Despite the fact that just about everyone and their mother was under the impression the Fairlane, FoMoCo's new minivan replacement, would be one of the new vehicles on display in the Ford booth at next month's Detroit Auto Show (alternately NAIAS, NAMBLA, or whatever I've ended up calling it on other occasions). I mean, it even shows up in Mark Phelan's Freep list of what to look out for at this year's show. In fact, the Detroit Auto Dealer's Association (alternatively DADA, NAMBLA, or whatever I've ended up calling them on other occasions), the organizers of the show, even went so far as to include it on their list of things to watch out for at the 2007 fun-fest at Cobo. But, it turns out everyone was being a bit premature in speculating that the Fairlane would be introduced — in fact, they were premature to have even believed what FoMoCo PR folks were saying to them — because according to the Freep's Sarah Webster, not only won't the Fairlane production model be introduced at Detroit, the folks in Dearborn...
...claim that they never even planned to show it there. So, when the industry media folks have been making claims that the Fairlane would be shown, and DADA's saying they thought it would be shown — why is the only person FoMoCo can conjure up to state their case for them is industry punching bag Ford shill expert pundit AutoPacific's Jim Hall? He claims he never expected it to show up in Detroit. Of course, Jim's being paid by FoMoCo, and has an agreement signed with them about what he can and can't say. But his argument is of course that
"The last thing you want to do is show a vehicle too early because it'll kill sales of your current vehicles...they still have to get a year of sales out of the Freestyle..."
You hear that folks — the Freestyle's so bad that FoMoCo won't even show a new car yet for fear that you won't buy them — what an inspiring display of confidence in one's current product, eh? Oh and did we mention — they're also planning on changing the look from the well-heralded concept?
Fairlane appearance scrapped [Freep]
Related:
How Many Drinks Was That? Jalopnik Detroit Editor Takes A Ford-Sponsored Divorce-Courtin' Commercial Break; Apres Minivan: Ford's New Crossover SUVs; Betting the Farm: Ford's Post-Minivan Play will Be Monday Announcement [internal]