Ford has been slow to act on the environmental front and with the styling advancement of its sedan range, a mistake senior management, including former CEO Bill Ford, regrets. You only have to look at the boring designs that have gone into its passenger cars to understand how stale Ford’s lineup has become in recent years. Consider the Taurus sedan pictured above. This is a 2007 model that wouldn’t look out of place in the ‘80s.

Recently speaking to a group of business and civic leaders about Ford’s restructuring plans, Reuters reports that Executive Chairman Bill Ford said "my only regret now is that we didn't move further faster."

Ford, who’s also a backer of more enviro-friendly vehicles, is disappointed about his company’s slow take-up of green technology, according to Reuters. "In many parts of the auto industry, I was viewed as some kind of crazy radical," he said. "And when I talked about the environment 20 years ago, or frankly even five years, many people thought I was eccentric at best or perhaps incredibly naive."

Toyota in the meantime has gained the limelight with its Prius hybrid, while Ford is considered as a maker of only gas-guzzling SUVs and trucks. "Unfortunately, there is a misperception that the Big Three only make gas-guzzlers, while Toyota is a division of Greenpeace," mentioned UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, speaking at the same meeting.