Dianne Craig, Ford Canada CEO, was in Saskatoon last week visiting two dealerships and meeting with local media. I had the opportunity for a quick phone interview with Dianne (where I admitted I may or may not be hiding in a closet to get away from my kids) and while I could have asked what’s under the hood of the new 2013 Ford Fusion, I instead asked what moms like me may be curious about: the minivan, safety on the road, and how Ford makes vehicles family-friendly.
I asked Dianne what many moms have wondered, Why doesn’t Ford have a minivan on the market? Her answer was that minivans don’t have a huge part of the vehicle sales market – only about 3.5-4% of vehicles sold in Canada are minivans. I had no idea – they certainly seem more popular than that but maybe that’s because I drive one so I see what I’m familiar with.
What IS popular for families in Canada are CUV’s (crossover utility vehicles). Dianne shared that CUV’s currently hold about 18% of the vehicle sales market in Canada with 1 in 5 purchases being a CUV. That certainly makes sense! After driving both a Ford Explorer and Ford Edge in the past year, I’ve noted that both are formidable opponents to my mommy minivan and are great family vehicles. In fact, the Ford Escape has been the best selling CUV in Canada for the past eight years!
After reviewing, and loving, the Ford F-150 – I asked Dianne about the popularity of the F-series trucks. Here in Saskatchewan, trucks are a way of life for many many families whether you live on a farm or in an urban setting. We’re Saskies, we love our trucks. It’s no surprise then that Ford’s F-series trucks are the best selling trucks in Canada (are we seeing a trend here?) and are very very popular for sales on the prairies.
With so many top selling vehicles on the market, I had to know what Dianne Craig’s favorite vehicle was. She cited the Ford Flex as her favorite and mentioned several cool features about this vehicle including a refridgerated 2nd-row console! Immediately I thought of all the times we’ve traveled as a family and packed coolers with us because we needed to keep baby bottles cold! What a great, innovative and family-friendly feature in the Ford Flex!
Knowing that my website is specifically focused on moms, I asked Dianne Craig if she had any closing words and she had this to say to Feisty Frugal and Fabulous readers, “Thanks for all you do as a mom, and if you haven’t driven a Ford lately, we’d certainly love to get you into one!”
