An Open Letter to Ford CEO Alan R. Mulally

Dear Mr. Mulally,

First, congratulations on getting the CEO position at Ford. I know that you have done an amazing job at Boeing keeping it afloat in very hard times. Since Ford is so far down on the car food chain, you will definitely need to work your magic once again.

Second, I'd like to offer some pointers on just why I'm not going to buy a Ford this year and quite possibly next year.

1. Gas mileage. Yes, I realize that gas prices are dropping, but it still costs me more than $30 to fill my tank. I drive a 2000 Suzuki Vitara which gives me a lot of room, along with pretty good gas mileage. The last time I even looked at Ford's gas mileage, I was better off sticking with Suzie.
2. The Ford Focus. My daughter has one and whenever we trade vehicles, I hate driving it. There's plenty of leg room in the front, but the roof seems to come down and gives me the feeling that I'm smushed.
3. Speaking of room, even the big cars and SUVs don't really offer a lot of room. Sure they look good, but whenever I sit in the backseat, my legs are cramped. If Ford could fix this, perhaps I'd buy one.
4. Price, Price and Price. Look, I don't want to spend $20,000 on a car or mini SUV. I want bells and whistles (power locks, power brakes, allover airbags, cruise control, air conditioning, automatic transmission) and I want it for $15,000.
5. Suzie, my aforementioned Suzuki, has nearly 150,000 miles on her. And, she's still going strong. The most I've ever driven an American car is 120,000 miles and then it blew up. Can you build me a Ford I can drive to the 200,000 mile mark? I know Toyota can.
   
6. The website. I want a price now, not have to wait for some dealer who's going to bug the hell out of me for days to give me a price. I want to know BEFORE I go to the lot just what's out there and what I should be paying.
7. Henry Ford was a known anti-semite and I want to know that Ford is distancing themselves from him. I want to know that you've given money to Jewish causes.
   

You fix these things, Mr. Mulally, and I just might be presuaded to buy a Ford.

I wish you all the best at Ford, Mr. Mulally. I hope you can turn around the company that basically started it all.

God Bless,

Julie