Ford Motor Company Wins Top Auto Show Honors
9 January 1998
Ford Motor Company Wins Top Auto Show Honors
DETROIT, Jan. 9 -- From "Car of the Year" to "Company of the
Year," Ford Motor Company took home 15 top awards at this year's
North American International Auto Show in Detroit and Greater Los Angeles Auto
Show.
Honors included:
* Ford SVT Contour was named the 1998 Los Angeles Car of the Year by a
jury of 13 Los Angeles auto writers, broadcasters, designers and race car
drivers as the car which "best reflects the L.A. lifestyle."
* Ward's Auto World awarded Ford with two of its coveted "Ten Best
Engines" awards for the SVT Contour's 2.5-liter high-output DOHC V-6 and the
Ford F-150's 5.4-liter Triton SOHC V-8.
* African Americans On Wheels named Ford Motor Company "Company of the
Year." On behalf of Ford, Automotive Operations President Jac Nasser accepted
the "C.R. Patterson Golden Wheel Award," which the magazine hands out annually
to an auto company for achievement in diversity, employment, marketing,
community service, supplier and dealer relations.
* For the second consecutive year, Ford Motor Company won six of nine
categories in the annual Polk Automotive Household Loyalty Awards. The award
signifies Ford's focus on maintaining customer loyalty and its wide variety of
car and truck models in many different segments.
The Awards are based on Polk's proprietary household loyalty methodology
which determines loyalty among households to a model, make or manufacturer.
Ford Motor Company Vice Presidents, Ross Roberts, general manager of Ford
Division, and Jim O'Connor, general manager of Lincoln-Mercury Division,
accepted awards in the following categories on behalf the company's dealers:
Award Category Winner Loyalty % Avg. Segment Loyalty
Make Loyalty Ford Division 59.46 % 44.26 %
Large Car Mercury Grand Marquis 40.54 % 27.74 %
Small Car Ford Escort 27.97 % 17.67 %
Luxury Car Lincoln Town Car 44.85 % 23.01 %
Pickup Truck Ford F-Series 34.51 % 24.87 %
Minivan Mercury Villager 35.03 % 20.63 %
* Borg-Warner Automotive Powertrain Systems Corp. bestowed Ford Motor
Company Group Vice President of Marketing, Sales and Service Bob Rewey with
the prestigious $100,000 Borg-Warner Automotive Cup. He accepted the award on
behalf of off-road racer Scott Douglas, who earned the award earlier this year
by winning the Short-Course Off-Road Drivers Association (SODA) World
Championship Manufacturer's Challenge off-road race while driving an F-150
pickup in Crandon, Wis.
* The Texas Auto Writers Association gave O'Connor and Roberts awards
naming two Ford Motor Company vehicles as standouts of its annual Texas Truck
Rodeo. They named the Lincoln Navigator "Best Full-size SUV" and the Ford
Ranger "Best Small Pickup."
* The 1998 Ford Club Wagon 6.8-liter V-10 was named "1998 Tow Vehicle of
the Year" by Trailer Boats Magazine, with Rewey accepting the award.
* American Woman Motorscene magazine named Ford Ranger as a winner of one
of its "Most Likely to Succeed Awards," naming Ranger "Most Athletic." Ross
Roberts accepted the award at AWM's banquet Wednesday evening.
SOURCE Ford Motor Company