Ford is starting a month-long campaign of events at dealerships and shows in mid-August to mark its 100th year in Britain.

A centennial set with staging, an MC interviewer and displays of the Ford story will be available to dealers, touring from north to south across the UK.

The campaign will culminate with a vast showcase at the Goodwood Revival Festival in September, where Ford will display 100 cars for 100 years and will take parade laps in its heritage fleet vehicles.

Steve Humbles, product marketing manager at Ford of Britain, said the campaign is also an opportunity to promote the work Ford does in the UK, such as its Dunton Technical Centre which has developed the high efficiency 1.0-litre 3-cylinder Ecoboost engine, expected to be used in the B-Max and Fiesta.

“We shouldn’t be talking about yesterday without talking about today and what’s coming tomorrow,” Humbles added.

Technology forms a large part of Ford’s strategy to put distance between it and more value-driven brands, with the result that its new Focus has optional equipment more typically seen in the premium segment.

Systems such as lane keeping aids, collision mitigation, adaptive cruise control, traffic sign recognition and active park assist mean that a Ford dealer’s sales executive has even more information to understand and present.

However, Ford is aiming to make their job a little easier, by providing applications which dealers can download onto a screen or tablet to show customers.

Humbles said: “You can really only sell this technology if you trust it and explain it in detail.
“This way you get a more consistent message and we’re not relying on the sales executive to remember how the technology works all the time.”