Stealing Sales
Edge joins mid-$20s cluster in Ford stores
DETROIT - Crowding into a showroom packed with vehicles in the mid-$20,000 range, the 2007 Ford Edge is destined to steal sales from its brand siblings.
Ford already is braced for a hit to nameplates like the fast-fading Ford Explorer and the Escape: Better to cannibalize yourself, Ford executives say, than wait for the competition to do it.
And the 2007 Edge just may be Ford's best chance in years to staunch some of the bleeding that foreign brands have inflicted on the Blue Oval. The Edge, lauded by a number of critics as a modern, stylish crossover, is landing just as U.S. crossover sales boom.
Also booming is the number of crossovers and other SUVs in Ford dealers' showrooms. When it goes on sale in November, the Edge will join the Ford Explorer, Escape and Freestyle in the $20,000-to-$26,000 starting price range. The Edge, Explorer and Freestyle are all within $700 of each other at the top end of that range.
"People who come in for the Escape will look at the Edge as a move up, and certainly we have a great deal of customers who have driven Explorers for many, many years," says Cisco Codina, Ford Motor Co. group vice president of North American marketing, sales and service. "That will also be a source of sales, and we recognize that. But because of the bold styling and the equipment that we've added to the (Edge) and the overall value, we also think we'll have some conquests."
45% conquest target
In fact, Ford is targeting a conquest sales rate of 45 percent. That's more ambitious than the 25 percent conquest target assigned to the launch of the 2006 Ford Fusion sedan last year. The Fusion is conquesting non-Ford buyers at a 40 percent rate, Ford says.
Ford expects annual U.S. sales of 100,000 for the Edge. The aim is incremental sales for the Ford showroom despite the likely cannibalization of existing nameplates. That puts the pressure on Ford and its dealers to differentiate the products from one another.
Ford marketers say the Edge, Escape, Freestyle and Explorer all have distinctive attributes. For instance, seven-passenger seating sets the Freestyle and Explorer apart. Off-road capability sets the Escape and Explorer apart. Sporty styling and handling set the Edge apart.
To make sure those messages get out to salespeople, Ford is distributing a "right vehicle" training guide to dealerships. The piece, which covers the Edge, Escape, Explorer and Freestyle, prompts salespeople to interview customers about desired features. Based on the answers, the salespeople can direct customers to specific vehicles.
The right vehicle guide is a tool Ford created for the Edge launch. In addition, Ford is training dealership employees on the Edge in 35 cities through early December, says John Felice, Ford-brand general marketing manager.
Dealers say the right vehicle guide should help their employees set those cross-shopped vehicles apart. Bert Boeckmann, owner of Galpin Ford in North Hills, Calif., has 72 new-vehicle salespeople ready to pitch the Edge when it arrives.
But Boeckmann says that strong leasing and finance packages, plus good margin opportunities, are necessary to keep dealers and their sales employees pushing the Edge and Ford's similar-sized products.
Accommodating the Edge
New Jersey dealer Tom Arden says the Escape and the Explorer are both vulnerable to the Edge. Dealers likely will adjust their orders of those vehicles - for instance, more four-cylinder Escapes and more V-8-powered Explorers - to accommodate the V-6 Edge, says Arden of Downs Ford in Toms River, N.J.
In the end, sales migration to the Edge is preferable to the alternative, both Ford and dealers say.
"It's better to have the Explorer customer buy an Edge than have them buy a Nissan," Arden says.
"So I think we'll do fine with that vehicle. But there's going to be a lot of crowding."
By AMY WILSON | AUTOMOTIVE NEWS
AutoWeek
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