Ford Towers Over Rubble Of US Auto Industry

Jim Farley, Ford’s executive vice president of marketing for the last two years, has got to be one of the luckiest CMOs on the planet these days.

Sure, Farley brought a sterling reputation from Toyota when he exited as head of Lexus marketing for the Ford job in late 2007. But Farley couldn’t have known just how relatively well things were going to go over the next two years for his new company –- as his old employer and the entire U.S. auto industry got repeatedly battered by America’s record-setting auto-sales downturn.

Some of the biggest stuff that Farley is responsible for, such as the “Drive One” omnibus marketing campaign Ford launched about a year and a half ago, hasn’t lit the world on fire. But several other things have made his job of touting the Ford brand much easier.

Latest exhibit: News that Ford is the only Detroit automaker with world-class reliability, according to Consumer Report’s new annual Car Reliability Survey. Of 51 Ford, Mercury and Lincoln models, 46 had average or better reliability, the magazine said in an announcement made yesterday at the Automotive Press Association in Detroit. Ford also topped an Experian customer loyalty study released last week.

Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan actually beat out the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord, the two Japanese sedan models that have been quality icons for decades. Don’t think that isn’t sending at least a low-grade temblor through the U.S. headquarters of those brands in southern California.

“Ford’s sustained production of vehicles that are as dependable – or better than – some of the industry’s best dispels the notion that only Japanese manufacturers make reliable cars,” the magazine said.

Even more important in assisting Farley, of course, has been the fact that Ford CEO Alan Mulally notably was the only Detroit Three boss to refuse federal bailout money last spring. Mulally could do that because he had been smart enough to cut costs more deeply, and to line up more capital, than GM or Chrysler two years ago.

The American consumer has rewarded Ford with ever-rising retail-market share over the last six months. Ford might even report break-even results for its core North American operations for the third quarter when it releases earnings on Monday.

But now, Farley’s job gets tougher: As the car market recovers haltingly; GM and Toyota regain some strength; and Americans grow more forgiving about the bailouts, it’ll be up to Farley to maintain Ford’s new high-water mark. For that, he’d be able to take most of the credit.