Ford is trying their best to get consumers to understand that they did not take any assistance from the US government to make it through the current economic crisis, highlighting their continued annoyance with being lumped in with GMC and Chrysler by stating they should be talking about the Detroit two instead of three.

Anyone that has been paying attention to Ford has to be impressed with the way that Alan Mulally has handled Ford’s dramatic shift over the last 3 years. With cars such as the Ford Fusion and Ford Taurus bringing Ford back into competition with the foreign automakers, they have been able to gain much needed market share.

Ford is set to roll out a marketing program in the second quarter that will offer people who test drive its vehicles but decide to buy from the competition a yet-undisclosed amount of money, Mr. Mondragon said. Buyers who choose a Ford will also be given a financial reward. All of this is an effort to get potential customers to give Ford a shot so that they can highlight their drastic improvements in quality.

Ford’s stock is almost trading equal to GMC’s opening at $1.69 this morning compared to GMC opening at 2.10.