Tata Young to sing Ford Focus's praises

Tata will mainly be promoting the Ford Focus sedan, as she drives a diesel version of the model.

"In the campaign, Tata Young shares her personal experiences with the Ford Focus and her candid impressions of its design, performance, safety and fuel efficiency.

Her strong and free-spirited character embodies the Ford Focus, and her stories will help reinforce the Focus as a smart choice for city dwellers," Ford Thailand senior vice president Saroj Kiatfuengfoo said yesterday.

The campaign, which runs until the end of August, includes advertising promotions and consumer-related activities. Ads are set to appear in leading lifestyle magazines, Skytrain stations, Skytrain wraps, interior posters and supersize billboards at MBK Centre and on Chaeng Wattana Road and in Bang Na district of Bangkok, as well as seven other cities nationwide.

The song "Here Today", which is Ford's advertising theme, has been re-recorded by the singer and will be available to consumers through various campaign activities.

A special "Make Every Day Exciting" promotion will extend an invitation to an exclusive party with Tata to anyone purchasing a Ford vehicle this month and next.

The Focus is available with a 1.8- or 2-litre petrol engine or 2-litre diesel version. The diesel is only available with manual transmission, although an automatic version is likely to appear later this year.

The Focus was the first car in Thailand that could run on E20. The auto-maker has focused on its green credentials in the past, further stressing the issue at the launch of the new marketing campaign.

On the topic of last week's Cabinet approval of tax benefits for E85-capable vehicle production, Saroj said the company had yet to analyse the possibilities fully. E85 is a fuel with a blend of 85-per-cent ethanol and 15-per-cent petrol.

"The four main players in whether E85 will be successful are the government, auto companies, oil companies and consumers. It largely depends on the demand created by the consumer," Saroj said.

E85 has a fuel-consumption figure that is 20-30-per-cent higher than for petrol.

This makes the price of the fuel a very important factor. Although E85 is priced lower, its benefits are unlikely to be seen if fuel consumption is too high.

"This is a decision consumers will make themselves after using the fuel. Ford Motor officials met with members of the Thai government and said the technology for producing E85 vehicles was already here. It's simply a question of getting the right incentives," Saroj added.