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Ford's Popular Escort to Remain in Production

14 April 1999

Ford's Popular Escort to Remain in Production

    DEARBORN, Mich., April 13 -- The popular Ford Escort will
still have a place in the Ford small car lineup, even after introduction this
fall of the all-new Ford Focus family of small vehicles.  Ford Division
President Jim O'Connor confirmed today that Escort production will be
consolidated and continue at the Hermosillo Assembly Plant in Mexico early
next year.
    "Keeping the four-door Escort sedan, along with the all-new Ford Focus,
gives our customers expanded choice with the broadest small car lineup in the
industry," said O'Connor.  "Escort is selling well (up 7 percent this year)
and it also makes sense to utilize available capacity at our Hermosillo
plant."
    Plans call for Escort production to end in June at Wayne Assembly to allow
the plant to retool and prepare for the launch of the new Focus sedan and
station wagon, which make their North America debut this fall.
    "We're in the enviable position of having two terrific small cars -- each
appealing to different customers," added O'Connor. "And when you consider that
Mustang sales have been up 21 months in a row, Taurus retail sales are up 20%
over the last three months, and our new 2000 Taurus will debut this fall, it's
clear our car lineup is getting stronger by the day."
    The Ford Escort recently earned the coveted "Recommended Buy" rating from
Consumer Reports magazine and is annually one of the best-selling cars in the
United States, ranking fifth in 1998 with 291,936 sales.  Escort has sold more
than six million cars in the U.S. since it was introduced in 1980.  Escort
sales in March 1999 were up 13 percent, and calendar year to date, Escort is
the fifth best-selling car in the United States.  ZX2 set an any-month record
in March with about 9,800 sales.
    "We know from experience that there is plenty of room for both Focus and
Escort in our Ford showrooms," said O'Connor, "particularly while we're
experiencing one of the hottest automotive sales cycles in industry history."
    The 2000 Focus, which is sold alongside Escort in Europe and was named
"European Car of the Year" by automotive journalists, has recorded the
best-ever first six month sales total for a car in its class in Britain.
Sales of the new Focus across Europe have reached nearly 200,000 units and
March Focus sales exceeded 60,000, one of the highest sales volumes recorded.
    With Mercury's recent announcement that the Tracer sedan and station wagon
are being dropped from the Mercury lineup and with the discontinuation of the
Escort wagon, assembly capacity at Hermosillo was freed up for Escort sedan
and Focus production.