Ford still using NASCAR to launch new products

By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
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Ford drivers Matt Kenseth (17) and Carl Edwards (99) compete during the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season.

Jason Smith
Getty Images for NASCAR

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Ford Racing cut its budget for 2009, but the manufacturer is using money from other programs to launch some new marketing initiatives aimed at NASCAR race fans, including a new display at Daytona International Speedway in the days leading up to Sunday’s Daytona 500.
 
The 10,000-square-foot display includes 2010 Ford brands such as the Taurus, Mustang, Raptor and a Fusion hybrid. It is being paid for from a budget to promote new brands, including some that are not even on the road yet and have not been introduced at a major car show.

The display is one of the ways the manufacturer hopes to get the most out of NASCAR while having a budget that is smaller than in the past.
 
“My Ford Racing expenditures are considerably less this year than last year,” said Ford Racing NASCAR Marketing Manager Tim Duerr. “The midway display [at Daytona] is being funded by the Ford brand team utilizing what we call new-product launch funding. … It’s part of the budget that Ford has to launch new vehicles.
 
“With the racing platform, those brand teams thought it was very important for them to spend some of their limited budget – we all have limited budgets – by bringing those vehicles to Daytona to showcase them to a fan base that is a lot more likely to buy these vehicles than a non-racing type environment. They saw the value in Daytona and the racing platform.”
 
The display is Ford’s second biggest at-track activation for the year. The biggest will come at Homestead-Miami Speedway as part of the Ford-sponsored final weekend of the season. Ford is a sponsor of the Kentucky Truck race, and Ford’s dealers also made a deal with Bristol Motor Speedway, and there will be displays there.
 
With less activation at tracks, Ford hopes to continue to engage fans through the Internet with contests and other campaigns.
 
Duerr also said that as the official truck of NASCAR, Ford hopes to build business-to-business relationships that can show a profit for Ford.
 
The hope is to show that the percentage of cars sold in relation to the money spent on activation is the same as in the past. Because the money is less, fewer cars would need to be sold to prove the NASCAR program still works, Duerr said.
 
“The biggest concern we have today is consumer confidence,” Duerr said. “[It’s difficult] as long as the consumers are skeptical about the future and until they feel [good]. … We have a lot of people who want to come to this race, but I have a feeling that there’s a lot of people who are scared to spend the money on the race because they may not know if they will have a job next month or afford to pay their mortgage.
 
“Consumer confidence and the credit issue are the biggest challenges we have at Ford.”
 
Of course, success on the track wouldn’t hurt. Last year, Ford won 11 Cup races, the same number as Chevrolet but still lost the manufacturer’s title to Chevy. Ford has not won the manufacturer’s title since 2002.
 
Ford has the same number of full-time cars this year as the Wood Brothers went from a full schedule to a part-time schedule, but Yates Racing added Bobby Labonte as part of a partnership with Hall of Fame Racing.
 
“I want people to know that we’re excited about the new season,” Duerr said. “We’re very excited about the new drivers that we brought into the Ford family, specifically [Yates Racing’s] Paul Menard and Bobby Labonte. We’re working diligently trying to get [Yates’] Travis Kvapil continued sponsorship. We’d like to see David Gilliland [at Yates] back on the track obviously. We would love to help the teams find sponsorship for him.
 
“We think we will be extremely competitive, and our objective is to win races and win a championship. We came so close to winning the manufacturer’s championship last year, and it’s been a long time since we’ve done that. So we’d like to get that trophy this year. We’re committed to NASCAR. We’re committed to this sport, provided the economy doesn’t continue to go down, and we’re looking for a very exciting year.”
 

Comments

9 responses to "Ford still using NASCAR to launch new products". Post a Comment.
  1. 1
    terry ruth said:
    Feb 10, 2009 at 5:07 PM

    GO FORD ...BEAT TOYOTA ON THE TRACK AND ON THE SHOWROOM FLOOR....WIN ON SUNDAY...SELL ON MONDAY...

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  2. 2
    Art Sheeler said:
    Feb 11, 2009 at 11:35 AM

    Have at er FORD

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  3. 3
    jim rodder said:
    Feb 11, 2009 at 4:11 PM

    I hope Fords commitment to racing pays off for them, BUY AMERICAN! I would hate to not watch Nascar, and I wont if its all Toyota.

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  4. 4
    Jim Bayliss said:
    Feb 11, 2009 at 7:33 PM

    Ford of course is MY favorite and always has been. But I would rather have Toyota or Dodge win than Chevrolet.

    Toyotas are made here too, and I have owned a couple and they were decent cars. But when I raced I only raced Plymouth and FORD. Mostly Fords.

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  5. 5
    Bernadette Motherway said:
    Feb 11, 2009 at 9:25 PM

    Sarah Oxfurth thinks Chevy is not American made. Do you agree Ford guy, Bayliss?

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  6. 6
    Jim Bayliss said:
    Feb 12, 2009 at 12:39 AM

    Bernie, who the heck is Sarah Oxfurth???

    Actually Chevy is NOT American made, neither is Ford or Dodge or any of them. At least not a lot of the parts that go into them. I just don't like GM in general after buying a new car from them and they wouldn't back it up. IF I bought one today and they did to me what they did back in 1967, I would sue them to the hilt. But that won't happen because I will never buy one again. A Ford dealer tried to do the same thing to me, so I wrote to Ford and a few day later they were knocking on my door begging me to let them take the new car and fix it properly. AND they DID!
    I have built Ford engines, CHev engines, Chrysler engines, and of all of them, I like the Ford engineering best. Though you must be on your toes more because of all of their "better ideas".

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  7. 7
    Bernadette Motherway said:
    Feb 12, 2009 at 11:39 AM

    Now I see what's going on! You're trying to push my buttons! Not going to work! I'm not going to carry on this Ford, Chevy, American made argument. We've all made our point and preferences.

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  8. 8
    Jim Bayliss said:
    Feb 12, 2009 at 1:44 PM

    LOL.
    ###

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  9. 9
    Werner Boehmert said:
    Feb 12, 2009 at 5:08 PM

    Jim...can we say assembled by Americans?...the Americans would consist of North, Central and South America...even Canadiens are Americans...North Americans...now made in the USA is totaly different...

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