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View Full Version : Ford begins online car sales in the UK, 40% of buyers approve



Ford_News
07-01-2010, 05:33 AM
Filed under: Car Buying (http://www.autoblog.com/category/carbuying/), Etc. (http://www.autoblog.com/category/etc/), Ford (http://www.autoblog.com/category/ford/), UK (http://www.autoblog.com/category/uk/)

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/06/forduksales.jpg (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/car-manufacturers/ford/7855971/Ford-is-first-car-manufacturer-to-sell-its-cars-on-internet.html)

Ford (http://www.autoblog.com/make/ford/) has started offering vehicles for direct sale via the internet for United Kingdom customers. Ford conducted its own research and found that almost 40 percent of buyers don't even care about a test drive; they just want what they want with the click of a mouse.

Ford has set 50 dealers up to sell new and used cars and commercial vehicles on the web, and sales swung into action on June 29th. A new call center has also been opened to close the deal for customers that seek an alternative to the online purchase. The cars will be delivered to regional delivery centers; Ford has set up 12 facilities where customers will collect their cars and drive off.

The 550 traditional Ford dealers in the UK might understandably be miffed at this direct-sales move, but they're still the preferred choice of sixty percent of buyers. Haggling is possible with either outlet, and cutting out a level of complexity and cost would make life easier and possibly more profitable for Ford. For now, all statements support both efforts running in parallel.

[Source: Telegraph.co.uk (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/car-manufacturers/ford/7855971/Ford-is-first-car-manufacturer-to-sell-its-cars-on-internet.html)]Ford begins online car sales in the UK, 40% of buyers approve (http://www.autoblog.com/2010/07/01/ford-begins-online-car-sales-in-the-uk/) originally appeared on Autoblog (http://www.autoblog.com) on Thu, 01 Jul 2010 07:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).



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