Toyota USA sold more than Ford did last year, bumping Ford Motor Co. down to the No. 3 spot.

Last year Toyota sold 2.62 million cars and trucks last year while Ford sold 2.56 million, according to Automotive News Data Center statistics. General Motors remained No. 1 overall with 3.82 million vehicle sales and with a US market share of 23.7 percent. Toyota’s market share is at 16.8 % compared to Ford’s 16.4%. Chrysler is somewhere below that, folks.

Ford says it isn't worried though because part of its "new marketing plan" is to get the buying public to think good about Ford quality, which they admit hasn't been all that good lately. Yeah, no kidding. Ford's F series pickups are down 13% and Lincoln's dropped a hair under 22% in just the month of December. The Ford Explorer, once a biggie, saw its sales drop 18% in the last year.

“There’s a whole litany of reasons why customers can trust Ford,” insisted Ford's marketing chief Jim Farley recently. Farley reportedly plans on reaching customers by “shifting our message to reach out in a very humble and honest way to tell our customers what makes Ford special. We won’t be spending more money, just reallocating where we spend it,” he said.

Now there's an interesting remark. Okay, so they admit they aren't going to spend more money doing right by their customers who have bought Ford lemons --- they just are going to shift some money over to the advertising budget so people will at least think their lemon is special. So, folks, you too can have that special feeling while you're sitting on the side of the road waiting for that tow truck to come by.

How about just shifting that money over to designing and building them right in the first place, Ford? And maybe buying back the bad ones too, without all the argument and debate that Ford's hundreds of lawyers throw at consumers every day? That's what would make Ford special indeed.

If you've got a Ford lemon, don't put up with it. You paid good money for what ought to be a good Ford product and if they won't stand behind it, then let us help you make them take it back and get your money back. That's what we do everyday.