That's fair, Michael.
This was written by Sally Gibbs. I don't think she had the ability to translate it for us, but we will translate it for the group.
It was to Mr. Alan Mulally. It says:
THANK YOU!!!!!! For NOT asking for taxpayers money to bail out your company. I know times are hard, but you have a good product and you can make it through this! I had a 1993 Ford Ranger and put 269,000 miles on it. Just please stay responsible and accountable. The Americans appreciate that and they will choose Ford over the others that take the taxpayer money for their mistakes. Here is $10 to help you guys get back on track.
Sally Gibbs
Retired USAF and thankful American
I use that as an example.
And please, this is not supposed to be inflammatory towards any of the other manufacturers. It is mostly meant to say that we haven't asked for financial assistance and that is resonating with consumers. They are recognizing that we are in a different place from our competitors in Detroit. Our company is not only on a different glide path given our current liquidity situation, we are also on a very different glide path and trajectory on our new product offerings: on the quality, safety, and technology of our product.
That's what is differentiating Ford today, much more than the fact that we haven't asked for government assistance.