DEARBORN, Mich. – It was a big day on Friday at Ford World Headquarters.
The company reintroduced its F-150, currently the biggest selling vehicle of all time.
To kick things off, country star and company spokesman Toby Keith was at the glass house Friday afternoon to perform a concert. Ford depends on Keith to help it sell hundreds of thousands of their vehicles.
Good old fashioned, homespun, Oklahoma inspired Americana, sung in working class hymns are what Keith sells.
This all dovetails nicely with how Ford sells its F-150. Keith became the spokesman a decade ago and never waned even in the company's darkest moments.
"Having a celebrity on the payroll in the family would be an automatic cut quick and they were like ‘nuh uh, you're one of our guys,'" says Keith.
Ford reserved the first six rows of the theatre for Wayne Assembly F-150 workers, people with a close attachment to Keith, who uses them in his videos.
"I'm sure he's a pretty good spokesman," says worker Chuck Hammer. "People see him and want to drive what he drives. I hope you run out and buy a ford," he laughs.
Tammy Gibson works in the F-150 Paint Shop.
"I'm so excited. I love Ford. I love Toby too," says Gibson. She is going to Keith's concert tonight and loved the warm up.
Keith says he has a dozen F-150 trucks at his ranch and home and says he just loves them.
The F-150 features a new grille, a new top of the line model and Ford put Sync in the dashboard.