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Ford Celebrates 21 Years As Official Uefa Champions League Partner As New Kuga Stars At Champions Festival In London


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BRENTWOOD, UNITED KINGDOM – May 27, 2013: Ford is celebrating 21 years as an official UEFA Champions League partner. This year marks the company’s largest ever presence at the UEFA Champions Festival four-day football celebration, starring new Ford Kuga, new Ford Fiesta ST and special guest driver, Ken Block.

The new Ford Kuga has featured heavily in the build-up to the UEFA Champions League Final appearing on match-day hoardings in stadiums around Europe and leading Ford’s ‘Drive to Wembley’ competition.

Drive to Wembley is the largest ever ticket giveaway for a UEFA Champions League Final and sees 360 winners from 27 countries around Europe attending the match tomorrow between German footballing giants FC Bayern Munich and BV Borussia Dortmund.

Fans at the UEFA Champions Festival, taking place at the Olympic Park in Stratford, London until Sunday May 26, are experiencing the new Ford Kuga for themselves with professionally accompanied test drives that highlight Ford’s advanced technologies.

Ford’s new Fiesta ST will also be on hand to entertain crowds with performance driving shows, with special guest driver Ken Block performing four unique driving displays for crowds today.

“This is our largest ever presence at the Champions Festival and comes on the back of our record-breaking giveaway of UEFA Champions League Final tickets,” said Roelant de Waard, vice president, marketing, sales and service, Ford of Europe. “Just as the UEFA Champions League Final showcases the best of European football, the Champions Festival will showcase some of the best technologies from our talented line-up of Ford vehicles.”

The new Ford Kuga offers a segment-first hands-free tailgate and Ford SYNC with Emergency Assistance; delivers enhanced driving dynamics through an intelligent all-wheel drive system and class-leading fuel efficiency. The Ford Fiesta ST features a 182PS 1.6-litre EcoBoost petrol engine making it the fastest production Fiesta ever, with enhanced Torque Vectoring Control and three-mode Electronic Stability Control also delivering top ride and handling.

Ford is the longest-standing official partner of the UEFA Champions League, having supported the tournament since its inaugural 1992-1993 season. The 20 Champions League finals Ford has supported have featured 13 different winning teams from seven different countries, and have been attended by more than 1.3 million fans.

As official vehicle supplier, Ford has provided more than 900 vehicles for official use during this Champions League season.