A report at Autoblog about Ford Motor Co.'s (NYSE: F) first crossover (CUV) model aimed at the European market generated some remarkable comments. Most readers were impressed with the new Ford CUV, called the Kuga, but were angry that it was so much better than anything Ford offers in the United States. A few typical comments:

• While the new Escape looks like it emerged from the 1990s, this small SUV looks distinctly 21st century. Shame on Ford.
• It's like if you want a decent American car, you have to move to Europe to buy one.
• Ford, listen up. I love Fords. I always have. I love THIS Ford Kuga. Next time I go out to buy a car, it will not be a Ford - because you think I do not deserve the chance to buy the Kuga. And that, Ford is why your unit sales stateside are going to continue down the toilet.
• Americans also don't particularly care about quality - just look at the pervasiveness of mcdonald's et. al. what do Americans like? a lot of cheap, style-free [expletive]. kinda like the escape.
• Your home market deserves better, Ford. Stop slapping us in the face!

Of course, not all of the comments were negative. But most were, and I was impressed by how much negative feeling there is toward Ford and, presumably, the rest of the American auto markers. It seems that the mediocre design of American cars is a long-term problem for Detroit, one the Big Three will have to work hard to correct.

The bad news just keeps coming for Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F). As a number of bloggers here have noted, sales continue to fall through the floor for the struggling manufacturer. According to today's New York Times, its bread and butter trucks and SUVs are being particularly hard hit, with F-series sales down 14% and Explorer sales down over 25%.

Ford CEO Alan Milally has announced a "roadmap" for turning the company around, which includes job cuts and the introduction of new models in the next two years. One of the new vehicles was unveiled at the New York International Auto Show this week. It's called the Ford Flex and will be available in 2008 as a 2009 model. (You can read all about the new Ford Flex over at Autoblog.)

The Flex is a crossover vehicle, a smaller SUV on a car platform. Crossovers are expected to dominate car and truck sales over the next few years, and Mark Fields, the president of Ford's operations for the Americas, trumpeted the Flex as the vehicle that would make Ford "the defining crossover company."

The problem is that Ford -- like General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) -- is showing up a little late for the crossover party. The first crossover was the RAV-4, which Toyota Motor Corporation (ADR) (NYSE: TM) started selling in 1995, a good 12 years ago. Foreign automakers now produce a number of crossovers, and they're way ahead of Ford and GM in terms of design. The Ford Flex looks a lot like Toyota's Scion xB and Honda's Element (I see a little Mini Cooper in there too) and I suspect that in this case imitation shows a bit of desperation. As Ron Pinelli, president of Autodata Corporation, put it in the Times piece: "It's not going to happen. . . . Domestic manufacturers have been outclassed by imports" in the crossover market. "They did it first, and they did it better . . ." So I wouldn't hold your breath for a Flex-led recovery at Ford -- and I wouldn't buy any Ford stock either.