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August 10, 2005
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This Week:

• Jeep® Patriot Concept

• Ford Motor Company Strengthens Its Marketing And Sales Activities With New Structure

• Toyota and FAW to Start Producing Prius in Changchun, China this Year

• BMW Announces First Application Of High Definition Radio (HD Radio(TM)) In A Production Car

• Nissan's Smyrna Plant Produces Its 7 Millionth Vehicle

• The All-New 2006 Audi A6 Avant Now on Sale: Where Modern Luxury Meets Utility

• 2007 Dodge Caliber Powertrain is a New Slant in One of the World's Most Competitive Segments

• Saab 9-2X gets More Horsepower for 2006, Pricing Unchanged

• MINI USA Announces 2006 Model-Year Product Updates And Pricing

• Hyundai is Driven to Surpass Toyota, Says Bloomberg Markets

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Mercury Milan

Changes announced today to the company's Marketing, Sales and Service organization will sharpen its focus on sales while building an even stronger marketing group. Marketing, Sales and Service will be integrated into unified sales and unified marketing functions, combining the present Ford and Lincoln Mercury divisions. This will create a more streamlined operation while strengthening the individual identities for the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands.

"We're going to reach customers in smarter, more focused ways than ever before while being extremely efficient with resources," says Steve Lyons, Ford group vice president, North America Marketing, Sales and Service. "This new organization will help us develop a single-minded concentration on reaching our customers with the strongest product lineup in our history."

The structural changes in Marketing, Sales and Service will contribute to the company's overall acceleration of its business plan in response to the competitive environment and operating challenges.

The integrated structure will include a greater emphasis on strategic marketing and brand positioning. Best practices will be shared quicker and new tools and techniques will be applied across the North America brands simultaneously.

Lincoln Zephyr

"A key strength within the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury family of brands is our dealers and their strong relationships within their local markets," Lyons says. "Consolidating our sales operations to form a single organization will allow us to better serve our dealer network."

Lyons continues to head the North America Marketing, Sales and Service operations. Darryl Hazel is appointed vice president - Marketing, Al Giombetti is appointed vice president - Sales and Cisco Codina continues as president - Ford Customer Service.

"Today's marketplace is fragmented into ever smaller niche groups than in the past," says Hazel. "Our new Marketing organization will focus on reaching individual customers with increasing relevance and excitement."

Field organizations for Ford and Lincoln Mercury are being combined as well, with17 Ford and Lincoln Mercury regions becoming 11 market areas. The 11 markets are: Mountain West, Central, Midwest , Midsouth, Southwest, California, Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Great Lakes , Southeast and Florida . The Ford Customer Service field organization will have a corresponding reduction in regions with similar geographic boundaries.

Photos: Ford

(Aug. 8, 2005)