That's what Mediaite is theorizing after the automaker announced this morning that it posted $997 million in Q3 profit.

According to Business Week, Ford is allocating 25% of its marketing budget to digital/social media efforts (more than twice the amount spent by the industry) like the Ford Fiesta Movement.

While the automaker attributes cost cuts, market share gains and Cash for Clunkers as the main profit drivers, it should probably apply equal credit to its social media chief Scott Monty. Under his leadership, the company rolled out several community-driven programs like the Summer of Taurus, the 2010Mustang.com site and the aforementioned Fiesta effort.

This past summer, the company itself gloated:

"Ford's strategy is betting on the continued rise in social media's popularity, and its online numbers reflect the buzz. Agent postings have garnered significant numbers on social media sites through the first quarter of the Fiesta Movement--more than 1.8 million YouTube views, more than 270,000 Flickr views and more than 1.8 million Twitter impressions, resulting in more than 13.2 million interactions."

With Ford posting a 22% sales decline this year through Q3, the lowest of the six largest automakers, we'll have to see how third-place Detroit brand Chrysler reacts when it announces its big plans on Wednesday.

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