Re: Ford Ranger question (and Art Fest fun)

[DWhite1148@aol.com]

In a message dated 9/30/99 2:23:07 PM Central Daylight Time, 
ws3f@norfolk-county.com writes:

<< I applaud Ford for making them available in theory throughout the country,
 however they need to make a real effort before claiming they weren't wanted.
 (Like GM claiming only 1,000 EV1's were sold.  They are lease only and the
 statement repeated in numerous news articles implies they were available
 throughout the country.) >>

     I must clarify one thing however, the statements I made were my own and 
were not on behalf of Ford Motor Co. I doubt they would be so bold. There is 
a real problem in the marketing end of the deal though, they are just quietly 
(no fanfare) making a half baked (even though it is the only nationwide) 
effort to market an EV. Having been involved with an EV franchise I can tell 
you that Ford is placing a considerable amount of the financial burden on the 
dealer in the marketing effort. This alone is putting a strain on the effort 
as well. While I do not feel at liberty to give details I can tell you that 
the EV deal is so structured that as a franchised dealer you would have to 
crank out an unrealistic number of Ranger EV's to make it work and the market 
currently is just not there (or uninformed)
      We can only hope this will turn around........as for actually getting 
one I will put together a short list of #'s to call to perhaps put a little 
heat on the dealer you are working with..............  E.V. Rookie