Ford needs to be nicer to "Black's" to survive?

[Equinox]

Found this site and thought it was interesting... 'Louisiana Weekly'

"Who would have thought that Ford Motor Co., the legacy of that great American Henry Ford, would be heading deep "south" in the profit and loss arena of the automobile industry? Ford is almost synonymous with Americana especially Black Americana.

Ford Motor Company also led the way in Black employment among corporate America. Blacks in Detroit, Cleveland and other auto cities prospered through steady employment and opportunity. There are hundreds of thousands of Black middle-class families that can speak of Ford with pride and gratitude.

That has translated into college education and opportunities that were totally elusive to Black masses before the rise of Ford Motor Co. and other entities of the same ilk.

Today, Ford is getting beat up badly from competition. While the automobile industry is healthy per se, American-born companies are missing the wants and needs of American consumers. Ford has done the worst in this area. It is selling fewer, closing plants, releasing employees and losing money at record numbers. This is terrible and will require Ford to become ever dependent on that steady customer base it is used to - Black America. It is the Black dollar that is approaching nearly $1 trillion annually that may determine weather Ford survives or not. The future of that legacy of partnership is at risk.

Football legend and successful entrepreneur Mel Farr was on a roll with the Ford Motor Co. Many dealers had complained about disparate treatment of their customer base by Ford Motor Credit Corp. This credit company was the primary financer for purchased autos. If you can't get the majority of your customers approved by them you weren't going to close many deals. The adverse treatment of Black customers would have a devastating impact on the sales of a Black owned dealership. We lost a lot of Black dealerships because of this and there have been many discrimination claims because of this choke hold by auto credit companies.

Mel had a brilliant idea. He went to Wall Street and formed his own auto financing entity to sell his cars. The alternative was successful - too successful for Ford. The relationship they had with Mel and his 11 auto dealerships soured to the point that Ford "pulled the rug from under him." Today, the nation's best known Black auto dealer is out of business. He is banned for life from owning a Ford dealership. In fact, and so cruelly, his two sons are banned for life also. That is how they treated their "star." Think about the other Black dealers."


Check the rest of the site out for more information.
http://<br /> http://www.louisianaw...e.pl?20070217d
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Note: If this offended anyone, I apologize. That was not my intention, I just got the info from the above source.

[speednine]

So, basically the article is turning a credit problem into a race problem. And now this ford dealer, because his customer's couldn't get financed lost, money. I don't understand what the whole story is behind ford pulling his license to have ford dealerships, but it sounds like he is trying to play the race card.

[Vindesh17]

How much nicer do they need to be? They already make the overly blinged out Navigator.

[digitalcraft]

Like it or hate it, many african-americans still belong to a distinct subculture that is targetable using marketing methods. They are a huge population and have money to spend.

It's not about being nice to them, its about marketing appeal, and its a smart thing to do. I'm always cautious saying things like that though, too often when a company goes to appeal to a subculture, they end up being a bit offensive. :P

[baddabang]

How much nicer do they need to be? They already make the overly blinged out Navigator.

Throw in a bucket of extra crispy with every purchase?

[Mr.Tiv]

Throw in a bucket of extra crispy with every purchase?

Open KFCs in the dealerships...

[jediali]

with all due respect what is the african-american car market distinguished by?

[evile]

I was going to leave this one alone until I saw the fried chicken crack. It has been well documented Blacks have long been discriminated against when it comes to auto financing. Auto financing companies (i.e. Ford Credit, GMAC etc.) have been exposed for underhanded policies when dealing with Black customers. Whether it is higher interest rates or outright denial Blacks have to be leerie whenever they walk into a showroom.

Unfortunately, it has been proven a good credit rating doesn't always guarantee a good interest rate either. Some of the financing companies paint an entire race with a broad brush. Some consider Blacks a risk (credit) and they are scrutinized more thoroughly than other customers. Other institutions believe Blacks are uninformed consumers and they can get away with extending a higher interest rates.

Mel Farr owned several dealerships in my area. Years ago I did read an article stating Ford Credit was perturbed with Farr for setting up his own finance company. Many, not just Blacks, purchased cars from Farr because he was able to finance customers who would have either been denied or screwed by Ford Credit.

[evile]

For those of you who believe I am talking out my ass here is just one account:

FStudy: Discrimination in auto loan fees

Dealers discriminated against minorities in fees on loans through Ford subsidiary, study shows.
December 15, 2004: 3:55 PM EST



NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Auto dealers financing cars through a division of Ford Motor Credit have been discriminating against African-American and Hispanic customers by charging them higher interest rate mark-ups than others, according to an announcement by the Consumer Federation of America.

The interest rate mark-up is an amount that is added by the dealership onto the interest rate that is charged by the financing company or bank.

Following recent high-profile legal cases and consumer complaints about interest rate mark-ups, several auto financing companies placed limits on the amount of dealership mark-ups.

Primus Automotive Financial Services and Primus Financial Services, part of Ford Motor Credit, in March 2003 limited dealership mark-ups to three percent and then subsequently cut the limit to 2.5 percent. Previously the limit had been five percent.

Stricter limits helped close the mark-up gap but there was still a substantial difference, according to a study by Mark Cohen of Vanderbilt University, on which the Consumer Federation of America based its release.

Primus also offers auto financing services to dealerships selling vehicles not made by Ford Motor Company.

Overall, African-American borrowers paid 1.8 times the amount of money in mark-up charges compared to what white customers typically paid, according to the study.

White customers were also charged the mark-up less often than blacks or Hispanics, according to the study. About forty percent of white customers were charged a dealer mark-up on financing while about 58 percent of Hispanic borrowers and about 63 percent of African-American borrowers were charged a mark-up.

The amount of the dealership mark-up, or whether one is charged, is decided by the auto dealers, not by the lending institution, said Meredith Libbey, a spokeswoman for Primus.

Loan terms are often negotiated with the customer before the loan is presented to several financing companies who compete to provide the actual financing.

Primus has changed the language on its contracts to more clearly explain that loan terms are negotiable, Libbey said.

One solution that the CFA and other groups have suggested is the introduction of a flat fee.

That might create unintended problems for less creditworthy customers, however, said Libbey. With a flat fee, dealerships might have less incentive to work hard to find financing options for those customers, she said.

[adrenaline]

^ If you are quoting a source, wrap quote tags around it and include a link to the article.

The thought that 'black' people will save Ford is stupid. Ford just needs good products.

[evile]

^ If you are quoting a source, wrap quote tags around it and include a link to the article.

The thought that 'black' people will save Ford is stupid. Ford just needs good products.

Sorry! I could not find that particular story again, but here is a link to a similar story:

http://agonist.org/node/13630/print

Also, I agree with your comment regarding Ford needing Blacks to survive. They need every customer they can get. However, if I was a Black consumer I would think twice about doing business with an institution that has a history of discriminating against my race.

[VtecMini]

I was nice to Blacks last week. I bought a neck gaiter from them. They were pretty nice to me, too. I think I might buy my tent from there in the summer.

Didn't see any Fords there though.

[Matra et Alpine]

That'll confuse everyone outside of the UK.

here you go folks .........

[speednine]

I was going to leave this one alone until I saw the fried chicken crack. It has been well documented Blacks have long been discriminated against when it comes to auto financing. Auto financing companies (i.e. Ford Credit, GMAC etc.) have been exposed for underhanded policies when dealing with Black customers. Whether it is higher interest rates or outright denial Blacks have to be leerie whenever they walk into a showroom.

Unfortunately, it has been proven a good credit rating doesn't always guarantee a good interest rate either. Some of the financing companies paint an entire race with a broad brush. Some consider Blacks a risk (credit) and they are scrutinized more thoroughly than other customers. Other institutions believe Blacks are uninformed consumers and they can get away with extending a higher interest rates.

Mel Farr owned several dealerships in my area. Years ago I did read an article stating Ford Credit was perturbed with Farr for setting up his own finance company. Many, not just Blacks, purchased cars from Farr because he was able to finance customers who would have either been denied or screwed by Ford Credit.

Like i give a shit. Since they are painting blacks, with a briad brush, so to speak, then there is probably good reason. I'm not 100% on this but don't most minorities live at or just above the poverty line?

It doesn't really matter the fact that they are black doesn't mean shit, they are just getting singled out. What about all of the poor white people who live in the south and can't get financed? That's what i thought the same reasoning applies here, if you can't pay your bills don't finance an eff'ing car. end of story.

[Rockefella]

Like i give a shit. Since they are painting blacks, with a briad brush, so to speak, then there is probably good reason. I'm not 100% on this but don't most minorities live at or just above the poverty line?

It doesn't really matter the fact that they are black doesn't mean shit, they are just getting singled out. What about all of the poor white people who live in the south and can't get financed? That's what i thought the same reasoning applies here, if you can't pay your bills don't finance an eff'ing car. end of story.

I don't think he meant it that way. The way I understood it was that 'blacks' whom were well off had trouble financing cars because of those stereotypical, so to speak, minorities that have little/no credit and try to buy cars that they can't afford to pay off. Because of the generalization amongst companies and salesman, those worthy of purchasing new cars are often shunned.

Pretty sure it wasn't meant to be criticism towards other races.