FORD MOTOR COMPANY'S "K CAR"

Back when Ex-FoMoCo executive Lee Iacocca was busy trying to repay Federally-guaranteed loans incurred by the "Old" Chrysler Corporation, he bet the company on seemingly endless variations of a forgettable FWD platform known as the "K Car."

Twenty years later, FoMoCo seems destined to repeat Iacocca's strategy.

Automotive News is reporting that "Dave Szczupak, group vice president of manufacturing for the Americas, talked about [four] new products during an address to analysts at the JP Morgan/Harbour automotive conference in Dearborn, Mich." Reportedly, "two of the new products would be sedans, and two would be for 'future unique segments.'"

All of the "new" products will be based on the Volvo-sourced Five Hundred platform. In other words, Five Hundred is analogous to Ford's K-Car.

Nothing like "fixing" a mistake by compounding it.

Five Hundred and its V8-less FWD/AWD siblings Mercury Montego and Ford Freestyle have done little to stem the exodus of FoMoCo customers.

Immediate hopes are pinned on the promised 3.5 Duratec and a Fusion-style grille for Five Hundred. However, these changes don't really address Five Hundred's real problems (bland styling, excessive frontal area, FWD driving dynamics, elevated center-of-gravity, transversly-mounted engine, insufficient room for 90-degree Modular V8s (which, incidentally have compromised bore centers specifically for FWD installations and a history of use in similarly-sized FWD models) .

The sedans are expected to be Lincolns-- the D385 2008 Five Hundred clone to be marketed as "MKS" [as in MistaKeS] and another larger "maybe" code named E386.

Both D385 and E386 mark Lincoln's continuing decline from the ranks of luxury producers.

The "unique segments" are likely "people movers" -- which is FoMoCo futurespeak for minivans (although perhaps without sliding rear doors).

FoMoCo's record in the minivan segment has been notably poor and is continuing to slide as DCX and the Japanese dominate the market.

At least Iacocca figured out the minivan version of the K-Car . . . .