? for 06 owners Re: Gas Cap and BP Branding

Hey folks,

Back in July, Ford made the following statement in a Press release and I was wondering if they in fact have started their "bedding" with BP.

DEARBORN, July 12, 2005 -- As Ford Motor Company and BP engineers continue working collaboratively toward sustainable mobility solutions, they also are working to link the two companies in the minds of consumers. Beginning this July, 2006 model Ford Division cars, pickups and SUVs in the U.S. will bear gas caps recommending BP to customers as an extension of a unique relationship the company has developed with this leading fuel provider.



Jennifer

i wonder how much bp paid ford for this? i personally dont like bp gasoline. i am sure many of you do though. i dont want my car manufacturer "suggesting" me to use a certain brand of gasoline. i guess that many manufacturers already recommend oil brands, so this is just an extension.....

bigcat,

You are stating this FAR MORE NICELY than I feel. Yes, it is in essence a recommendation for BP gas. However, I would be strongly opposed to any car manufacturer programming the PCM/EEC to a specific formulation of gas. We all know that these 05s are very particular to air/fuel changes. So, let us look at a future possibility that BP has refined their gasoline to a unique hydrocarbon blend, while retaining the octane to 8 hydrocarbons at 87%, with a specific blending of 13% ethanol in replacement of MTB, and then Ford programming the alogrithims in the EEC to run optimal at this blend. My concern is a future in which a major car mfg. and a large oil conglomerate are "bedding" down together to in fact increase net profit projections while covering it with the intentions of meeting clean running-low emissions fuel and environmental responsibility.

I am not losing sleep over this. It is just a hypothesis of an ultimate business reality that is utilized daily. I just find it unfortunate that it's Ford and not GM.

Jenn

I don't really see this as a big deal. So it says BP on the gas cap. People will use whatever gas they want.

Most gas all comes from the same plants anyway. The only exception to this that I know of is- all Hess gas, Amoco's 93 Ultimate (which is now BP), and Sunoco's 94 Ultra (which is quickly dissapearing). Other than those, all brands use the same gas.

Besides, the EPA would NEVER, in a million years, allow a manufacturer to calibrate their vehicle based on a certain gasoline. The EPA has huge control over what's calibrated in your PCM.

Thanks Power Surge. My intent was not to make a big deal out of it, as much as it was to see if Ford had started their branding campaign. I was just thinking of a conceivable scenario, but you have put my concerns to rest. Although allowed via CAA waiver, according to the text of the CAA it is a VERY slim possibility.

Jenn
EDIT PS:
Clean Air Act Section 207(3)(B)
(B) The instruction under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph
shall not include any condition on the ultimate purchaser's
using, in connection with such vehicle or engine, any component
or service (other than a component or service provided without
charge under the terms of the purchase agreement) which is
identified by brand, trade, or corporate name; or directly or
indirectly distinguishing between service performed by the
franchised dealers of such manufacturer or any other service
establishments with which such manufacturer has a commercial relationship, and service performed by independent automotive repair facilities with which such manufacturer has no commercial relationship; except that the prohibition of this subsection may be waived by the Administrator
if- (i) the manufacturer satisfies the Administrator that the
vehicle or engine will function properly only if the compo-
nent or service so identified is used in connection with
such vehicle or engine, and
(ii) the Administrator finds that such a waiver is in the
public interest.

Good catch Jenn. I've always thought the U.S car makers and the gas companies were "in bed" with each other. That's probably why alternative fuel technology is so behind in the U.S huh?.

I read somewhere that the oil companies in the U.S haven't built a new refinery in over 20 years. When a one shuts down for "fixes" the price of retail gas goes up even higher due to "domestic" storages.

I was gonna switch to a locking gas cap anyway when my '06 Mustang arrives. Keep the BP signage to the side of the road where it belongs.

Ford/BP

BFD. Use whatever gas you want. I happen to use BP and all my cars run well on it, and in my area, BP usually is one of the lower priced "branded" gas stations. As a little sidebar, BP is one of the few gasoline companies that doesn't use oil from the middle east-a plus in my book. When I pick up my new '06 GT, it will get a diet of BP fuel. I have also read in some articles about gasoline quality that BP is highly rated.

I don't like it when the dealer puts his logo on my car. I certainly would not like it if BP ended up on my gas cap.
How about giving us a break in gas prices rather than paying Ford to put that on gas caps???
That would probably do more to get my business than placing an ad on my car.

Picked up my new 06 GT this morning and, yep.....BP's on the fuel cap.

Goldenpony,

Like most I feel that the long-term aspect of this arrangement is being overlooked. But, like most things, consumers are short-sighted for the most part and are unable to look past their own circumstances. The proverbial, who cares? It doesn't impact my life.

Is BP a high rated gasoline that is cleaner and removes the majority of engine deposits? According to their research and filing with the EPA, yes. That is one of my concerns. Can a car manufacturer mandate a specific brand of gasoline to be used in their car? No. As of today. Is this a future potential. Yes. How large of a probable scenario? I have no idea.

But with with BP being THE LARGEST petroleum conglomerate in the United States, they are well ahead of the game.

Is it a big deal. No. Does it bother me. Yes. I have read the entire text of the Clean Air Act and the subsequent repeals and amendments as provided under the Magnuson-Moss Act. This bothers me in that I do not like a reduction in competition in consumer product availability, in an already tight market , much less a large manufacturer recommending it. We are not talking about a clothing manufactuer recommending Woolite, here.

Again, the intent of the information is to have people think. If you don't want to think outside the short-term aspects of life, I am okay with that. I am plagued with the need to understand my world and how it impacts not only me, but my son and my later years. BP is at a cruical apex of inventing methods to aid in the reduction of greenhouse emissions. They started the first carbon-free reintroduction oil refining process at Miller Field in the North Sea. They work hard to be a responsible and environmentally friendly company; however, the macro-economics involved in their conglomerations and economic and scientific advisory panels here in the United States at multiple large scale University, takes them one step closer to showing that their gas, IS THE GAS to help reduce portable greenhouse emissions issues.

Even with a loss of the refinery capabilities in Texas in march, BP still made a NET profit of 5,591 billion dollars or a NET profit of $23.42 per share for the second quarter of 2005. Interestingly to note, they bought back for treasury holding during the first half of 2005, 396 million of its own shares at a cost of $4.1 billion. So, they made a hefty profit from their own stock buy back. Net cash provided by operating activities for the quarter and half year was $6.7 billion and $16.1 billion, respectively, compared with $5.2 billion and $12.2 billion a year ago.

Compare these figures to 5 years ago and no matter how you slice it. The consumer is getting josted, and the fact that they have a large North Sea depository, thusly procluding them from the impact of OPEC influence, tastes even worse in my mouth.

Okay - So, maybe I do find this a big deal. LOL

Jenn

Thanks for actually answering the original question.

See, now if this was answered earlier.. I could have saved everyone the economics lecture of doom!

My disseratation took about 30 minutes to write. Darn... If I would have only got that sooner.

The Bp/Amoco plant in Texas City explodes on a regular basis, so I guess you can say the stuff burns well.

Well, I don't even have a BP station where I live so I guess I can't get an 06 GT then huh?

I thought Exxon-Mobil was the largest oil US company (Go ahead and challenge me, I'm too lazy to research the #s. Maybe Exxon-Mobil moved their coporate HQ to Bermuda).

Didn't Exxon-Mobil just announce quaterly earnings > $7 Billion, a cool $1.5B more than BP?

I am also too lazy to look at Service Station figures, this beautiful Sunday morning. However, the 2nd quarter figures you indicated include several charge-offs due to a Supreme Court decision at the end of June where Exxon was slapped for their "discount for cash" program. In this they have a 200 million dollar charge-off and they also completed their restructuing of thier Dutch Transportation Gas interest in which they sold their portable transportation unit to the Dutch State for 1.6 billion. Most of this will appear in the 3rd quarter figures.

We can't simply look at net profit and loss. I think that by gas station units alone, BP-ARCO AM/PM may still be a little ahead. But, I could be wrong. Wouldn't be the first (nor the last) time!

Jenn

Damn, you had to do this to me, so I had to go look some #s up.

I was referring to simply total sales $, who is larger, but as you said there is a lot of different ways to look at is. The largest retail gasoline company may not be the largest overall company.

Anyway just looking at income & profit #s, I gotta eat crow, BP really slipped in under the radar and in fiscal 2004#s is the largest oil company.

CO: Sales, before tax profit - net earnings after tax
BP: $297B - $37.7B - $25.3B
XOM: $264B - $37.6B - $16.4B

So BP is slightly larger in sales, but XOM is far more profitable
In terms of market cap, BP kills XOM @ $1.45T vs XOM's $371B

But, of course, this still doesn't answer who has more gas stations and who sells the most retail gasoline.

Do you have an ARCO? If you do you have BP.

ROFLMAO

I was actually part of a market research study for this integration about a year ago. BP and Ford first became allies on the alternative fuel search and now they are expanding their relationship to even bigger things. Ford can surely use the help right now.