Ford's New Year's Resolution Is To Stop Customers From Getting Lost

Ford is offering motorists a New Year's treat in its Test Drive Week campaign, starting on the 14th January 2006. All Ford Fiestas and Ford Focus STs will come with Smartnav, advanced satellite navigation by Trafficmaster. The Smartnav package includes a 12 month subscription to the navigation service and one month free of Safe Speed, integrated speed camera warnings and RAC Trackstar, a stolen vehicle tracking service.

The Test Drive Week promotion will run across all of Ford's 650 plus retailers and will give customers the chance to drive all of Fords models and experience the benefits of Smartnav, before they purchase. The campaign will be supported with regional radio and newspaper advertising and prominent point of sale in the showrooms.

Smartnav was chosen as the standard fit satellite navigation for Ford's Test Drive Week because it is very easy to operate and offers the most accurate up-to-date mapping available. This means that drivers can instantly see the benefits of using Smartnav within the test drive.

At the press of a button or the Smartnav Touchscreen drivers are connected to a real personal assistant who takes down the destination details and logs them into a central computer. The computer calculates the best route using Trafficmaster's real time traffic data, so that drivers are automatically guided around any congestion. The route is downloaded into the car and is constantly monitored for any new traffic delays. Smartnav also warns you of speed cameras and the impeding speed limit and will track your car in the unfortunate event of it being stolen.

Pat Gallagher, Director of In-Vehicle Products at Trafficmaster, comments: "This campaign comes from the successful relationship that Trafficmaster has built with Ford since Smartnav became an approved accessory 18 months ago. This is a great time for Smartnav to be fitted into a car as standard, as people will be looking for their next new car."