A social networking initiative. Social networking sites sell everything in these days, but the auto industry has been slow to catch on. Ford wants to change that. Ford, and the entire industry, for that matter, desperately needs to embrace the message it sends, said Ian Shafer, CEO of the marketing firm Deep Focus.

Ford is betting the success of the F150 subcompact on the blogs, tweets and Facebook updates of 100 people who will live with the cars and share their experiences online. Ford wants to generate buzz for the F150, which will bring Europe's "small cars can be cool" ethos to America when it arrives this summer. Ford broke with tradition by inviting dozens of 20-somethings to live with the car for six months and tell the world about it, instead of handing some Fiestas over to...