Ford Steps on the Gas in Asia

Standing before a vault in the soaring depository of the 118-year-old Bowery Savings Bank building in New York, Ford Motor (F) Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally announced a global expansion in early June that would have made old Henry proud. Mulally, revered at the company as the man who spared Ford the indignity of bankruptcy, vowed to push the automaker into Asia and boost worldwide sales 50 percent by 2015, to 8 million vehicles annually. "This is a bank vault behind us," Mulally told 200 investors sipping coffee and munching petit fours. "This is where all the money is, and it'll reveal itself later."

Sadly for Mulally, what came next was a sell-off. Instead of giving Ford's sluggish stock a pop, his agenda spooked investors, who in the next two weeks sent the shares to their lowest level of 2011 ($12.65), down 23 percent since Jan. 1. "The last thing the market wanted to hear from Alan was about emerging markets because of the softness in China lately," says Brian Johnson, a Barclays Capital (BCS) analyst who isn't using Ford's aggressive forecast in his own projections. "A lot of other players have growth plans, too, but the jury is still out on their ability to actually achieve them."