Ford UK – Starting the New Year Where They Left Off

Sales up on Prior year

Ford UK has started the year with sales being slightly higher than predicted.  January is traditionally a poor month for sales, with everyone attempting to put Christmas excesses behind them.

Next Generation Mondeo Due for Release in Spring 2013

The new Mondeo is set for its European launch in early spring of 2013 with a choice of 1.6 diesel or 1.6 EcoBoost petrol engine.  Ford has further confirmed that a larger car in the range – ergo the Mondeo – will be electrically assisted, giving a plug-in hybrid vehicle capable of over 100mpg.
Ford are now operating on the “one Ford” global car principle, and in January 2012 at the Detroit motor show they showcased the “Fusion” – a Mondeo in everything other than name – with plug-in and production hybrid versions. 
The plug-in hybrid option will be the most obvious choice for the UK with its impressive fuel advantage over the present versions.
The Fusion in the States is a four door saloon, a guise which isn’t available in the UK.  Ford of Britain, however, will be selling the five door and the Wagon versions which will be available in the spring of 2012.

Nectar Points

All car drivers in the UK will be pleased to hear that Nectar and Ford have renewed their contract.   All Ford drivers taking their vehicles for MOTs at participating testing centres will continue to receive Nectar points.  Additionally until the end of February all Ford customers will continue to collect double Nectar points when they purchase winter tyres.  The partnership between Ford and Aimia has been a great benefit for both companies with Ford increasing their customer loyalty base by 21% and together with Nectar they now have 1.5 million joint customers.

Amusing Piece of Trivia – for information only

Do you remember the MG 2.0?  It had its highest number of sales during January 2012.  That’s great and it is good to know that other companies are doing well.
During January MG sold a total of – 107 new cars.  Anyone feeling slightly underwhelmed?  During 2011 their parent company SAIC in China had in the region of four million sales.  Having slightly denigrated the sales of the MG, it is actually important that they press on – although they won’t regain the kudos of the old MG – I loved my MGB GT in the early 1980s – perhaps in the next couple of years the brand will begin to achieve some of its identity.
Bringing this back to show a level of perspective, in January 2012 whilst MG sold 107 cars, Ford sold a similar number of cars every four hours.  It’s a completely different ballpark.

Ford’s MyKey

This is due to be available in the UK later this year and initially it will be for the Fiesta, and is effectively, Ford allowing a parent to have some control of the child’s actions when they are driving the car without a parent being with them.  MyKey will be an option, and the owners are given a master key “admin key” and either one or two MyKeys.  The master key is used to create the specific changes to the vehicle.
These include a maximum sound level for the stereo, the top speed is set at 80mph and there are warning sounds at specific speeds – for instance 30mph when the car is being driven in a town. It won’t allow the traction control to be switch off.  It will also indicate if the seatbelt isn’t fastened, and if that doesn’t get a response, the stereo’s sound will mute.  There can also be a specific warning when the fuel tank is a quarter full, rather than when the fuel is about to run out.
These sounds are there as reminders, and as long as the vehicle is being driven responsibly there won’t be any comments at all from the system, so it won’t drive anyone mad by instructing the driver to do something which is already acceptable.
It will be interesting as to whether these safety features to the Fiesta will induce insurance companies to offer a reduced premium for younger drivers who are driving cars which have the MyKey option.