• The Detroit News, Friday, August 24, 2007 12 PM

Ford Motor Co. will bring back the old marketing slogan, "Have you driven a Ford lately," according to CEO Alan Mulally. Once prospective customers get behind the wheel of a new Ford, he said, more than half say they would like to buy it. So the automaker needs to convince consumers to give its cars and trucks a second chance. "I certainly am bringing it back -- I don't know if I can convince my colleagues that that will be our main marketing campaign."

Mulally has taken a hands-on approach to marketing. He made headlines when he ordered the slow-selling Five Hundred sedan re-named the Taurus, resurrecting the nameplate of one of the automaker's most popular sedans ever.

The automaker needs to do a better job with vehicle branding and marketing, he says. Ford has changed model names too frequently for no good reason. He wants to stick with vehicle names for the long term and continue to improve the underlying product. That approach has worked well for other automakers, such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co., which rarely change model names.

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