Ford dumping old customers in favour of new ones

New York, June 10: Auto major Ford's troubled Mercury division is dumping decade-long customers, as age slows them down as also their buying power, in favour of upcoming young professionals.
Elena Ford, the first female Ford and fifth generation member working at the family's automobile company, was quoted by American news magazine Newsweek as saying she is planning to roll out new, crisply designed models in 2004 to go after sophisticated young professionals who drive Volkswagens.

She is Brand Manager at the Mercury division.

The sale of the brand are down 23 per cent this year, Newsweek reports.

Launching the youth movement would not be easy and Ford admits the elderly customers "don't fit perfectly into our strategy" but argues that Mercury needs them to help fund the brand's overhaul.

Elena, 36, says she is gunning for a seat on the company's board of directors and a top executive post in marketing. She hopes to become a board member in three to five years. Bureau Report