Byline: Marty Bernstein
A little more than a year ago Ted Cannis was promoted to president of Ford of Argentina. His timing could not have been worse.
Argentina's economy collapsed in early 2002, bringing auto sales down with it. The market for vehicles fell from a high of almost 500,000 units in 1998 to less than 100,000 last year.
Cannis, 36, plunged into a top-to-bottom review that became a course in survival marketing. He had to figure out how to sell cars and trucks profitably during a devastating financial crisis. Ford sales in Argentina fell from 72,828 in 1998 to a paltry 15,811 in 2002.
First, a few pertinent facts about Argentina:
* In January 2002, the nation defaulted on international loans amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars.
* Savings accounts were frozen and banks closed without notice.
* The peso was devalued from 1:1 with the U.S. dollar to a ratio of 3:1. This means unbelievable values for visitors and tourists - not for Argentinians who have lost billions.
* There is no …
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