedly contribute an average gross profit of $8,000 per unit sold, fixing the truck sales problem is central to any realistic "Way Forward."

Toyota's hideously-styled 2007 Tundra and GM's new designs are also poised to make some waves for FoMoCo truck plans.

Of course the 2007 SuperDuty will feature two new trim levels . . . Lariat Outlaw and Lariat . . . who cares?

It should be obvious to the Glass House rats that the central race is to meaningfully boost fuel economy without compromising power or utility.

In the short term, the answer is spelled t-u-r-b-o d-i-e-s-e-l. It simply makes no sense that truck buyers have to buy a 6,900 lb+ truck to get a diesel and/or a manual transmission.

Longer term solutions involve the basics-- improved aerodynamics, reduction of unnecessary weight, closer ratio splits in the transmissions (and probably a gear-splitter auxilliary transmission, similar to the popular aftermarket overdrives), starter-alternator based mild hybrids, cylinder deactiviation, variable valve timing and improved combustion efficiency (e.g. HCCI or forced induction).

On the other front, how long will FoMoCo "evaluate" alternative before they bring the European Ka here to battle with Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit, BMW's Mini and other products from FLEXIBLE companies which actually PLANNED for expensive fuel?