SOUNDBITES: FLEET SALES

Ford, the industry leader in commercial and government fleet sales, will offer 100 percent of its fleet vehicles this year with fuel-efficient powertrains and other sustainable technologies – including battery electric, hybrid, natural gas, propane, E-85, B20 diesel and EcoBoost – making the Blue Oval the industry’s greenest full-line fleet provider. Kevin Koswick, Director of Ford North American fleet, leasing and remarketing operations, says Ford is offering the right vehicles and the right time for our fleet customers.

Click on to hear audio. Use right mouse click to download.

Cut #1:	"The right vehicles at the right time, means that we have a wide variety of vehicles covering all the different parts of the marketplace to fill the needs. When we say that, we’re talking about our quality message, having great quality, having a great fuel economy, having a lot of green solutions for the industry to improve their green position, and, as a result, all of it reduces the overall cost of ownership and provides our customer with a great experience." :25 sec.
	Fleet sales accounts for 1 out of every 5 vehicles sold in the U.S. and three out of ever 10 Ford sales. According to Koswick, the impact of Ford’s new fleet line up on the environment and customer’s bottom line, will be significant.
Cut #2:	"When you start looking at the advantages of more efficient internal combustion engines, combined with efficient transmissions, to improve fuel economy, and other alternatives in other words, battery electric, natural gas, the savings are significant to the customer." :16 sec.
	Koswick addressed the significance of resale value and said it’s vital to the customer and the company.
Cut #3:	"Resale value is definitely a big deal. Resale value is very important to all segments of our business because it sets the value of the vehicle on the sale of it and the higher the value is, the lower the cost of ownership is for the customer." :16 sec.
	George Pipas, Ford Motor Company’s sales analyst says Ford has the right balance when it comes to fleet offerings.
Cut #4:	"We’re not overloaded in one product line and this means two things: we have a broad range of products to fit fleet customers needs, depending upon what they might be, and what kind of business they’re in, and it also means that we’re not flooding the market with a particular product or a particular channel, which could have an adverse affect on resale values if that’s what we did." :29 sec.
	Pipas says today our daily rental business is in line with the overall industry, meaning it’s about 12 percent of Ford’s total sales.
Cut #5:	"Five years ago about 16 or 17 percent of our business was in daily rentals, so we have reduced that, but in its place, we’ve increased our presents in commercial and government fleet sector. Five years ago, we didn’t have cars with strong resale values and class leading fuel economy and quality that we have today, so many commercial customers did not turn to Ford for their needs." :27 sec.
	Pipas says, the timing could not be better with Ford industry fleet leadership and the new balance of offerings, projecting a positive outlook.
Cut #6:	"With our resale values having improved so much over the past few years, we’re winning new fleet customers and we expect to see an increase in both retail and fleet sales in 2010." :18 sec.
	In 2009, Ford commanded the largest share of U.S. commercial and government fleet sales, 32 percent and 44 percent respectively.