Last Update on : March 1, 2008
Ford in Sync with the youth market
.jpg) Ford Motor Co.'s Sync, which allows drivers to operate their car's stereo, personal music device and mobile phone by voice, has proven to be a winner with young consumers, a demographic the automaker needs to reach.
Since the hands-free connectivity system was unveiled last fall, Ford has sold more than 66,000 units of the $395 option in 12 different Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles. But more importantly, Ford executives say -- and some analysts agree -- the system has helped the company reach younger buyers looking for small cars.
"It's the right time and the right place," Stephanie Brinley, an industry analyst with AutoPacific, said of Focus sales. "Sync is definitely helping sales."
The Ford Focus, which debuted Sync, has seen a sales spike -- up 44 percent in January compared with the same month last year, according to Autodata Corp.
"The small car segment is one that is going to continue to grow, and it's great to have a vehicle performing so well in it," said Ford's sales analyst George Pipas. "It's critical to us to reach those young, first-time buyers."
Earmarked in the marketing world as the Millennial Generation, these future consumers were born between 1980 and 1995, according to Ford. They are tech-savvy, and every day 11,000 of them reaches driving age.
"This is who we have to capture," said Samuel De La Garza, Ford's Focus marketing manager, adding that the small car market "is absolutely key to where we're going in the future. Sync is helping us reach this younger market."
Sync has proven to be a bright spot in an otherwise lackluster market for the Dearborn automaker, which saw total light vehicle sales drop 11.8 percent in 2007. Ford and other major automakers will release February vehicles sales on Monday in a market that expects to see a continued downturn in demand throughout the year.
The Power Information Network, an affiliate of J.D. Power and Associates, confirmed that the Focus has seen an increase in younger buyers. When comparing Focus sales from September 2007 through February 2008 to the same time period a year earlier, buyers in the age 16-to-35 demographic rose from 28.9 percent to 30.1 percent.
"I think Sync plays a very significant role in attracting younger buyers," said John Emmert, Ford's marketing manager for Sync. "It tends to appeal to buyers who are more tech savvy and younger."
The change is not monumental, but certainly in the direction Ford wants to go.
While it's difficult to measure exactly how much Sync helps puts drivers behind the seat of any particular car, the Ford, Mercury and Lincoln vehicles that offer the option sell twice as fast than those without it, Pipas said. Nearly 40 percent of the new Focuses sold during the past three months included Sync.
The system, developed with Microsoft Corp., allows a driver to operate a phone and other devices by voice after pushing a button on the steering wheel. It's easy to operate and currently unmatched by any automaker.
Other factors have contributed to the increased sales of the Focus, including its recent redesign and consumer demand for smaller, more fuel-efficient cars because of high gas prices, Pipas said.
AutoPacific's Brinley said that Ford's multi-faceted marketing approach as well as having Sync available in so many vehicles has helped the automaker.
"Ford is doing a lot of things right with this campaign," she said. "The advertising has been strong and it's a good feature that's priced right."
It's also a feature that other carmakers will be able to include in their products soon. Ford's exclusive agreement to use Microsoft's operating system that runs Sync can be sold to other carmakers beginning in December, but it will be branded with another name.
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