Under the agreement announced today, ZoneTrader.com will be responsible for managing the disposition through their online marketplace of all of Ford's capital equipment that is not covered under service contracts with the original manufacturers. These items include machine tooling equipment, office furniture and other capital equipment. ZoneTrader.com will manage the auditing of the surplus goods, test and refurbish them as needed, and sell them with a money-back guarantee through an online marketplace operated at its web site. Ford also will become an investor in ZoneTrader.com.

"For the first time, our used assets will be available to both the automotive and non-automotive markets," said Carlos Mazzorin, Ford Motor Company group vice president - Global Purchasing and South America. "One of our biggest challenges is to improve asset utilization and recovery. Today's announcement brings the full power and speed of the Internet to that challenge," he said.

"As the world's second largest auto manufacturer, it's essential that we efficiently dispose our excess equipment," said Brian Kelley, Ford Motor Company vice president and president, ConsumerConnect. "By taking surplus items off our hands and using auctions over the Web to determine their fair market value, ZoneTrader.com will provide us a tremendous service," Kelley added. "They also have established methods for tracking the entire process," he said.

Initally, ZoneTrader.com is providing asset disposition services for Ford's Cleveland Engine Plant No. 1. After a successful completion of the Cleveland project, Ford and ZoneTrader.com plan to expand the relationship to other Ford plants in the U.S. Ford will employ the ZoneTrader.com Strategic Warehouse Advisory Team (SWAT) service to help develop processes for tracking and storing some surplus assets within its own sites while they wait for their sale at auction.

Ford Motor Company has announced a number of strategic partnerships and alliances that have moved the company to the forefront of e-commerce and business-to-business ventures over the Internet. On Feb. 25, Ford, General Motors and DaimlerChrysler announced the formation of a single business-to-business Internet-based supplier exchange that would create the world's largest virtual marketplace. Ford also became the first partner with Microsoft's CarPoint, the leading independent all-brands, online automotive buy and referral business. With Yahoo!, Ford entered into a groundbreaking Internet site that allows Ford Motor Company customers to set up their own personal auto page through Yahoo!Autos or OwnerConnection. A joint venture with TeleTech Holdings will consolidate Ford's customer contact centers around the world with a central data base.

(March 9, 2000)