Unpopular Ford
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SYRIA has joined 13 other Middle East countries which have banned Ford vehicles from travelling into or through its territory.
A Ford spokesman told CM that this ban was part of a boycott on United States companies following the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Other large US concerns, such as Coca Cola and IBM, are also affected.
The Syrian action took effect on May 1 and follows an incident in which a Ford Transcontinental was thrown into a Middle East harbour.
Hauliers have been warned not to send vehicles -marked Ford or which have Ford listed on documents as its manufacturer on ferries to Syria. Some operators are understood to have overcome this by running Transcontinental models without maker's badges and listing them instead as "Cummins" or "Transcontinental" lorries.
The Ford spokesman added that the company was planning to build an assembly plant in Egypt and hoped that this might alter the stance of the Arab states.
A Department of Transport spokesman told CM last week that the department was unaware of any such ban operating.