DETROIT -- Simulated Toyota and General Motors war rooms in Dearborn are part of Ford Motor Co.'s game plan to stay on top of the highly profitable full-sized pickup segment.

In those rooms, Ford is trying to foresee everything GM or Toyota might throw at its segment-leading F-series pickup when those competitors bring out their own redesigned models in the next year. Through that war gaming, Ford intends to come up with ideas to improve the F series and "raise the bar" of competition, says Mark Fields, Ford's president of the Americas.

Preserving the profitability of the F series is a key tenet of Ford's Way Forward North American turnaround plan. It is one of the products the plan has deemed "absolutely cornerstone for us," Fields said last week in an interview with Automotive News.
"We're going to make sure that we have tender loving care in treating of those so that we maintain our leadership," Fields said. "We're very well-positioned from a pickup truck standpoint, and we intend to defend our turf."

War rooms assigned specifically to one product line are a new tactic being used by Ford. The Toyota and GM rooms, set up at Ford's Regent Court sales and marketing building, near Ford world headquarters, have no chairs and just a small table in the middle. Ford is using them to post results of brainstorming sessions and as a place to review those ideas with management.

By trying to imagine every way those competitors could hurt the F series, Ford has developed several specific marketing tactics that will be used during the next 12 months to minimize any impact, Fields said.For instance, Ford wants to get its truck marketing messages in front of the right audience. That's behind its decision to drop its endorsement deal with golfer Phil Mickelson and title sponsorship of Professional Golfers' Association events in favor of greater involvement in Professional Bull Riders Inc. "That's where our target customers are," Fields said.

"A lot of our target customers aren't at Augusta playing golf."

Although Ford wants to remain the nation's No. 1-selling full-sized pickup brand, Fields doesn't intend to use heavy discounts to stay there. In addition to more targeted marketing and its new Bold Moves advertising theme, Ford aims to leverage its dealer body to sell the benefits of the F series vs. the competition.

Ford has pledged to sell at least 900,000 F-series pickups in the United States in 2006. That would be the automaker's third year in a row of 900,000-plus sales. Through April, F-series sales were at 264,550, an increase of 1.4 percent.

I almost bought one, but was dissapointed with how they felt watered downwhen driving. Big engine, but it wasn't going anywhere.