FordDirect to Celebrate Fourth Anniversary with 200,000 Internet Sales

DEARBORN, Mich., Aug. 4, 2004 -- FordDirect will celebrate its fourth anniversary this month. In just its fourth year of operations, the company will help dealers sell more than 200,000 vehicles this year through the Internet.

The brainchild of Leo Hillock, FordDirect's executive vice president and a former Ford dealer, the company was founded in August 2000 by the Ford National Dealer Council. Launched in New Jersey with just 15 dealers and a handful of Internet referrals, today FordDirect has over 3,900 Ford, Lincoln and Mercury dealers participating nationwide. And last year, FordDirect provided dealers with more than 1.5 million new vehicle referrals and was responsible for 9 percent of Ford division retail sales.

"FordDirect is so successful because it is the only dealer-controlled venture in the industry," said Bill Keith, dealer principal at Freehold Ford and FordDirect's Chairman of the Board. "This partnership leverages the collective strength of Ford division marketing and Ford dealers to build a comprehensive web presence for dealers while creating a positive experience for consumers."

FordDirect is also expanding its services offline.

"FordDirect's unique structure allows us to quickly develop and deliver services that evolve with the changing needs of our dealers," said FordDirect President Steve St. Andre. "For example, FordDirect has recently launched a new service, Call Track-10, that uses Internet technology to help dealers track phone calls from traditional advertising media, measure results from these campaigns and train their salespeople."

FordDirect Call Track-10 provides dealerships 10 national toll-free numbers that are assigned to advertising media. As calls are generated by dealers' advertisements, they are recorded and logged with available demographic information real-time into a website and a dealer's lead management system. Real-time tracking is made possible by a new Internet technology, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOiP), which converts voice to digits and sends them in packets over the Internet.

FordDirect.com is a joint venture between Ford Motor Company and its Ford franchised dealers to provide information and online vehicle sales directly to consumers. It is the only dealer-manufacturer partnership in the industry. FordDirect allows consumers to choose, customize and locate new and pre-owned vehicles using fast, secure and easy-to-use Internet technology. Launched in August 2000, FordDirect has more than 3,900 participating Ford, Lincoln and Mercury dealers located in all 50 states. FordDirect.com is headquartered in Dearborn, Mich.