Ford to continue producing, selling Police Interceptors despite being told to rethink relationship with police

The killing of George Floyd by policemen in the US has sparked great outrage and mobilised various anti-racism and anti-police brutality movements. In the wake of this, Ford employees have been inspired to rethink the company’s relationship with the police, and urged top executives to stop producing and selling police vehicles altogether.

According to Automotive News, Blue Oval bosses including CEO Jim Hackett wrote a letter of over 600 words to senior staff, saying “it’s not controversial that the Ford Police Interceptor helps officers do their job. The issues plaguing police credibility have nothing to do with the vehicles they’re driving.”

Hacket and executive chairman Bill Ford are supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement and believe that the police should operate with more transparency and accountability. However, Hacket added that first responders play an “extraordinarily important role in the vitality and safety of our society.”

“Our world wouldn’t function without the bravery and dedication of the good police officers who protect and serve,” Hackett wrote. Ford will continue to produce and sell Police Interceptor sedans and SUVs, which are souped-up versions of the Fusion and Explorer models.

Every year, the Interceptors account for a small sliver of the more than two million cars Ford sells in the US. However, the Blue Oval has long dominated that segment, and revealed that Interceptors make for almost two-thirds of US police vehicle sales.

The blacked-out SUV you see here is the 2020 Police Interceptor Utility, which is available with either a 3.0 litre EcoBoost, 3.3 litre direct-injection V6, or 3.3 litre hybrid powertrain. It’s also the only vehicle in the world that has been engineered to meet a 120 km/h rear-impact crash test.

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