• The Detroit News, Thursday, August 23, 2007 11:15 AM

Ford Motor Co. executives say the automaker does not need a global luxury brand and will instead focus on streamlining its core Blue Oval brand with fewer models. Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally and other executives outlined details of the new strategy Wednesday.

Ford is moving forward with its planned sale of Jaguar and Land Rover and is still considering a sale of Volvo. That would leave Ford without a global luxury brand, which many analysts say it needs to compete. But Mulally said Ford can be successful by making its Blue Oval products the best in the world and noted that efforts by other automakers to move up market, such as Volkswagen AG, have not always been successful.

The company plans to reduce the number of six cylinder engine models it produces from eight to two over the same period, and the number of seat frames from 28 to 2. But Mulally ruled out any possibility of selling its controlling stake in Japan's Mazda Motor Corp.

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