Last night was certainly strange at FoMoCo's automotive press mutual masturbation War On Christmas holiday "party" at Detroit's Fox Theater. It felt strange not only because 10,000 white collar workers received buyout "offers" on Monday but also the desserts seemed to indicate the image problems certain FoMoCo NorAm brands have in terms of acceptance by the market. But never mind that — what was more important to a room of mainly product reporters was the lukewarm reaction given to the product plans presented during the Dearborn-based automakers "Showroom of the Future" event earlier in the day and the embargoed Detroit Auto Show preview after that. Keep in mind when the General provided a similar behind-the-curtain and off-the-record three-years-out look at the automaker's product plans a year ago, it kept a great number of auto journos from going all Farago on the world's biggest vehicle sales machine. But FoMoCo's next-gen look seemed to be such a non-event, it seemed to sour everything from the dessert treats to the attendance. Be that as it may, we persevered — well, mainly because we knew there'd be free food (Hey, even soured-by-bad-product free food's still free!) — plus FoMoCo execs would be on hand like "Hi, I'm Dave" design mastermind Peter "Big Balls" Horbury, Mark "Movie Star" Fields and Alan "Too New For A Nickname" Mulally — plus a cast of dozens. Full gallery below with (Now with pithy and non-insightful commentary! And yes, I know I need a new camera — keep hitting reload and maybe they'll buy me one.).
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Showcasing Da Future: With Eyes Wide Shut, Ford Looks Way Forward [internal]