Autoblog

Gaywheels.com was started in 2005 and has since become a unique resource for GLBT auto enthusiasts and consumers. In addition to providing original content like interviews with gay members of the industry and, of course, vehicle reviews, the site maintains a list of gay-friendly automakers which provide domestic partner benefits to employees.

The newest member? BMW. While the automaker's MINI and Rolls-Royce divisions were already accounted for, the parent was omitted because of it maintained unfriendly policies at a US facility . That's over now. Beginning January 1, 2008, BMW joined the club when it officially began granting partner benefits to employees at its South Carolina assembly plant. BMW's inclusion on the gay-friendly list brings the total count of marques to 35, leaving out only 1. As a benefit of making the list, gaywheels.com will now endorse the German automaker.

[Source: Gaywheels.com]

Each quarter, Gaywheels.com publishes a list of their Top 10 Most Researched Vehicles, and the latest data is in, providing a market indicator for the most popular cars in the Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) community.

The Toyota Yaris remained the most searched car among Gaywheels.com community, while the Saab 9-3 edged out the Toyota Camry for the number two spot. While the list, which is based on web traffic and not on purchases, is self-perpetuating to an extent, newcomers like the Volkswagen Rabbit and Toyota Corolla have made it into the #7 and #9 slots. Perhaps the most surprising car on the list is the Dodge Caliber, which garnered controversy for perceived gay-bashing humor in a television commercial.

Gaywheels.com points out that all the cars in the Top 10 are produced by "gay-friendly" automakers, thus assessed by their manufacturer's provision of spousal benefits to same-sex partners of employees.

For the full list, follow the jump.

[Source: Gaywheels.com]

Related posts:
Gaywheels.com announced Top 10 Most Researched Vehicles
Nissan and Infiniti land on list of gay friendly automakers
Is BMW hypocritical for marketing to gay clientele without extending worker benefits to the same?

The American Family Association's (AFA) boycott against Ford continues with fresh new arguments being hurled by both sides. The boycott, which went into effect last year, began when the conservative Christian organization felt Ford backtracked on its promise to discontinue advertising in gay publications and events.

The AFA states that the Blue Oval's falling sales are caused by its efforts (modest, aren't they?). Ford replied that high gas prices, interest rates, and competition are the mostly likely culprits, not the boycott. While CNW analyst Art Spinella believes the boycott may have had an effect, it is minor, writing that Ford's sales were "miserable" even without the AFA's efforts.

Ford notes that rivals General Motors Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp., which the AFA is not boycotting, market more heavily in gay media than the Blue Oval. The AFA states it is aware of the other automakers contributions but singled Ford for past contributions which, collectively, are larger than other automakers. It also feels that boycotts work best against a single organization versus an entire industry.

Interestingly, Ford is one of the largest contributors to Christian radio. States Ford and Lincoln/Mercury president Al Giombetti, "Marketing to specific communities is nothing new to Ford or to the industry. We don't do this to make a political or social statement; we do it because we respect them and hope they will become customers."

Also of note is the fact that not one Ford branded vehicle ended up on the Gaywheels.com Top 10 Most Researched Vehicles list. Instead, the "macho" Dodge Caliber placed third on the list.

Comments are, of course, open. Just keep it friendly and focused on the topic.

Related:
Ford instructs dealers how to deal with anti-gay boycott
Ford shareholders reject proposals to drop protections for LGBT workers
Efforts continue in boycott against Ford for its support of gay market

[Source: Detroit Free Press]

Gaywheels.com has released a Top 10 list of the most researched vehicles on its site based on statistics gathered from April 1st through June 30th. The site acknowledges in a press release that there are many stereotypes about what the gay community drives, but that the community itself is as diverse as the rest of the population. True enough, and while some of the vehicles that landed on the list have in the past been considered as favorites of the gay community, many of the models would no doubt land on any Most Researched list. Topping the list is the Saturn Sky roadster, which has been garnering everyone's attention as of late. Here's the rest...

1. Saturn Sky
2. Toyota Yaris
3. Dodge Caliber
4. Volkswagen Jetta
5. Toyota Camry
6. Audi A3
7. Toyota Prius
8. Saab 9-3 (sedan and convertible)
9. Pontiac G6 (sedan, coupe and convertible)
10. Mazda MX-5

All of the vehicles on the list are also products of gay-friendly brands, which are defined by Gaywheels.com as manufacturers with policies offering domestic-partner benefits to their employees in the U.S. Indeed, every manufacturer in the Top 20 fits that description. This suggests that the gay consumers do reward those brands that support them.

(Find the full press release from Gaywheels.com after the jump)

As in the past, please keep your comments respectful.

[Source: Gaywheels.com

One of Ford's veepees', Al Giombetti, said in a e-mail last week to dealerships that when customers confront them about the manufacturer's advertisements in gay publications, to "listen to every customer, correct any misinformation, and ask them to support Ford." The e-mail is considered an acknowledgment that the struggling automaker has been monitoring the boycott launched back in March by the American Family Association and other conservative Christian groups.

The boycott's impact is unknown. Ford Motor Co. donated over $77 million last year, the bulk ($39 million) to educational causes and groups while the rest supporting Asian, blacks, and Hispanics organizations, as well as the gay segment.

Phil Long Ford, a dealership in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where several prominent conservative Christian organizations are based, states it has received about a dozen calls and two dozen e-mails regarding the issue. Says manager Tom White, "The first half-a-dozen calls we got... we said, 'Fine, do what you got to do.' Then we finally started responding back to them, and they came in and [bought] cars or they don't call us anymore."

Related:
Ford shareholders reject proposals to drop protections for LGBT workers
Efforts continue in boycott against Ford for its support of gay market

[Source: GFN]

Lexus is joining its Toyota stablemate Scion in directly courting gay audiences. The luxury brand's edgier, younger sibling has been in the business of marketing to gays essentially since its inception, but this will mark the first time that Lexus has directly sought the homosexual dollar.

Brian Bolain, Lexus' national advertising and media manager outlines the process that led Lexus into the market in a Gay365.com interview. Being gay himself, Bolain elaborated on how and why Toyota rolled out Scion to the gay community, and how such lessons are being applied to the company's upscale Lexus brand.

In addition to discussing Lexus' shifting market strategies, writer Michael Wilke discusses company (and advertising firm) initiatives in place to craft marketing messages that speak to alternative and minority audiences without offending them.

Lexus joins luxury brands like Mercedes-Benz and Cadillac in directly vying for GLBT dollar.

[Sources: 365Gay.com; Lexus]

(Top tip, Emulous1974!)

 

One of the new commercials in Chrsyler’s marketing blitz for the Caliber includes a scene in which a diminutive fairy casts her wand about cute-ifying objects in a city. At one point she waves her wand at a tough guy walking his dog and he becomes a “cute” guy complete with white shorts, a yellow polo on four tiny pups on pink leashes.

Sounds tame enough, but the leader of a prominent gay rights group in Detroit remarked in a newspaper “this guy looks pretty gay to me.” Jason Vines, Chrysler’s head of communications, hasn’t taken kindly to the remark stating: “If I had said that, there would be demonstrations outside our headquarters and then… I’d be fired.” Vines goes on to say that the remark made by the gay rights leader seems to only reinforce a stereotype of homosexuals that implies guys who look tough, wear work boots and jeans and walk large dogs can’t be gay.

*Sigh.*  Can’t we all just get along?

[Source: Chrysler]