No more. In the last month, Ford has launched a campaign to convince Wall Street it’s not asleep at the wheel. It began with Operation Deep Dive, a series of daylong briefings for analysts. Ford’s pitch: OK, we have a cost problem, but here’s how we’re fixing it. Most analysts are still skeptical that the carmaker’s global reorganization and cost-cutting plan, dubbed Ford 2000, will work the miracles it promises. But Wall Street is slowly growing more positive on the company, and last week Ford’s stock was within pennies of its all-time high. Most impressive, analysts say, is Ford’s new candor about its problems. Says one: “I’d liken it to an alcoholic going to his first AA meeting.”

Amid all the mea culpas it’s easy to lose sight of what’s gone right at Ford. The company still makes five of the 10 best-selling vehicles in America; it gained market share in 1995, and, despite the controversy, the Taurus remains the country’s top-selling car. Ford’s overriding problem is simple, says market researcher Susan Jacobs: car buyers have suddenly turned into tightwads just as Ford has been upscaling its cars with pricey options to boost margins.

Now it’s trying to convince Wall Street it can downscale in a hurry. This week Ford rolls out the Taurus G model, a stripped-down version of the sedan. The price tag: $18,545, $600 less than the cheapest Taurus GL. Back in Dearborn, Mich., engineers are busy cutting costs from other current models. Thirty-three different horns have been reduced to three; gone are the seven colors of trunk carpeting, replaced by a single shade of gray. In factories, teams of workers have found fixes that cut an average of $260 from each vehicle. But the real savings will come on future models. Ford has built five global design centers, eliminating different versions of the same-size cars and trucks for Europe and America. In coming years it will reduce the number of “platforms”-the car skeletons on which different models are based-by one third. Expected savings: $1 billion a year in engineering costs, $11 billion in reduced investment.

At the wheel of Ford’s re-engineering drive is Jacques Nasser, the company’s product-development chief. He knows something about tough assignments: in 1985, he was held hostage by striking workers at a plant in Argentina before negotiating a settlement. He also knows how to cut costs–his nickname is “Jac the Knife.” But aides insist he’s not just a bean counter and is as comfortable critiquing car designs as cost projections. At 48, he’s already being touted as a future CEO. Nasser won’t comment on Ford 2000 or his career goals, but Ford staffers say he’s staked his reputation on the project’s success. “I’ve never missed a budget in my career, and I don’t intend to start now,” he’s told analysts.

Despite its heavily hyped plan for a U-turn, Ford isn’t in the clear yet. The redesigned Escort, due out next month, and next fall’s Expedition, a jumbo sport-utility, should spur sales, but profits will still lag from the expense of all the launches. The long-term picture is murkier. Although Ford has ‘fessed up to spending too much to build cars, the company still won’t admit it’s overpriced recent models. And some analysts complain that Ford’s plan relies too heavily on future savings, requiring investors to take a leap of faith in the meantime. But there’s no question the company is slowly gaining fans, like PaineWebber’s Michael Ward, who upgraded Ford to a “buy” last week. For those buy orders to pay off, Ford’s cost-cutting brigade will have to start showing some results where they count: the bottom line.