FordDirect Retail Program (Founded 2000) Closes With A Loss Of $50 million Dollars +Founding Video

EDITOR'S NOTE: Please read the advisory at the bottom of this page.

AutoCentral: In 2008, FordDirect, Ford's digital retail platform, ("which plagiarized the elements that were proposed by The Auto Channel for Ford advertising in 1996-2000 directly to Ford and their ad agency J. Walter Thompson") was closed by Ford at a cost of approximately $50 million. The platform was designed to provide a single point of access for Ford dealerships to purchase digital marketing, advertising, and sales support products and services. The company invested in the platform in order to also better support its dealerships and increase sales. Ultimately, as so often happens in copies the platform was closed due to a lack of demand from dealerships, as well as the higher costs associated with the platform. The closure of FordDirect was said to be due to market conditions and the changing automotive retail landscape (HUH?). At the time, Ford claimed that the closure would not affect the company's bottom line. However, the closure of Ford Direct meant that Ford no longer had its own direct-to-consumer platform, and this ultimately impacted the way the company operated in the digital space.

ADVISORY: On February 24, 2023, The Auto Channel received a letter from Ford's Legal Department challenging the veracity of the statements made above about FordDirect, as well as our right to use the Ford trademark "FORDDIRECT" in our news reporting. The Auto Channel has responded to both assertions with publically published citations from external sources that we believe corroborate our statements about FORDDIRECT, in addition to a recitation of The Auto Channel's legal right to use and display all trademarks owned by Ford Motor Company. As the situation develops further we will add commentary.