FordDirect launches DealerConnection Elite Plus

FordDirect Announces Product Launch, Executive Speaking Session During NADA Convention

; Announces its General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, Beth Hill, will speak on data privacy at annual conference

DEARBORN, Mich. – January 22, 2015 – FordDirect, a joint venture between Ford Motor Company and its franchise dealers, today announced the launch of its new product, DealerConnection Elite Plus, a customized website experience that offers robust features, seamless integration, optimization and customized flexibility, tailored for Ford and Lincoln dealers. Additionally, the company announced Beth Hill, general counsel and chief compliance officer for FordDirect, will be speaking at the 2015 National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Convention on Trust and Transparency: Data Privacy Management. The sessions are Thursday, Jan. 22, from 2:00 - 3:15 p.m. PST, and Saturday, Jan. 24, from 8:30 - 9:45 a.m. PST, in San Francisco, Calif.

DealerConnection Elite Plus leverages FordDirect’s most powerful platform that provides a highly customizable website tailored to Ford and Lincoln dealers. This all new platform is powered by Dealer.com and offers their Seamless Website that ensures an optimal experience from every device – desktop, mobile or tablet. With the launch of DealerConnection Elite Plus, dealers will now have a choice in a website platform that best meets their specific digital marketing needs. Dealers who choose DealerConnection Elite Plus can also upgrade to the Prime Performance Package, which includes a shopping cart and other tools proven to increase shopper engagement and maximize lead flow. This upgrade uses powerful automation to ensure profitable merchandising strategy and accurate, instant vehicle marketing on your site and throughout the web.

“At FordDirect, we’re consistently looking for ways to help dealers simplify and increase their digital presence,” said Stacey Coopes, CEO of FordDirect. “DealerConnection Elite Plus is designed to integrate with our existing solutions and, ultimately, provide the highest conversion rates for dealerships to maximize profitability.”

Additionally, FordDirect’s Hill will share information on data privacy management at NADA along with a panel of speakers, including Bradley Miller, Director, Legal and Regulatory Affairs, NADA; and Steve Cottrell, CEO, Authenticom. The session will explore common misconceptions about privacy and data security and will identify best practices that build trust and leverage transparency, including how to improve customer engagement.

“FordDirect’s goal is to help educate dealers about privacy and data security, and how they can more effectively leverage data,” Hill said. “In the long run, this will help dealers drive sales and repeat business, and will offer consumers peace of mind when it comes to sharing their personal information.”

FordDirect is also releasing a white paper, “Total Customer Lifecycle Management: Privacy and Data Security,” which aligns with the NADA workshop at NADA University. The white paper will provide a more in-depth explanation of why good privacy and data security practices are essential to the automotive industry, specifically for dealerships.

For more information on DealerConnection Elite Plus, please visit http://dealercenter.forddirectdealers.com/products/dealerconnectioneliteplus/.

To learn more on the topic of data privacy and to obtain a copy of the white paper, “Total Customer Lifecycle Management: Privacy and Data Security,” please visit http://news.forddirectdealers.com/nadaprivacy15.

About FordDirect

FordDirect (forddirect.com) is a joint venture between Ford Motor Company and its franchised dealers to create a comprehensive Web presence for dealers and provide digital marketing and advertising services that help dealers sell more cars and trucks. FordDirect provides dealers new and pre-owned digital marketing and advertising services, call tracking, lead management solutions, dealer websites, search optimization and marketing, database marketing, marketing services for regional dealer advertising groups and other digital services. FordDirect is headquartered in Dearborn, Mich.