Press Release

Ford Credit Announces Easy to Read Contracts

10/23/96

Ford Credit Makes Contracts an Easy Read

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 21 -- Ford Credit is the first
national automotive finance provider to introduce a simplified,
shortened contract for auto loans, written in plain English and
highlighting all of the key factors used to calculate payments.

Ford Credit chairman and chief executive officer Bill Odom announced
the new contract today in San Francisco at the American Financial
Services Association (AFSA) annual meeting where he spoke as AFSA's
chairman of the board. The announcement coincides with the start of
National Consumers Week.

The plain-English format of the new loan contract reduced by half the
number of questions or problems consumers raised about their contracts
during a pilot trial in Ohio.

Now half as long as the previous version, the retail loan contract
builds on the success of Ford Credit's simplified Red Carpet Lease
contract -- also a first in the industry. In a reading comprehension
rating, the new loan contract ranked significantly easier to read than
all other national automotive loan contracts.

"This greatly increases understanding, convenience and opportunity for
satisfaction with our 3-1/2 million loan customers," Odom said. "As we
saw with the new Red Carpet Lease contract, the customer, dealer and
company all benefit when there is clear understanding from the
beginning about the terms of a contract."

Ford Credit market research also found that customers are more likely
to read a contract written in plain language.

Ford Credit initially introduced the new contract in Ohio, Tennessee,
New Jersey and Virginia, and plans to complete a national rollout
during the next several months. The contract language varies from
state to state because of local regulations, but fits on two sides of
one 8/" x 11" page in most cases.

A wholly owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Company and part of
Ford's Financial Services Group, Ford Credit offers financial services
to dealers and automotive retail customers in 33 countries. It is
widely recognized as the world's largest company specializing in
automotive finance.