I’m a Ford man

I grew up a Ford man.

Back in the day before video games and electronic gadgets, my cousin (who was really more like a brother) and I used to pass the time on a long highway trip by playing a recognition game.

It was challenging, at least for us 10-year-olds. All you had to do was look as far forward down the road as you could see. Then guess the model of car next approaching. If you guessed first and guessed right, you got a point.

Cars were distinctly different back then. Some Chevys still had fins; front grills and headlight spacing were distinguishing details. Hood ornaments were dead giveaways for the Oldsmobiles and some Buicks, although that was the hint of last resort since it meant the approaching car was really getting too close to call, causing you to lose track of what’s next on the horizon.

We were good at this, even playing past dusk when all you really had to go by were the headlights. And during the contests, we’d argue about which was better, Fords or Chevys. We argued, even though neither one of us knew the difference between a carburetor and a distributor. The difference was personal: His dad drove a Chevy, mine drove a Ford.

How quaint.

Over the years car models morphed into copycats until today you really have to look hard to see any differences. But even bigger changes are underway.

Ford has announced plans to largely give up selling cars in North America, focusing instead on trucks and SUVs. The only sedans in its future lineup will be the Mustang and a crossover version of the Focus. This makes me sad.

I know there is no place for sentimental value in the competitive market. I’m still a “Fix-Or-Repair-Daily” (Ford) man in my heart despite choosing Ford’s competitors for several GPC delivery vans (the last car even my dad, a WWII veteran, bought was a Toyota …which allowed me to buy a Honda for our personal use without feeling guilty).

But, at my core, I’m still a Ford man.

During the fallout of the 2008 Recession, you may recall the bailout for General Motors — but not so for Ford. The Ford Company refused the public handout and survived to thrive. So, how could it be that Ford now chooses to abandon the car market?

Consider something called the Corporate Average Fuel Environmental Protection Agency (CAFE).

The Obama Administration’s CAFE standards would require an automaker’s fleet to average 54.5 miles a gallon by 2025. The details get complicated. The intent, at least in part, was to regulate emissions to better the environment (you can read that as global warming).

I’m no economist. But I don’t think you can simply declare something and expect it to happen without consequence. If that works, then I am announcing my retirement as of tomorrow and when I lock the doors here for the last time tomorrow night there’s going to be a million bucks in my bank account for use at my discretion, no questions asked!

Understand, I don’t endorse Donald Trump. But at least this administration is trying to undo the CAFE standards as a means to regulate emissions.

If the oil shocks we withstood during the 1970s demonstrated anything, it’s that better gas mileage actually encourages people to drive more. What’s more, while some can finance the more expensive hybrids and electric vehicles, the rest of us happily go on driving SUVs, trucks and out-of-date vehicles, using just as much gas and spewing unwanted emissions as much ever.

I’m not convinced that better MPG is the best approach for emission control. Our country’s preference for politics plays havoc in the marketplace.

So, it makes perfect sense for Ford to make trucks rather than cars, just as it does for Toyota to make hybrids. And, yes, emission standards should be in the mix when discussing global warming. But the market (meaning drivers like you and me) should determine what products and companies survive, not the government nor some arbitrary policy nor some government handout.

I’m a Ford man … meaning CAFE vehicle mileage standards are an absurdly indirect way to regulate emissions. And Ford’s decision demonstrates why.