Ford Board Has Obama Insurance: Huntsman
DETROIT (
) -- At a time when
GM
(GM) - Get Report
and
Chrysler
are being lambasted by conservatives as fellow travelers with the Obama administration,
Ford
(F) - Get Report
is keeping its distance.
On Thursday, Ford said that Jon Huntsman, a prominent Republican who last month dropped out of the race to be the party's presidential nominee, was appointed to its board.
Before being a presidential candidate, Jon Huntsman had excellent credentials as a Republican and in China, a growth market for Ford. |
On Monday, Chrysler's "Halftime in America" Super Bowl ad, applauded by many, was attacked by some Republicans as being pro-Obama and pro-auto industry bailout. In the ad, actor Clint Eastwood -- certainly no Obama fan -- proclaims that the U.S. should take a lesson from Detroit, which toughed it out and emerged stronger after the recession.
Last month, GM, which sometimes is called "government motors" by critics, had to defend itself against Republican charges that an investigation of a post-crash fire in the Volt -- we emphasize that this post-crash fire occurred three weeks after a crash -- was covered up by the government.
"We did not engineer the Volt to be a political punching bag," GM CEO Dan Akerson told a Congressional subcommittee last month. "And that, sadly, is what it's become."
Ford has avoided falling into the trap, primarily because it did not require a federal bailout after the 2008 economic collapse. Rather, Ford borrowed money to survive and today has a higher debt load than its competitors.
Ford has never hesitated to mention that not taking a bailout has helped its marketing. In fact, in a Ford television ad in September, a male F150 buyer identified only as Chris proclaims: "I wasn't going to buy another car that was bailed out by our government. I was going to buy from a manufacturer that's standing on their own: Win, lose or draw."
Soon after the ad appeared,
The Detroit News
reported that the Obama administration had asked that the ad be pulled. Ford denied the report, but in any case, the episode emphasizes the same point made by the Huntsman appointment: When it comes to the Obama administration, Ford is not as close as its competitors.
We should mention that before being a presidential candidate, Huntsman had some excellent credentials as a Republican and in China, where GM is the No. 1 automaker and Ford wants to grow.
Huntsman began his political career as a White House staff assistant to President Ronald Reagan and served in the Bush administration, working on Asia policy. He also served in the Obama administration as ambassador to China, before quitting so he could potentially run against his boss.
Ford's executive chairman, Bill Ford, praised Huntsman on Thursday. "Jon brings to Ford's board of directors extensive global knowledge and experience -- particularly in Asia with trade issues -- and operational experience gained as governor of Utah, a state that has grown jobs even during the economic crisis," he said in a statement.
-- Written by Ted Reed in Charlotte, N.C.
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