Any time a hurricane appears in the Gulf, business essentially stops. It will be a few days before we have an accurate assessment of the situation. |
Eddie sees the big picture. He's clearly got a vision of how to make this thing the big event. And he never stops working. The minute [the tournament] is completed, he'll be thinking about next year. |
He gives us a tremendous amount of exposure in winning circumstances. |
It took a little courage to set out and do something modern, but we were convinced that modern and high-design is the forward trend. We're very focused on our positioning and our image and the entire basket of goods, rather than simply having a hotel and putting residences on top. |
It was a marketing decision to bring the street Fusion and the Nextel Cup Fusion on line at the same time. |
The first tower did very, very well, and as a result, we added a second tower, which is already half sold. The hotel added a significant premium to the residential sales price. |
Things are getting very complicated and more complex. It will be all about the product offerings. |
We do a bit of research and try to match ourselves up with someone we feel comfortable with, someone who's going to look the part with the Ford brand. |
We have a lot more tools available to reach potential customers, |
We think that there's an unexploited niche in many markets, certainly here in Dallas, and the sales of the residences have pretty much borne that out. |
While they are at our Web site, they are not only finding out about how they can participate (in the promotion), but they learn a lot about Ford, and a fair number of these people go on to inquire about a Ford product, ... So, ultimately, it sells us cars. |
Will incentives go away? No. We think incentives will continue to play a role in stimulating the marketplace. |
With regard to golf, 50 percent of new vehicle buyers are golf fans, and 33 percent of our customer base is golfers or people who follow golf actively. |