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Ford Maintains Sales Leadership in Ohio

29 February 1999

Ford Maintains Sales Leadership in Ohio

    CLEVELAND, Feb. 26 -- According to R.L. Polk's 1998 vehicle
registrations, Ford had five of the top 10 best-selling vehicles in
the state. The Ford F-Series was number one with approximately 33,000 vehicle
registrations.  Meanwhile, Ford F-Series trucks have occupied the top spot
nationally for 17-straight years, making it the best-selling vehicle overall
in 1998 with 836,000 sold -- the most for any model in the U.S. in the past
two decades.
    In 1998, Ohio drivers registered about 119,378 new Ford, Lincoln and
Mercury brand cars and trucks more than any other manufacturer.  Ford Motor
Company's Ford Division had 99,315 registrations, of which 35,190 were cars
and 64,125 were trucks and minivans.  Ford Division has 378 dealers in the
state.
    Lincoln Mercury had approximately 20,063 registrations in the state, of
which 15,910 were cars and 4,153 were trucks and minivans.  Lincoln Mercury
has 115 dealers in Ohio, some of which are shared with Ford Division in Ohio.
    Known informally as Ford's second home, Ohio has the second-largest number
of Ford employees outside of Michigan.  Ford is one of Ohio's largest
private-sector employers.  The company last year paid its 17,573 Ohio-based
employees $1.2 billion in salaries and wages.
    In the past year, Ford significantly contributed to Ohio's economy in
several other ways.  The company paid more than $31 million in real estate and
personal (machinery and equipment) property taxes to the state for 1998.  In
addition, Ford purchased roughly $3 billion in production components from 151
Ohio suppliers.
    Ford employees work at 11 manufacturing facilities and administrative
offices in the state.  The manufacturing and assembly facilities are in
Lorain, Avon Lake, Walton Hills, Maumee, Lima, Sharonville, Batavia, Sandusky
and Brook Park.
    The company's activities range from the sales of vehicles, auto parts and
services and financial services, to steel and plastic stamping operations, to
the production of iron castings, to the manufacture of engines of numerous
configurations and displacements, to the manufacture of transmissions and the
assembly of cars and trucks.
    Ford's Ohio Assembly Plant expanded its body shop 14,000 square feet in
1998 to produce the new 1999 Mercury Villager.  In all, 53 new robots were
installed in the new body shop to weld the new Villager bodies, and a new
"Perceptron" body gauging machine which measures 58 locations on the car body
to make sure they are within one millimeter of specifications to ensure
quality.
    Ford also began construction on a new aluminum casting plant in Brook
Park, which will total 210,000 square feet in size once completed.  It will
produce aluminum cylinder blocks for a new engine program.  The plant will
consist of a natural-gas aluminum melting furnace, 10 core making machines,
two rollover pouring machines, a shot blast cleaning system, a natural gas
holding furnace and a sand handling system.
    Ford Motor Credit Company, the world's largest automotive financing
company, has 250 employees working in five branches in the state.  According
to R.L. Polk Market Research, Ford Credit is the automotive captive finance
market share leader in the United States and has won more J.D. Power awards
for automotive financing than any other finance provider.
    Finally, Ohio employees aided by gifts from the Ford Motor Company Fund,
supported state charities with contributions exceeding $1.7 million in 1998.
    To get the latest information about the Ford Motor Company, click on the
Internet at http://www.ford.com.

      Top 10 Truck Nameplates         Top 10 Car Nameplates
       (in Ohio, CY 1998)              (in Ohio, CY 1998)

    1. F-Series     33,136            1. Accord    21,669
    2. C/K Series   21,053            2. Camry     20,867
    3. Ranger       18,314            3. Cavalier  19,224
    4. Explorer     16,230            4. Taurus    18,147
    5. S-10         16,400            5. Escort    17,891
    6. Caravan      15,160            6. Civic     17,382
    7. Dodge LT     14,080            7. Grand Am  13,639
    8. S-10 Blazer  12,306            8. Malibu    12,986
    9. Windstar     11,425            9. Corolla   12,862
    10. Voyager      9,417           10. Lumina    10,026

    Top 10 Car & Truck Nameplates
         (in Ohio, CY 1998)

    1.  F-Series    33,136
    2.  Accord      21,669
    3.  C/K Series  21,053
    4.  Camry       20,867
    5.  Cavalier    19,224
    6.  Ranger      18,314
    7.  Taurus      18,147
    8.  Escort      17,891
    9.  Civic       17,382
    10. Explorer    16,230