Press Release

Ford Announces NWAPA Awards for Sport Utility Vehicles

11/18/96

Ford Sweeps Sports Utility Vehicle Competition


SEATTLE, NOV. 13 -- Ford sport utility vehicles (SUVs)
won three of four categories in an annual competition conducted by the
Northwest Automotive Press Association (NWAPA), the organization
announced at the opening of the Seattle Auto Show today.

Ford's all-new 8-passenger Expedition was named Sport Utility Vehicle
of the Year as overall winner in the competition, which included 17
sport utility vehicles from nine manufacturers. NWAPA is a group of
professional automotive journalists in Washington and Oregon.

The Expedition also captured the top spot in the eight-cylinder
category while Ford's Explorer, with a newly introduced 205-horsepower
single overhead cam engine (SOHC), took first place in the
six-cylinder category. The company had no entry in the four-cylinder
category.

NWAPA's annual "Mudfest" was held October 4-5 at Mt. Hood in Oregon.
Journalists drove each of the 17 entries and ranked them in six
categories: overall design, comfort and convenience, production
quality, vehicle performance on highways and secondary roads, vehicle
performance off highway and likelihood of purchase.

Journalists also scored the vehicles in 26 performance and appearance
areas, including ride, acceleration, braking, handling, cargo space
and visibility.

Mary Lowry, president of NWAPA and special sections editor of the
Everett Herald, said "Our SUV competition can provide valuable
information for consumers. The Northwest is one of the largest markets
for sport utility vehicles, and our readers can benefit from the
opinions of journalists who road test cars all the time. Mudfest also
provides feedback to manufacturers so they can see how their vehicles
rank against their competitors."

Ray Parrish, operations manager for Ford Division's northwest region,
said, "This is a great win for Ford and Ford dealers throughout the
region. This is truck country. The NWAPA competition -- featuring
head-to-head comparisons with very strong competitors -- reinforces
our belief that it is also Ford country."

Ford's Expedition was introduced in dealer showrooms this fall. The
Explorer, introduced in April 1990, received the new SOHC six-cylinder
engine, and a new transmission, this October.