BlueOvalNews.com DEARBORN, May 31, 2006  -- Jamie Elliott did something last month that the company says could increase revenues by as much as $7 billion a year, if every Ford employee followed suit.

Elliott and a co-worker, en route to the shareholder's meeting in Delaware, helped sell a Ford vehicle to a fellow motorist.

"We had just stopped when this guy got out of his Lexus and was pointing to the King Ranch Expedition that we were driving," said Elliott, an information technology engineer within Ford's Executive Technology Office.

Avery Abrams, a 42-year-old hotel owner from Pittsburgh, says both the vehicle and Elliott's enthusiasm impressed him.

"I must have looked like a freak because I pretty much pressed my nose up on the window to look inside," Abrams said. "Jamie welcomed me to take a look and ended up telling me about the X-Plan offer that he could provide. Obviously, he is somebody who likes his job and thinks highly of the company and your products. Speaking with him was the difference in me buying that vehicle."

Ford, through a new Ambassadors Club recognition program, is encouraging employees and retirees to use AXZ-Plan discounts to get friends and family members into company vehicles.

Ford employees and retirees average less than one AXZ-Plan sale per year. Boosting that by just one vehicle would increase the company's market share by two points, says Barbara Roden, AXZ-Plan manager.

"This is one way for every employee and retiree who has a vested interest in the success of Ford Motor Company to make a difference," said Roden. "We are launching this with the intent of making it an annual program and to remind employees and retirees of the key role they can play in promoting our products."

Employees and retirees who supply two PINs resulting in a sale or lease qualify for Ambassador Club status. Two more bring them into the Ambassadors Inner Circle. Ford is mailing brochures with the details to more than 350,000 active salaried and hourly Ford employees, retirees and surviving spouses.

"For those who qualify, we will offer the choice of several recognition items, like branded shirts, athletic bags and coolers, which are really just a way to say 'thank you,' " said Roden. "But we're also hoping that as people wear those shirts or carry those coolers and bags, someone might ask them about the Ambassadors Club. Once that channel of communication is open, it could very well lead to another AXZ-Plan PIN."

Given his track record, it's likely Elliott will be a club member.

"If I run into someone at a car wash or a gas station, I'll strike up a conversation with them," he said. "Sometimes, I catch people off guard, but I have received many good responses by doing that as well. It can be a very positive thing."

X-Plan pricing was also the final push to get Detroit television anchorman Huel Perkins and his wife, Priscilla, into a 2006 Ford Five Hundred.

"We made a conscious effort to buy American this year," said Perkins. "It was either going to be a Ford or a GM product (Buick Lucerne), one of the two. The quality and safety of the Five Hundred was first and foremost for us because we have two children. It was the best value for the money."

Perkins received the X-Plan offer from a former reporter and colleague at WJBK-TV, Nancy McCauley-Branstetter, manager of the Ford Volunteer Corp.

"Huel and Priscilla were actually pretty easy; they really liked the Five Hundred," McCauley-Branstetter said. "I said 'if you think you're going to buy one, let me sweeten the deal.' I've actually sold several cars through AXZ-Plan. For me, it is about believing in the company, taking pride in our products and sharing something special with people."

In addition to the recognition items, Ambassador Club members will be eligible to receive $250 gift cards that will be away as part of monthly drawings. And 12 Inner Circle members will be invited to meet with Ford Chairman and CEO Bill Ford, tour the Rouge Assembly Plant and visit The Henry Ford.

For more information on the Ambassadors Club program, employees and retirees can either call (800) 348-7709, or visit www.axz.ford.com.