FORD EDGE CROSSOVERS FLYING OFF DEALER LOTS

[Edge Guide]

BlueOvalNews.com (Feb 28, 2007 Dearborn, Mi) It seems customers like the Ford Edge so much, they'll even drive through a blizzard to buy one.

 

That story, and several others, underlines the sales success of Ford's new crossover. In its first full month of sales in January, the Edge had sales of 5,586, easily eclipsing the first month sales of the popular Ford Fusion sedan (4,078 in October 2005).

 

Sales consultant Susan Blue says she's still amazed by the customer that braved 18 inches of snow and blocked roads to pick up his new Edge a few weeks ago.

 

On that whiteout Saturday afternoon, a prospect Blue had talked with earlier in the week said he would come by -- to buy.

 

"It was bad out," said Blue, who works at Don Seelye Ford in Kalamazoo, Mich. "There was a snow advisory and a snow alert, and I couldn't even see the used car lot from the office window."

 

Nonetheless, after 45 minutes on the road in what should have been a 15-minute trip, Blue's customer pulled up in his trade-in -- a 2006 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT coupe with only 11,000 miles on the odometer.

 

"He saw the Edge ad on TV, but he seemed nonchalant when I talked to him earlier, so I was surprised when he called that day," said Blue. "He was bound and determined to get an Edge."

 

The deal was quickly done, and the customer was instantly rewarded. Driving his new all-wheel-drive Edge, he shaved 15 minutes off his ride back home on snow-clogged streets.

 

Since then, he's called Blue twice and written a letter to say how pleased he is with his new purchase. And she's sold two more since then.

 

"It's a hot, hot product," she said.

 

Sheehy Ford in Gaithersburg, Md., also reports an Edge conquest sale involving the trade-in of an upscale foreign model, in this case BMW's luxury crossover, the X5.

 

Sheehy's customer liked their BMW but decided to test drive an Edge after the TV ads caught their attention. After the test drive, they chose not to buy another BMW and got the Edge. They also said they're considering buying a second Edge when their lease on a BMW 7 series luxury sedan expires later this year.

 

At the Grand Ford dealership in East Liverpool, Ohio, near the Pennsylvania and West Virginia border, sales manager Rob Migliore thanks the Internet for their first Edge sale.

 

The dealership received its first Edge on a Monday morning and sold it that afternoon to a customer who drove an hour and a half from Uniontown, Ohio, to buy it.

 

That customer had been online at the interactive Edge site and "built" the car they wanted. With a few clicks, they learned that Grand Ford was the closest store with "their" Edge -- a pewter SEL with the Vista Roof.

 

"We were the ones with the car they wanted so they drove here right away to get it before someone else did," said Migliore.

 

Sales rep Bob Montgomery reports a similar story from Jerry Taylor Ford in Grove City, Pa. The dealership got its first Edge (with a Vista Roof) on a Friday.

 

By Monday morning, Montgomery had sold it to a customer who had driven by the dealership that weekend and spotted the vehicle.

 

"He said it was beautiful, and I went for a test drive, and he said he'd be back in a few minutes. Well, I've heard that one before," says Montgomery who has been selling cars since 1984.

 

The customer told Montgomery he'd be back at 11 a.m. and showed up at 10:55. He went for a second test drive and bought the Edge, trading in a loaded Chevy HHR he'd had for just four months that he said he didn't like.

 

"All he says now is how great that Edge rides, even better than the (Toyota) Camry he has at his Florida home," says Montgomery.

 

There was a bonus in that sale, too.

 

"Every week, he stops by with tomatoes and produce from his greenhouse. I think I've made as much on produce as I did on the commission," laughs Montgomery.

 

"(The Edge) is a great vehicle to sell. I just need to sell some more of them."