Alan Mulally, Ford's new chief executive, has two sets of people to win over: buyers and investors. Guess which will be the toughest.

Ford's marketshare has been on the decline for 12 consecutive years. Because of this unfortunate position, Mulally is being compared to Carlos Ghosn, who in 1999 was brought to lead Nissan out of its doldrums. The key difference, however, is that Ghosn had experience as an automaker executive. Mulally has none.

And so far, the investing world hasn't given him their vote of confidence. Since Mulally took the job, Ford shares have fallen 15 cents. Bloomberg surveyed 15 analysts. Among them, only two of them rated Ford a "buy." Five rated Ford stock a "sell."

Ford Motor Co.'s new chief executive officer, Alan Mulally, says he must regain the trust of U.S. customers to recoup sales and restore profit. Winning back investors may take longer.

Mulally gave a progress report to shareholders today in his first annual meeting since joining Ford from Boeing Co. eight months ago. As an outsider CEO, he invokes comparisons to Carlos Ghosn, who in 1999 was dispatched by Renault SA to rescue Nissan Motor Co. Both executives were charged with shaking up companies racked by record losses.

(Continue reading this story on Bloomberg)

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