The dealers are getting some help from Facebook and Twitter to help sell the 2011 Fiesta. Ford Motor Company is pushing sales training on Twitter and Facebook. Creating a Fiesta Zone show room with the new compact car. Ford is planning marketing events with dealerships. Ford predicts the Fiesta shoppers in their twenties and is a trendsetter. These shoppers have not typically spent time in a showroom and do a lot of buying online.

The marketing program for Ford is called, Retail Movement and is voluntary for the dealerships. Ford dealerships have not sold a vehicle this small since the Fiesta and Aspire in 1997. The Fiesta goes on sale next summer. The program’s training tools have minimal costs, says Paul Anderson, Ford’s small-vehicle marketing manager. Ford also will let dealerships earn credits to get back up to 80 percent of their investments if they do such things as train the sales force about the Fiesta or create a special delivery experience for Fiesta buyers.

The goal is to make dealership employees understand what small-car buyers want and create an experience for those buyers that will have them telling friends about their Fiesta purchase.

Ford has started some of the Fiesta training for dealers. It’s a huge change from the normal training, which is 30 to 60 days before it goes on sale. In my opinion the training is early because it involves work. Yes work, there is a lot of detail with Facebook and Twitter marketing. Don’t expect to put incentives up and expect consumers to jump on Facebook and Twitter. It is about relationships!

Thanks,

Linda Swan

Pure fantasy

There are days, my dudes, when the weather stays shitty, work blows, the devilish Steve Berra is advancing his evil silver thimble to erect a monopoly over the entire game board that is the skateboard industry, Danny Renaud remains injured and the drudgeries of daily life keep you from your beloved skateboard blog-space, well, these are dark times that try the hearts of men (or in this case, blog authors). Facing the winter months ahead, there is little solace to be had, whether in the arms of a snaggle-toothed lover or at the bottom of a bottle, but then you can stumble upon something like the above advertisement that convinces you life may be living for another day… if nothing else to see if the 2011 Mustang chases Bob Burnquist into the Mariana Trench, being towed by submarines and chased by giant squid haters.

We at Boil the ocean are trained economists who predict that this ad will see 2010 Mustangs flip outta car lots faster than you can say “Buick Lesabre parts auction” and single-handedly revive the ailing U.S. auto industry. But no ad exists in a vacuum, and the rest of this space will be devoted to three ads that no doubt influenced filmer/skateboarder/genius auteur Jeff Richter in his creation of the above masterpiece:

Indian Stocks Rose After Govt Approved Disinvestment Plans

Indian stocks rose, extending the benchmark index’s longest string of gains in five weeks, after the government approved a plan to sell more shares in state- controlled companies, helping it raise funds to boost spending.

MMTC Ltd., India’s biggest state-owned trading company, surged 20 percent, the most in 10 months.

Rico Auto Industries Ltd., an auto component maker that supplies General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co., climbed 5.1 percent after workers ended a 45-day strike.

The Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index, or Sensex, rose 94.38, or 0.6 percent, to 16,158.28.
The measure this week gained 1.7 percent, snapping two weeks of losses.

The S&P CNX Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange rose 0.6 percent to 4,796.15.
The BSE 200 Index added 1.1 percent to 2,011.08.

“The disinvestment move will help moderate India’s fiscal deficit,” said Jagannadham Thunuguntla, head of equities at SMC Capitals Ltd. in New Delhi.

“Also, it may help in higher GDP growth led by increased government spending.”

MMTC soared 20 percent to 36,146.85 rupees, the most since Dec. 17.
State Trading Corp., the No. 2, leapt 15 percent to 353.6 rupees.

NMDC Ltd., India’s largest iron-ore producer, climbed 10 percent to 338 rupees. 

Hindustan Copper Ltd., India’s biggest copper miner, 99.59 percent state-owned, gained 10 percent to 256.35 rupees.

Budget Deficit

The government owns 99.33 percent in MMTC and 91.02 percent in State Trading, while it holds 98.38 percent in NMDC, according to filings to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The government will use the money raised from the sale of shares of state companies for social spending.

India’s fiscal deficit reached 6 percent of gross domestic product in the year ended March 31, surpassing the 2.5 percent government target.

The key Sensitive stock index has more than doubled from this year’s lowest level, in March.

Govt’s stand to sell state assets and accept more overseas funds into insurance and banking, has strengthened, after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh resounding re-election victory in May.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that 4.5 million Ford vehicles manufactured between 1992 and 2003 have faulty cruise control switches that pose a fire risk even when the cruise control isn’t being used and the vehicles are not running. Transportation Secy. Ray LaHood said the vehicles should be brought in for repairs. (Posted on October 14)

The AP reported that “Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday it will add 4.5 million older-model vehicles to the long list of those recalled because a defective cruise control switch could cause a fire. ”

"Could cause a fire."

Photo credit: NYTimes

“The latest voluntary action pushes Ford’s total recall due to faulty switches to 14.3 million registered vehicles over 10 years, capping the company’s largest cumulative recall in history involving a single problem.”

Here is a list of the latest affected vehicles: 1995-2003 Ford Windstar; 2000-2003 Ford Excursion diesel; 1993-1997 and 1999-2003 Ford F-Super Duty diesel; 1992-2003 Ford Econoline; 1995-2002 Ford Explorer; 1995-2002 Mercury Mountaineer; 1995-1997 and 2001-2003 Ford Ranger; and 1994 Ford F35 Motorhome vehicles.

Our relevant question: Are the defective parts, reportedly produced by Texas Instruments,  produced here in North America? Or were these safety critical parts produced overseas in order to obtain the lowest globally available price?

 Just answer the question, please.

Photo credit: NYTimes

“A former Ford Motor Co. engineer has been indicted on federal charges of stealing company secrets and trying to sell them in China,” reports The Oakland Press.

“Xiang Dong, aka Mike Yu, 47, of Beijing, China, was charged in a five-count indictment with theft of trade secrets, attempted theft of trade secrets and unauthorized access to a protected computer, according to Terrence Berg, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, who on Thursday announced the charges, which followed an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

Al Sharpton’s platform for his assault on Rush Limbaugh’s NFL ownership bid was the National Action Network (NAN), which is bankrolled by corporate America.

The following companies were identified this year by NAN as “sponsors”: American Honda, Anheuser Busch, Colgate-Palmolive, Comcast, Entergy, Ford Motor Company, Home Depot, Johnson & Johnson, Macy’s, PepsiCo, Pfizer and Wal-Mart. Sponsorship reportedly cost $50,000.

NLPC is asking these companies to end their support for Sharpton and NAN. Here’s how to contact them:

See Free Republic for list: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2363190/posts

Ford Motor Co. agreed to expand its largest-ever recall by about 4.5 million vehicles over a faulty switch linked to hundreds of vehicle fires.

Source:
http://detnews.com/article/20091013/AUTO01/910130395

Ford Motor Co. has launched a brand new campaign to pitch its New Ford Fusion 2010. This 30-second spot was created by Ford’s agency of record, Miami-based Zubi Advertising. Watch, enjoy and leave your comments!

Client: Ford Motor Co.

Agency: Zubi Advertising (Miami, FLA)

DEARBORN, Michigan (AP) — Ford Motor Co. reported a first-quarter loss of $1.4 billion Friday and said it used less of its cash, emphasizing that it doesn’t expect to seek any of the government assistance that is keeping the rest of the Detroit Three alive.

Accoridng to the AP.

Ford posts $1.4 billion 1Q loss, uses less cash

Ford posts $1.4 billion 1Q loss, uses less of its cash while restructuring without gov’t aid

Kimberly S. Johnson and Tom Krisher, AP Auto Writers

On Friday April 24, 2009, 10:29 am EDT

The second-largest U.S. automaker said it spent $3.7 billion more than it took in during the first three months of the year, far less than the $7.2 billion it spent in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Ford shares climbed 76 cents, or 17 percent, to $5.25 in morning trading.

Chief Financial Officer Lewis Booth said the company is confident that it will slow the drain on its cash even further this year, and he said Ford will make it through 2009 without needing government aid. He would not speculate, however, about 2010.

“This is a very, very difficult environment,” Booth said. “We’re comfortable we’ll get through this year.”

While General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC have accepted $17.4 billion in federal aid and are racing toward deadlines to make deep cuts or file for bankruptcy, Ford was the first U.S. automaker to modify its contract with the United Auto Workers union and strike a deal to make up to 50 percent of payments to a union-run health care trust in stock instead of cash. The company also completed tender offers to reduce its debt by more than one-third.

The company said the moves would result in annual savings of $1 billion.

Ford drew the last $10.1 billion from its revolving line of credit during the quarter and said it had $21.3 billion in cash as of March 31. That’s down from $28.7 billion in the same period last year.

Ford’s first-quarter loss compares with a $70 million profit a year earlier. On a per share basis, Ford lost 60 cents, compared with earnings of 3 cents a share for the comparable quarter a year ago.

Revenue was $24.8 billion, down nearly 37 percent from $39.2 billion in the same quarter of last year, as Ford’s U.S. sales declined 43 percent.

On a pretax basis excluding special items such as a gain from its March debt exchange, Ford lost 75 cents a share, beating analysts estimates. Eleven analysts polled Thomson Reuters expected a $1.23 per share loss on revenue of $22 billion.

Booth called the first-quarter performance “solid” compared with Ford’s fourth-quarter loss of $5.9 billion, which led to a $14.6 billion loss for 2008, the worst annual loss in the company’s 106-year history.

“I think the important comparison for us is, ‘are we improving versus the fourth quarter?’ Because the fourth quarter, things were really dreadful,” Booth said.

He said cost cuts and better pricing for its vehicles helped the company narrowed its losses, and he expects continued improvement for the remainder of the year. Booth said Ford cut structural costs by $1.9 billion and predicted Ford would likely exceed its $4 billion cost-cutting goal for the year.

Ford said it remains on track to break even or post a profit on a pre-tax basis in 2011.

One day after GM said it would temporarily close 13 North American plants for up to 11 weeks this summer to slash production, Ford said it has increased its second-quarter production forecast to 902,000 units, up 19.5 percent from the first quarter. North American production is expected to rise 25 percent to 435,000 vehicles.

The increase is due to seasonal adjustments and because of first-quarter production cuts to reduce dealer inventory. Ford shut down 10 North American assembly plants for an extra week in January to deal with the auto sales slump.

Special items improved earnings by $362 million. Ford’s $1.1 billion gain on its debt exchange was offset by a $664 million impairment charge due to a reduction in the book value of its Swedish Volvo unit. Ford classified Volvo as “held for sale,” meaning that it’s likely the unit will be sold in the next 12 months.

DETROIT (AP) — Ford Motor Co. says it completed a tender offer announced last month, reducing its debt by $9.9 billion.

According to the AP.

Ford completes tender offer, cuts $10B in debt

Ford Motor completes tender offer, cuts nearly $10 billion in debt

Monday April 6, 2009, 9:34 am EDT

About $4.3 billion in Ford’s senior convertible notes were tendered. The auto maker says it will pay $344 million in cash premiums for the offer and issue 468 million shares as a result of the conversion.

An offer to purchase notes from its financing arm produced $3.4 billion in securities tendered. Ford Motor Credit will use $1.1 billion to purchase that debt.

The offers expired Friday.

The Dearborn-based company is looking to pare down $25.8 billion in debt to weather the worst auto sales downturn in 27 years.

DETROIT (AP) — Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. are offering payment protection plans to help reassure consumers who may be putting off buying a new car because of worries about losing their job.

According to the AP.

Ford, GM to cover car payments if buyer loses job

Ford, GM plan to cover some payments for car buyers who lose their jobs

Kimberly S. Johnson, AP Auto Writer

Tuesday March 31, 2009, 11:03 am EDT

The offers come as auto sales have been battered by the recession and tight credit, reaching their lowest levels in 27 years.

Ford said Tuesday it will cover payments of up to $700 each month for up to a year on any new Ford, Lincoln or Mercury vehicle if consumers lose their jobs. The program runs until June 1.

Hours later, GM said it will make a similar offer. GM’s new CEO, Fritz Henderson, said the company will make up to nine car payments of $500 each for customers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own.

Customers must qualify for state unemployment to be eligible for the program. The program starts April 1 and runs until April 30.

Hyundai Motor Co. launched a program in January that allows buyers to return a vehicle within a year if they can’t make the payments due to a job loss or disability. The company said the program helped it avoid a double-digit sales decline last month, reporting a 2 percent slide.

Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford is also offering zero percent financing on certain Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles.

“Consumers remain anxious about the economy and their own outlook for the future,” Ken Czubay, vice president of sales and marketing, said in a statement.

The announcements come a day after President Barack Obama said the government will back new car warranties issued by GM and Chrysler LLC, who have accepted federal assistance and are seeking more, to help boost consumer confidence about buying their vehicles.

Ford has not requested federal bailout funds.

Ford also said it would partner with its dealers to introduce a program that would help local charities affected by the economic downturn.

Shares of Ford fell 6 cents to $2.70 in morning trading, while GM shares dropped 18 cents to $2.52.

AP Auto Writer Tom Krisher contributed to this report.

Company officials at Smith Electric Vehicles announced on Friday that they will begin manufacturing The worlds largest battery-electric-powered truck at a new plant in in Kansas City, Missouri.

The battery-powered Smith Newton will be built in collaboration with Ford Motor Co.

Source:
http://gas2.org/2009/03/28/worlds-largest-battery-powered-truck-comes-to-us/

Ford Motor Co. has had a long association with the James Bond film series, most recently with Quantum of Solace. But the Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker’s involvement with 007 probably peaked with Thunderball.

The company’s cars not only saturate Sean Connery’s fourth 007 outing, but the automaker’s CEO, Henry Ford II (1917-1987), worked as an extra and Ford had what has to rank as one of the most unusual movie promotions for Bond.

First, a sampling of Ford cars that appear in the movie. For the record, we are excluding the Aston Martin DB V. Ford didn’t buy U.K.-based Aston until 1987 and sold it off in 2007. This list is of Ford Motor offerings at the time of production and release.

– “Madam Bouvard” departs the funeral for “her” husband in a Lincoln Continental.

– SPECTRE No. 2 Emilo Largo arrives at the criminal organization’s Paris headquarters in a white Ford Thunderbird convertible. The two-door Tbird, while hardly Ford’s biggest car of the era, looks huge in the narrow Paris street.

– SPECTRE operative Count Lippe tools around in a Ford Fairlane while doing his part for the criminal group’s plan to hijack two NATO military aircraft. Lippe’s Fairlane meets an explosive end, courtesy of rockets from SPECTRE hitwoman Fiona Volpe’s motorcycle.

– Bond, nearly killed while inspecting Largo’s yacht underwater, swims ashore and ditches his wetsuit. He thinks he’s lucky when a baby blue Mustang pulls up. But it’s driven by Fiona (Luciana Paluzzi) and Bond isn’t sure whether he’s going to survive the drive as the SPECTRE hitwoman gets the Mustang up to 120 mph.

– Bond drives a light blue Lincoln Continental to Largo’s Palmyra estate for lunch. A rental car? Was Bond looking for more room after driving the Aston so much? Were Ford executives relieved to see Bond, and not the bad guys, driving one of their cars?

– Bond, after a pleasant interlude with Fiona, is captured by SPECTRE. They take him in a Ford station wagon until they hit congestion from the Junkanoo festival. The disruption gives Bond a chance to escape.

This wasn’t all of Ford’s involvement. The company produced A Child’s Guide to Blowing Up a Motor Car, in which a British chap takes his godson to watch the filming of a scene from Thunderball. The scene is where Fiona (actually a stutman subbing for Luciana Paluzzi) shoots rockets at Count Lippe’s Fairlane (here driven by stuntman Bob Simmons). The audience can view how special effects man John Stears (who’d win an Oscar for his efforts on Thunderball) prepares gasoline-soaked rags, which will be ignited to create the explosion and make it look like the handiwork of rockets. Unfortuantely, this gives the god son unfortunate ideas…

The Ford promo had gone unseen for decades until TWINE Entertainment’s The Thunderball Phenomenon was produced in 1995 as part of a special VHS issue of Thunderball and Goldfinger. The featurette remained as part of DVD issues but the entire Ford production is now part of two-disk Thunderball sets.

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