How do you hold the stock?
If you have the physical certificates in your name, then Ford knows about you.
Most people, myself included, who own shares of stock have a brokerage account and never really see the stock certificates. The shares are really registered in the name of the brokerage and while they show up on your statements and show in your account if you have on-line access, I am not certain how, or even if, Ford would know about the shares being owned by you.
If you want physical certificates in your name, you can get them, but there is an extra fee for that, and it takes some time. Plus, when/if you sell the stock there is another delay, since you have to send the certificates to the brokerage and they have to authenticate them before you can sell them. And, it takes five business days for stock trades to settle, so don't be expecting a check in the mail any time soon.
Check with your brokerage house, and with Ford. Possibly they will honor the plan if you just send them copies of your statements.
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I am not certain this is the problem, but it is definitely a possibility to be checked into.
As an aside, here is nothing "wrong" or "underhanded" about the way brokerage houses do this, in fact it is very convenient most of the time. I can sell shares held by the brokerage in seconds with on-line trading enabled, and seconds later use the proceeds to buy shares of a different company, or even get cash transferred to my bank account. If I insisted on holding physical stock certificates registered in my name, that process would take at least a week, probably much longer.
