Ford pulls ads from gay media to end AFA boycott

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http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid23064.asp

Jaguar, Land Rover ads halted in gay media, Ford confirms

The antigay American Family Association claimed a cultural victory on Thursday and called off its threatened boycott of Ford Motor Co. On Friday, Ford spokesman Mike Moran confirmed to Advocate.com that the company will stop advertising its Jaguar and Land Rover brands in gay publications but insisted it was strictly a business decision.

The Dearborn, Mich., automaker came under fire from the AFA in May for its longtime efforts to increase LGBT workplace diversity and support gay rights causes. Ford has long been a regular advertiser within gay media, including The Advocate, and has donated significant sums to LGBT causes and nonprofit groups such as the Human Rights Campaign.

Threatened with a boycott by the Mississippi-based AFA, Ford and some of its dealers agreed to negotiate, and the AFA announced in June that it would hold off on its planned action. On Thursday, AFA announced the boycott would be canceled altogether.

"They've heard our concerns; they are acting on our concerns. We are pleased with where we are," said Donald Wildmon, AFA’s chairman, in a statement. "Obviously there are still some small matters of difference, as people will always have, but generally speaking, we are pleased with the results—and therefore the boycott that had been suspended [is] now officially ended."

Specific terms of any formal agreement between the AFA and Ford—and whether any such agreement has in fact been reached—remain unclear.

When first contacted, Ford spokesman Moran referred Advocate.com to the AFA statement, suggesting that the company had no disagreement with Wildmon's assertions. In a second conversation he confirmed that the company would no longer advertise Jaguar and Land Rover products in the gay media, saying that the decision was strictly "business."

"In all cases, we review this issue from a business perspective in regards to advertising," Moran said. "Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury [brands] did not advertise in gay publications anyway. At this time, Jaguar and Land Rover will not do so going forward.” He added that Volvo will still advertise in gay publications because the company believes it's an effective strategy for that market.

Detroit carmakers are facing tough economic times across the board, Moran pointed out. On Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Ford plans to shut five North American plants that employ 7,500 workers. On Thursday, the company said its total U.S. vehicle sales in November fell by 15%.

Moran would not give further details on any agreement between Ford and the AFA, nor would he confirm that such an agreement existed. “Some months ago we began a constructive dialogue with them, just as we do with all other customers and interest groups," he said. "While we don’t agree on all issues, we expect the dialogue to continue so that we understand each other better.”

According to a list of demands on AFA’s Web site, the organization insisted that Ford and all of its brands stop donating cash, vehicles, and endorsements to gay social activities. This includes donations to pride celebrations and groups such as the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, the Human Rights Campaign, and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. AFA says those groups have received contributions from Ford in the past.

Whether such sponsorship deals—in which Ford brands are given visibility by nonprofit groups and at LGBT events in return for donations—will continue, Moran could not say.

Comment on Ford's announcement is expected soon from HRC, GLAAD, and the Task Force over the weekend or early next week, but none was prepared to make a statement by close of business on Friday.

The AFA has said it reserves the right to reinstate the boycott if it feels Ford has not met its expectations. (Advocate.com/Sirius OutQ News)

― oooh, Tuesday, 6 December 2005 17:25 (twenty years ago)

"...but insisted it was strictly a business decision...."

Hmm... well, that whole midlife-crisis meets tons of disposable-income market isn't so desirable after all?

― andy --, Tuesday, 6 December 2005 17:29 (twenty years ago)

good timing, ethan. I was just reading this bit from the SF Chronicle:

Christian group pulls Wells Fargo accounts
Focus on the Family objects to donation to gay rights group

...A leader of the American Family Association, the group advocating the Walgreens and Kraft boycotts, said those companies' donations supported "subsequent activities" that occur during the Gay Games, which draw thousands of participants and spectators.
"With this many people, we expect an increase in the bar scene, and we expect a lot of anonymous sexual encounters," said Randy Sharp, the association's director of special projects.
But the main point of the boycotts is to protest companies' support of gay culture, Sharp said.
"When you go out of the scope of normal business operations to donate large sums of money to organizations or events like Pride, that's out of the scope of a company like Kraft," Sharp said.
"It's almost an endorsement of the lifestyle," he added...

― kingfish trampycakes (kingfish 2.0), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 17:31 (twenty years ago)

youd think with all the made-up outrage over private businesses' "happy holidays" banners supposedly ignoring christmas that maybe some people might be more offended by them acquiescing to bigots and religious extremists

― oooh, Tuesday, 6 December 2005 17:34 (twenty years ago)

I would say "boycott Ford" but everyone seems to be doing a pretty good job of that as it is!

Almost everyone I have ever known that worked there is a revolting jerkface that would make oops seem refined so this hardly surprises me.

― Lars and Jagger (Ex Leon), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 17:41 (twenty years ago)

Boo!

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 17:50 (twenty years ago)

Ads Portray Nominee as Protector of Christmas
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Published: December 6, 2005

Conservative groups are hoping to rally support for Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. with ads depicting him as a supporter of public Christmas displays.

― oooh, Tuesday, 6 December 2005 17:50 (twenty years ago)

"With this many people, we expect an increase in the bar scene, and we expect a lot of anonymous sexual encounters," said Randy Sharp, the association's director of special projects.

He sounds kinda hopeful, don't he? "Special projects"?

― andy --, Tuesday, 6 December 2005 17:56 (twenty years ago)

xpost

Yeah, they were talking about this on the local progressive morning show. "The Year Alito Saved Christmas" probably won't get as many Dolly Madison adverts.

aw fuck. it's behind that paywall.

― kingfish trampycakes (kingfish 2.0), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 17:58 (twenty years ago)

Randy Sharp sounds totally like a gay porn star name.

― tokyo nursery school: afternoon session (rosemary), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 18:03 (twenty years ago)

http://www.afa.net/activism/aa051402.asp

Dear Friend,

I want to thank the thousands of you who already joined our new campaign to clean up network television - ONEMILLIONMOMS.COM and ONEMILLIONDADS.COM

OneMillionMoms.com and OneMillionDads.com is quickly becomming a powerful tool to protect our children.

I am contacting you today to ask for your help. Ford Motor Company, a leading sponsor of NBC's Will & Grace, has responded in this manner to those who asked the auto company to stop sponsoring the program which promotes homosexuality.

― oooh, Tuesday, 6 December 2005 18:09 (twenty years ago)

It is tragic that Ford "values" a lifestyle which is harmful to so many, and leads to an early death. The average lifetime for a practicing homosexual is in the lower 40's. Ford equates homosexual relationships with marriage

― oooh, Tuesday, 6 December 2005 18:10 (twenty years ago)

God, this is like the sex ed/abstinence bit. Just the acknowledging of something you might not necessarily agree with completely is immediately the same as promoting it.

― kingfish trampycakes (kingfish 2.0), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 18:12 (twenty years ago)

haha pbs lesbians to thread

― oooh, Tuesday, 6 December 2005 18:13 (twenty years ago)

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/6/68/200px-Ford.jpg

Henry Ford, center, is awarded the Grand Cross of the German Eagle by Nazi diplomats.
AP photo; fair use

― andy --, Tuesday, 6 December 2005 18:14 (twenty years ago)

Henry Ford's "the Jews are attacking Christmas" 1920s rants are also funny(read: psychotic)

― kingfish trampycakes (kingfish 2.0), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 18:20 (twenty years ago)

http://www.rationalrevolution.net/special/library/intjewii1.jpg

― oooh, Tuesday, 6 December 2005 18:21 (twenty years ago)

Oh, America! You rascal!

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 18:23 (twenty years ago)

this is a lonely thread

― oooh, Tuesday, 6 December 2005 18:27 (twenty years ago)

The point of this thread, clearly, is that Christ = Hitler.

― andy --, Tuesday, 6 December 2005 18:28 (twenty years ago)

The average lifetime for a practicing homosexual is in the lower 40's.

uh. where was this "statistic" drawn from?

also i love the idea of "practicing" homosexuals. are they heading for carnegie hall or something?

― joseph (joseph), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 18:28 (twenty years ago)

it might be nearly accurate, taking into account the very high teen suicide rate.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 18:29 (twenty years ago)

This is just totally hilarious to me. (the ad pulling that is.) I'm guessing how many other car companies are rubbing their hands now going "NEW HOLE IN A NEW MARKET".

Nice move, Ford.

― dali madison's nut (donut), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 18:29 (twenty years ago)

"NEW HOLE IN A NEW MARKET"

Carefully phrased.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 18:30 (twenty years ago)

Do gays buys Fords? Maybe the new Mustang?

― andy --, Tuesday, 6 December 2005 18:30 (twenty years ago)

Here we are, from a Salon article last week:

the Bill OReilly "war on christmas" shit is a leftover from weird '50s John Birch Society "Anti-UN" shit, which sounded not a little like

As the Web site News Hounds pointed out last year, Henry Ford was sounding the alarm about the war on Christmas in his notorious 1921 tract "The International Jew." "The whole record of the Jewish opposition to Christmas, Easter and other Christian festivals, and their opposition to certain patriotic songs, shows the venom and directness of [their] attack," Ford wrote. He listed local outrages: "Christmas celebrations or carols in Philadelphia, Cincinnati, St. Paul and New York met with strong Jewish opposition ... Local Council of Jewish Women of Baltimore petitions school board to prohibit Christmas exercises ... The Council of the University Settlement, at the request of the New York Kehillah [Jewish leadership], adopts this resolution: 'That in the holiday celebrations held annually by the Kindergarten Association at the University Settlement every feature of any sectarian character, including Christmas trees, Christmas programs and Christmas songs, shall be eliminated.'"

tho the article points out that ORielly or the JBS weren't (necessarily) anti-Semetic, they sure as shit were as paranoid.

And here's the News Hounds bit about this last year.

― kingfish trampycakes (kingfish 2.0), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 18:34 (twenty years ago)

So who are they going to try to market the Probe to now?

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 19:09 (twenty years ago)

Proboscis monkeys, i guess.

― dali madison's nut (donut), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 20:40 (twenty years ago)

Abu Ghraib guards.

― Lars and Jagger (Ex Leon), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 20:41 (twenty years ago)

http://www.tustrucos.com/wallpapers/Animales/fondos-animales-Monos/Borneo-Proboscis-Monkey.jpg

"AAA CHA CHA CHA CHAAAAAA"

― dali madison's nut (donut), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 20:42 (twenty years ago)

(Damn, that's a whole lotta proboscis.. sorry about that.)

― dali madison's nut (donut), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 20:42 (twenty years ago)

the Probe is actually marketed towards somebody?

― kingfish trampycakes (kingfish 2.0), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 20:46 (twenty years ago)

i thought the claim about the average homosexual lifespan being in the low 40s was thoroughly discredited by now

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 21:00 (twenty years ago)

found this:
from the International Journal of Epidemiology 2001;30:1499

Over the past few months we have learnt of a number of reports regarding a paper we published in the International Journal of Epidemiology on the gay and bisexual life expectancy in Vancouver in the late 1980s and early 1990s.(1) From these reports it appears that our research is being used by select groups in US(2) and Finland(3) to suggest that gay and bisexual men live an unhealthy lifestyle that is destructive to themselves and to others. These homophobic groups appear more interested in restricting the human rights of gay and bisexuals rather than promoting their health and well being...
[...]
It is essential to note that the life expectancy of any population is a descriptive and not a prescriptive mesaure.5 Death is a product of the way a person lives and what physical and environmental hazards he or she faces everyday. It cannot be attributed solely to their sexual orientation or any other ethnic or social factor...

― kingfish trampycakes (kingfish 2.0), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 21:06 (twenty years ago)

There are plenty of gay people (males almost exclusively) who are not only past 60, but past 60 having been HIV positive for decades.

The Christian groups know this, too. It's just propaganda, because they know their followers will believe anything they say.

― dali madison's nut (donut), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 21:08 (twenty years ago)

(well, at least a decade or so... "decades" is a bit presumptious, since it's only been 25 years ago since AIDs was first discovered.)

― dali madison's nut (donut), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 21:11 (twenty years ago)

and to follow up on Donut, is this bit o' wisdom from "LifeSiteNews.com":

Yet Another Study Confirms Gay Life Expectancy 20 Years Shorter

which has this little nugget from the "About Us" section:(in fine print)

2. LifeSite emphasizes the social worth of traditional Judeo-Christian principles but is also respectful of all authentic religions and cultures that esteem life, family and universal norms of morality.

3. LifeSite's writers and founders have come to understand that respect for life and family are endangered by an international conflict. That conflict is between radically opposed views of the worth and dignity of every human life and of family life and community. It has been caused by secularists attempting to eliminate Christian morality and natural law principles which are seen as the primary obstacles to implementing their new world order.

and the entire site is "closely associated " with a Right-to-Lifer group in Toronto.

"natural law principles"! hooray!

― kingfish trampycakes (kingfish 2.0), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 21:13 (twenty years ago)

and right behind that

Smoking and Alcohol: It's Just Another Lifestyle: What Health Risks?, which that IEJ letter above references.

Praise Jesus that being gay is just a voluntary lifestyle, so we can beat up these folks for their choosing to sin.

and this bit from the Washington Blade, about a local school board member using those talking points and getting caught.

― kingfish trampycakes (kingfish 2.0), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 21:18 (twenty years ago)

most fags dont tend to drive fords, who does drive fords are cowboys (ie trucks) esp. gay cowboys. ford used to be one of the biggest sponsers of purses in internationa gay rodeo assoc. . igra jsut got attached to the feeder system for larger regional rodeos, which connect to cheyenne, the stampede, the Canadian Final Rodeo, and The National Rodeo in Vegas. One of the big reasons why they got into the feeder system was b/c of the larger purses, among other reasons.

now cowboys dont tend to be as conserative as other people, or they tend to be more strange in their conserativeness--basically it ties into doing the job, if you can rope a calf or ride a bull, then yr in, no matter who you fuck. they also dont tend to like people who mess with other peoples buisness. cowboys arent paying the AFA to be homophobic, and they really want the best boys...

what im saying is that this pisses me off about this, is that the igra might lose regional feeder status, which means poor rodeo.

― anthony easton (anthony), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 05:03 (twenty years ago)

Bad move for Ford, cause only queers buy Jaguars and Land Rovers.

I'm just kidding!

― Abbadabba Berman (Hurting), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 05:04 (twenty years ago)

slightly!

― hstencil (hstencil), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 05:10 (twenty years ago)

One of the big reasons why they got into the feeder system was b/c of the larger purses

Way to live up to the stereotype, boys!

― Erick Dampier is better than Shaq (miloaukerman), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 05:12 (twenty years ago)

what a bunch of hateful busybodies, good lord

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 05:15 (twenty years ago)

Seriously, people, this is what you can accomplish if you organize enough and have enough folks contributing to the cause.

now, to take this model and apply to non-hateful means...

― kingfish trampycakes (kingfish 2.0), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 05:20 (twenty years ago)

straight cowboys like big purses, too

― anthony easton (anthony), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 06:20 (twenty years ago)

tell me more

― hstencil (hstencil), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 06:22 (twenty years ago)

fords are shit, i wouldn't buy 'em anyway. and if i had the money to buy a luxury jaguar-type car, i would've gotten a saab or a bmw instead anyway.

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 06:25 (twenty years ago)

saab = GM
bmw = NAZI

― hstencil (hstencil), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 06:27 (twenty years ago)

well, that's par for the course seeing as this thread WAS started by trife and all that.

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 06:30 (twenty years ago)

trife = furthest from nazi

― hstencil (hstencil), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 06:37 (twenty years ago)

Fix
Or
Repair
Daily

― kingfish (kingfish 2.0), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 06:39 (twenty years ago)

fix it again, tony

― hstencil (hstencil), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 06:40 (twenty years ago)

http://domenic42.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/.pond/calvin_piss_on_ford.jpg.w180h155.jpg

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 06:44 (twenty years ago)

Just thought I'd class things up a bit.

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 06:44 (twenty years ago)

Found
On
Road
Dead

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 06:47 (twenty years ago)

walter, did you check the domain of that hotlinked graphic?

― kingfish trampycakes (kingfish 2.0), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 06:49 (twenty years ago)

no. are you getting the stupid tripod image? does this help?

http://www.users.on.net/~biodaemon/calvin_piss_on_ford_small.jpg

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 06:55 (twenty years ago)

now do the one of calvin & suzie praying

― kingfish trampycakes (kingfish 2.0), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 06:56 (twenty years ago)

thank heavens that I can drive my FORD FIESTA and not have to feel "fruity" about it

― ESTEBAN BUTTEZ~!!, Wednesday, 7 December 2005 07:22 (twenty years ago)

Too bad, given that Ford was just in development of making their gay car called the Ford Sangria.

― dali madison's nut (donut), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 07:50 (twenty years ago)

from upthread:

The Christian groups know this, too. It's just propaganda, because they know their followers will believe anything they say.

from here:

...Religious traditions suffused with a sense of millennial stakes often have subrosa discourses akin to what the Mormons call "lying for the Lord." Pentectostal missiologist C. Peter Wagner, for example, has written, "We ought to see clearly that the end does justify the means.... If the method I am using accomplishes the goal I am aiming at, it is for that reason a good method..."

― kingfish trampycakes (kingfish 2.0), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 15:38 (twenty years ago)

What kind of person buys a goddamned Ford anyway? The cowboys argument is lame cos you can get better trucks than Ford nowadays, no one I know who works in construction or actually ever has to tow shit besides their stupid boat or something drives around in a Ford. American cars are for religious nutballs and soccer moms and we should just really ignore this and go drive our Hondas.

― Allyzay must fight Zolton herself. (allyzay), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 16:27 (twenty years ago)

Also BMW is the new Lexus. discus.

― Allyzay must fight Zolton herself. (allyzay), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 16:28 (twenty years ago)

????

http://www.liloinspires.com/images/throwing.jpg

― dali madison's nut (donut), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 16:37 (twenty years ago)

Seriously, people, this is what you can accomplish if you organize enough and have enough folks contributing to the cause.
now, to take this model and apply to non-hateful means...

like what do you have in mind?

― A Nairn (moretap), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 17:21 (twenty years ago)

Murdering born-agains.

― Allyzay must fight Zolton herself. (allyzay), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 17:22 (twenty years ago)

Fords and Dodge split the market share down here, with GM coming in third. They're all identical in usage, it depends entirely on which one you like the looks of and who'll cut the best deal.

I see more Dodges being driven by frat boys/sorority girls/etc. (ie people who drive a truck CUZ IT'S GOT A HEMI or at least can pretend it does, cockfarmers).

― Erick Dampier is better than Shaq (miloaukerman), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 17:24 (twenty years ago)

Nobody worth my time drives a domestic automobile. They're all shit and overpriced at that. And UGLY. HIDEOUS. DISGUSTING. I'm only half exagerrating and everyone here knows it.

― Allyzay must fight Zolton herself. (allyzay), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 17:26 (twenty years ago)

I love my escort, it gets good gas mileage. There's no suitable replacement for it, the civic is too prissy. Maybe the Prius, but still.

― Lars and Jagger (Ex Leon), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 17:28 (twenty years ago)

back in the day, the escort and the mazda protege were functionally equivalent -- built on the same chassis, etc.

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 17:30 (twenty years ago)

I see more Dodges being driven by frat boys/sorority girls/etc. (ie people who drive a truck CUZ IT'S GOT A HEMI or at least can pretend it does, cockfarmers).

plus, the dodge ram symbol is awesome -- it looks satanic!

http://www.signspecialist.com/decals/popular2/images/1588.jpg

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 17:32 (twenty years ago)

I guess Jags aren't ugly. Really though people should just ride motorcycles, from Japan.

― Allyzay must fight Zolton herself. (allyzay), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 17:32 (twenty years ago)

The Protege's replacement now shares parts with a Saab (or a Volvo, whichever one is a Ford company).

― Erick Dampier is better than Shaq (miloaukerman), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 17:32 (twenty years ago)

My parents' domestic SUV is very reliable but eats gas. They were going to get rid of it but the SAAB (1993 900, sunroof, black) gave up the ghost. Have I mention how much I love the original SAAB 900? My parents got this awesome full color history of SAAB coffee table book with it that I am going to steal.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/c2/Saab900t16sfr.jpg/574px-Saab900t16sfr.jpg

So classic!

― GET EQUIPPED WITH BUBBLE LEAD (ex machina), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 17:33 (twenty years ago)

Murdering born-agains.

to the sounds of the gamelan
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1646661,00.html

― A Nairn (moretap), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 17:33 (twenty years ago)

http://www.ecardecals.com/Calvin_Dodge1.jpg

― GET EQUIPPED WITH BUBBLE LEAD (ex machina), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 17:33 (twenty years ago)

Japanese sport bikes are hideous. Honda makes a nice Harley knockoff, and I love Kawasaki's Triumph knockoff, but the plastic bikes should all be destroyed.

― Erick Dampier is better than Shaq (miloaukerman), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 17:33 (twenty years ago)

there are some good yamaha ones

― A Nairn (moretap), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 17:35 (twenty years ago)

I'm talking about their knockoffs (which are better quality and faster than the US originals).

― Allyzay must fight Zolton herself. (allyzay), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 17:35 (twenty years ago)

I like the buluga 80:

http://tamiya.com/english/products/list/12bike_img/14005m.jpg

― A Nairn (moretap), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 17:36 (twenty years ago)

ally is correct about this much ... honda cars are awesome. my parents STILL have their honda accord that they bought in 1992, and it STILL runs perfectly!

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 17:36 (twenty years ago)

does any domestic car company make a diesel sedan, or have they completely ceded that to the european makers?

― kingfish trampycakes (kingfish 2.0), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 17:39 (twenty years ago)

American choices
When it comes to buying a diesel engine Americans have far fewer choices in passenger vehicles than European buyers. Mercedes-Benz recently reintroduced a diesel sedan to the U.S. market after a five-year absence. This is the new E320 CDI, also available in a gasoline engine.
Volkswagen during that time has been the sole seller of passenger diesels in the U.S. with its TDI models of the popular Golf, Jetta and New Beetle. Now it has introduced a Passat TDI in both a sedan and a wagon and added a third Touareg to its V-6 and V-8 lineup - a V-10 turbodiesel. The Passat looks and acts richer than its mid-20s price tag. The V-10 gives the already capable Touareg tons of torque and impressive power but for some big bucks, in the mid-60s.
Diesel development in the U.S. has been hindered by the poor quality of diesel fuel in the country. American diesel is still heavy on sulfur content, long since removed from the fuel in Europe. New U.S. regulations call for diesel fuel sans sulfur by 2006 and some car companies, notably BMW, say they will wait until the new fuel is in place before introducing their diesel-powered vehicles to the U.S. (Which means the delightful MINI One D is several years distant if it comes to the U.S. at all.)

Another problem: just as diesel fuel is cleaning up its act, stricter regulations on diesel emissions go into effect, particularly in California and four northeastern states (New York, Massachusetts, Maine, and Vermont.)

― A Nairn (moretap), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 17:46 (twenty years ago)

scuttlebutt from friends still employed in the auto industry is that none of the big 3 want to touch diesel engines not for the fuel, but b/c the european designers are so far ahead of them and would eat them up in the market.

― kingfish trampycakes (kingfish 2.0), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 19:24 (twenty years ago)

does any domestic car company make a diesel sedan, or have they completely ceded that to the european makers?

Renault, Peugeot, VW and Skoda completely rock this market and I think three of those brands aren't aviliable in the US (Alfa Romeo have some good diesels as well)

― Ed (dali), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 20:09 (twenty years ago)

Oh, I know that I can get a VW diesel around here, no problem. i'm just curious if any "american"(i.e. based in detroit suburbs, assembled in Canada/Mexico) car company is putting out anything.

I'm going biodiesel in a year when my current lease is up, and will probably get a used VW diesel passat or something.

― kingfish trampycakes (kingfish 2.0), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 20:56 (twenty years ago)

What is this 'car'?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 20:57 (twenty years ago)

shame you can't get renault because their diels are stunning. The current Megane 1.9dCi is fabulous. I had one on hire over the last weekend and I couldn't get the trip computer to register less than 50mpg despite driving it hard. Plus it's got a 6 speed box and it's really quick, especially at overtaking accelleration.

― Ed (dali), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 21:00 (twenty years ago)

Oh, after my siblings & I almost burnt thru 4 clutches on a chevy s-10 over the course of 8 years, I don't think i'll get a stick-shift anytime soon.

― kingfish trampycakes (kingfish 2.0), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 21:05 (twenty years ago)

ouch, they have a good auto as well but it loses a little efficiency.

― Ed (dali), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 21:06 (twenty years ago)

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/12/13.html#a6304

aaaaand the Daily Show covers it

― kingfish holiday travesty (kingfish 2.0), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 16:28 (twenty years ago)

Ford has now reversed course:

1. Ford announced that it will continue to support gay organizations and gay events in the coming year and beyond.
2. Ford is going to run advertisements in the gay media NOT ONLY promoting the Jaguar and Land Rover brands, but the ads will promote ALL of Fords brands, by name, including Jaguar and Land Rover.
3. Ford states unequivocally that it will continue to tailor its ads for the specific audience it is trying to reach, and then goes one step further. Ford challenges us to keep an eye out on their upcoming ads in order to verify that they will in fact be tailored

― kingfish holiday travesty (kingfish 2.0), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 22:37 (twenty years ago)

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