Only Ford Vehicles allowed in Dearborn Parking Lot

That kind of thing isn't exactly surprising around here; or rare. There are certain cities that are almost hostile to foreign cars but they're no where near me or what I do so it doesn't create a problem for me. They're never going to learn, though, and that's a real shame. Welcome to the motor city

 

This has been around forever. A friend of mine had a nice mercedes they drove to the GM parking lot. The rule was inforced, so she bought a Geo Metro (Suzuki, built in Japan) and would drive the last mile in the Geo.

Talk about driving American!

Nate

 

That is hilarious... I guess they don't want the cars parked side by side so that people can compare... it's like they are afraid of the competiton or something...

 

Here in Detroit it is totally normal for car companies and plants to have multiple parking lots.

Now, keep in mind that visitors and vendors have a separate parking lot which has easy access to a visitor entrance door. ANY type of car can park there.

Now, if you WORK at one of these places, and choose to drive a competitor's vehicle are you really surprised to learn that you'd be assigned to park in a lot separate from those who drive that company's product?

 

The Buy-Ford-even-if-not-American-Ford aspect doesn't seem to fit as nicely as they think it does.

Too bad this probably falls into the category of employer demands that are take it or quit...

 

The strange twist is that it's not ok to park an American car, in general. It can only be a FORD car. What Nate alludes to is true, you could park a Geo made in Asia in the UAW headquarters parking lot but you can't park a Toyota made in America.

 

My brother is retired from Ford (tractor division), they didn't have the "mandate" when he was there, but it was "highly discouraged" to drive a non Ford vehicle to work. Then with a price they can buy a Ford for, there's no reason to drive anything else.

I think this is quite common though, I seem to remember a few years ago, some MacDonalds employees somewhere were given the boot for taking their lunch break at the Burger King next door.

I actually have to side with Ford on this one, think of the message this sends to someone driving past a Ford plant. "How good can Ford be when their own people drive something different???"

 

I guess they are trying to rally their troops, I don't think punishing people who drive another car is a good way to do it. What happens if I switch job from chrysler to ford and just bought a car from chrysler? I have to sell it at a loss to fit in at ford?

 

i'm high-tailing it out of michigan after june. i think its an idiotic attitude for this "company pride"

 

That brings to mind a couple of stories that I heard back in the 80s. I knew a guy who was a crib manager at one of the stamping plants. A crib is where they have all of the tools needed at the plant. They're all over the plant. Anyway, a couple of the stories that he told, one was that one of his daily duties was to drive around the neighborhoods surrounding the plant and chase his workers out of the bars. Yes, during working hours. They couldn't be reprimanded or get in trouble in anyway but he could chase them out of the bar. The other story is how they caught a union guy red-handed walking out to his car that he'd parked in the salaried parking lot carrying a carton of heat lamps that he was going to steal from the company. They caught it on camera. Did he get arrested? No. Did he get fired? No. Did he get in to any trouble at all? No. What happened to him? He had to transfer to another plant. Boy, I'll bet that larned him to not ta mess with the company.

 

"You buy what you build. That only makes sense."

I suppose all the processed food industry workers who make TV dinners don't buy fresh vegetables, fruit and meat for their own meals but subsist solely on their employer's frozen products. Yecchh.

Clearly, the sentiment expressed in the quote above is just a "half-baked" and rather idiotic idea.

With the U.S. auto industry in crisis, that this one of the industry's responses only proves that Ford and GM have at hand only nails to drive into their own coffins.

Mark Baird
Alameda CA

 

Just when I thought Ford might be "getting it," this comes along. What buffoons!

So they are afraid people might figure out something is wrong with Fords if employees don't buy them? They think people don't already know this?

Well, DUH! Like they can't figure out from the layoffs, financial losses, plant closings, and success of Toyota that they are inferior? Oh, but sighting cars in the employee parking lot will do it?

This is pathetic. Once again management is asleep and out of touch with reality. The handle's been pushed, the water is starting to swirl...

 

I worked at a GM dealer in the early 70's and we had a car with a rattle in the rear on rough roads, crossing rail tracks and such. Put the pneumatic shaker on it and finally discovered a Coke bottle in the frame just behind the rear axle dog leg. The Zone rep was in town and finally after taking pictures and all the serial # and everything he needed for the documentation of the claim told us to break the bottle with a punch, which we did and about a month later he told us that they traced it back to the production line and the 2 employees working that shift and interviewed them and one admitted he wasn't happy working in that division and was let go. Makes you wonder if some of this draconian mind set isn't responsible for some of the poor quality of the products that come of the end of the line.

 

Union bashing is a popular sport on the right. <_<

If you're going to relate these kinds of anecdotes, you should cite sources where they can be verified.
Nobody should believe these kinds of anecdotes (from the right or the left) without being able to verify them.

-my 2p

 

Naw, I think it's just that they can't stand to be reminded of their failure, that's all.

 

Funny story.

If only Ford employees knew how crappy their products (as Ford car owners) are to try to improve them.... na, that is too much to ask. :lol:

 

From the article:

Another Dearborn Truck employee told the newspaper he approved the move, though.

"You buy what you build," said Rufus McWilliams. "That only makes sense."


That is so much bull. I couldn't believe it.

Ford Motor Company management:

You just shot your company in the foot yet again.

Stupid, plain stupid.