All the new metal like the Focus, Fusion, Edge, and Escape are selling like hot cakes. Unfortunately the sales of all these models combined are still less than the loss of sales in trucks and SUV’s. This unforeseen shift caused Ford to announce last month that it may be closing additional factories, reducing production of F-Series trucks and shifting faster to smaller cars. The poison pill? They wont hit their profitability target by 2009 as originally hoped.

The company announced that it will be trimming its white collar salaried staff by as much as 15% within the coming month or two. This is a huge blow to the company’s ability to keep the turnaround going, but necessary to keep the lights on today. More buyouts will be targeted toward the blue collar workforce as well.

So what about fixing the problem that has been at the core of all this? The fact that the product lineup is far too heavily weighted on large trucks and SUV’s? Indeed Ford knows this. They have already announced plans to bring the European Ford Fiesta to the States for 2010, but that can hardly be fast enough. Other new products to meet today’s challenges will include the European Transit Connect commercial parcel van. They now know that this will not be enough.

Ford summoned their plant managers and UAW representatives from around the country this last week for a special strategy meeting in-which they discussed further job and production cuts. What is said to also be on the table is a dramatic shift in what North American factories will be building. Many of the plants that currently build trucks or SUV’s may be fast-tracked to convert for building small cars. For Ford, this is a sea change.

What cars will be built and what factories will be affected wont be announced until later in the year. But news on the street is that more European products that currently exist may be brought Stateside. By building the same cars here that are sold in Europe, they can bring new cars to market faster by saving design and engineering time. Vehicles that could make the cut are the aforementioned Transit Connect cargo-van. A factory in Ohio that currently builds the dinosaur E-Series vans could build the small and efficient Transit, instead of importing them from Turkey.

A smaller pick-up to replace the Ranger is also said to be in the works. While the small truck market has been soft, high gas prices have reversed the trend. Ranger sales had been up slightly early in the year, despite the current truck being a very old design. A new F-100 would use a de-contented and smaller version of the F-150 chassis as well as Ford’s new Eco-Boost engines.

The new Linoln MK-S is rolling out now to much success in pre-sales. The Ford Flex is also landing at dealerships as I write this. An all new Taurus is coming next year that really looks hot. The current car was expected to be a hit and was a dud. Mercury is on deathwatch and it looks honestly like it is going to be let go soon. Lincoln will be bolstered with exciting and strong new products to make up the loss. Good strategy I think.

The media news has been grim month after month, Ford’s stock price being battered regardless of good news like the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover. But what has been a bright shining light in the darkness is the ability of the people at Ford to adapt and honestly assess the situation. With Alan Mullaly at the helm, this is a Ford that admits its errors and has been taking bold moves to coin the term, to change course. It is hard to see on the surface, but change is there.

Luckily, what is coming out of the grist mill in the way of new products sounds right. What is coming to the showroom floor in the next year is spot on. The people at Ford know they are in a fight for their lives and are building some of the best, safest, and most attractive cars in the company’s history. The key now is selling enough of it.