It's very exciting, very intense. You have to be tuned in to every vibration, every sound, because if things go wrong, they go wrong fast.

There is definitely more interest in fuel-efficient cars like hybrids. When the price of gas is high, everyone is interested.

Engines were calibrated so if you gave up one second of 0-to-60-performance and gained a half-mile-per-gallon in fuel economy, you would make that trade-off every day. Cars were just awful.

This is absolutely what was needed to satisfy Wall Street.

That's where the Mercedes was very, very good.

It's time for a turnaround, and Ford's history has been a roller coaster, up and down.