Ford Lied About Deal to End AFA Boycott

In 25 years, will there still be an American auto industry? I ask this question because none of the Big Three seem to have a clue at how to rapidly respond to the needs of consumers. Aiming for the steadily-eroding goodwill demographic that buys an American car regardless of foreign competition is no way to increase market share. The only way I’ll ever buy another American car is if they build an economical car that matches or surpasses Japan’s output for long-term reliability.

And now we have Ford pulling ads for Land Rovers and Jaguars from gay publications, quite possibly at the behest of the American Family Association. The AFA, led by longtime fundamentalist busybody Donald Wildmon, started a boycott of Ford in May because they felt the company was too gay-friendly, offering benefits to same-sex couples and such. On November 30, Wildmon called off the boycott, saying, “we feel that our concerns are being addressed in good faith and will continue to be addressed in the future.”

Ford initially denied making a deal with AFA to end the boycott, but further investigation by John Aravosis at AMERICAblog revealed two Ford executives with ties to the Bush Administration went to Tupelo, Miss. on November 29 to meet with AFA leaders. This meeting resulted in the boycott being called off. The smoking gun is this seemingly innocuous article published in WardsAuto.com, a industry trade rag.

You'll also notice Dallas-area dealer Jerry Reynolds is mentioned as one of the architects of the Ford/AFA agreement. Reynolds owns the Prestige chain of dealerships, and is apparently doing what he can to carry on the John Birch-flavored legacy of Big D aristocrats like H.L. Hunt. Would you buy a used car from this man?

"The dealers are basically our kind of people who share many of our concerns," Wildmon notes.

Our kind of people, eh?

Until Ford finds some new friends, they can kiss my Honda-driving ass.