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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday May 21, 2008 - 27 TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR STRONG CANADIAN DOLLAR THE ALL NEW TO CASH CREDITS UP2008 $ SX4 6,000 ON SELECT MODELS PURCHASE FINANCE RATES AS LOW AS LEASE RATES AS LOW AS SEDAN ON SELECT MODELS 0% ON SELECT MODELS 1.5% THE ALL NEW 2008 SX4 SEDAN DEREK WOOLLAM / OAKVILLE BEAVER Air Conditioning / Power Windows / Power Locks / Power Mirrors / Remote Keyless Entry LEASE FROM FINALIST BEST NEW SMALL CAR 2008 FIELD TRIP: Holy Trinity high school students take notes while Rick Gemin, Ford marketing plans manager, discusses the marketing plan behind the new Ford Flex built at the Oakville Assembly Plant. PURCHASE FINANCING FOR 48 MOS. 0.9% $ DOWN PAYMENT ON LEASE 0 $ 205 @ 1.5% FOR 60 MONTHS ** Hands-on marketing lesson By Hiba Kesebi SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER MSRP $17,195* SPORT MODEL SHOWN Students from Holy Trinity Catholic School's, Organization Behaviour class learned that their teacher, Mike Perosevic, could very well be a prospective Ford Flex owner, last Wednesday at the Ford of Canada headquarters lobby. Through a presentation put together by Rick Gemin, Ford of Canada's crossover utility vehicle marketing plans manager, the Grade 12 class learned about the processes involved with marketing a vehicle. The information that the students gathered is supposed to help them produce a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis of the Flex for their end-of-year project. "The Flex is a crossover utility vehicle, so it gives you the ride characteristics of a car, it has the space of a minivan and the image of an SUV," Gemin told the 27 students, most of whom were taking down notes. When marketing, it's important to imagine the personalities and characteristics of potential buyers, he said. When asked to describe a Flex owner, a student in Perosevic's class raised her hand, and deemed her teacher as the Flex's target buyer because he has two young children and a large dog. He's also unhappily driving a minivan. According to Gemin, there's a new anti-minivan revolution in the North American car market and crossover vehicle sales will outsell minivans this year. "If we look back six or seven years ago...16 per cent of car sales were minivans, this year it's running at about five-and-a-half per cent," he said. That is why Ford is focusing their marketing initiatives on minivan owners and adults in their early 40's with children who are between 9 and 15 years old. Gemin believes that the Flex is perfect for this demographic because the interior design provides them with the room and luxury incentives--like the built in refrigerator and freezer--that a family needs, and yet, it's exterior image looks "cooler" than a minivan. However, he stressed that the Ford Flex is not meant to replace minivans but rather provides individuals with an alternative. Gemin also told the students that recognizing potential buyers is only part of the marketing process. To market, they must also try to figure out the way buyers think. Gemin sees Flex buyers as those who come from families that are "more unconventional in their thinking." "We saw that minivan owners, and I'm generalizing here, see life as a big challenge, there's always challenges coming at them and they're always thinking about how they're going to cope. We see buyers for the Flex as seeing life's challenges as opportunities," he said. Gemin then gave students the chance to get inside the new 2009 Flex and get a feel of its roomy interior and leather seating. And while most students liked the car, many could not see themselves driving it. Gemin believes the comments made by the students are valuable and is also looking forward to seeing the students' final PowerPoint projects. Ford's Flex is scheduled to go on sale end of June, early July, for approximately $34,999. 2008 GRAND VITARA 4WD / V6 / Power Windows / Power Locks / Power Mirrors / Remote Keyless Entry / Air Conditioning PURCHASE FINANCING FOR 60 MOS. MSRP $25,595* JLX MODEL SHOWN 0% $ DOWN PAYMENT ON LEASE 0 LEASE FROM $ 329 @ 1.9% FOR 60 MONTHS ** 2008 SWIFT+ Cargo Area Cover / Standard Front & Seat Mounted Side Airbags / 5-year Unlimited KM Roadside Assistance / AM/FM/CD/MP3 player (4 speakers) 2008 MSRP $20,695* JLX AWD MODEL SHOWN PURCHASE FOR $85.06 BI-WEEKLY *** $ DOWN PAYMENT ON PURCHASE 0 SX4 CROSSOVER Intelligent AWD / Power Windows / Power Locks / Heated Power Mirrors / Cruise Control / Remote Keyless Entry LEASE FROM PURCHASE FINANCING FOR 48 MOS. S MODEL SHOWN* MSRP $13,995 0.9% $ DOWN PAYMENT ON LEASE 0 $ 225 @ 1.9% FOR 60 MONTHS ** Visit Suzuki of Oakville and suzuki.ca today Suzuki of Oakville 2219 Wyecroft Road, Oakville, ON L6L 5L7 905-469-2429 · Toll Free 1-866-229-3897 fax 905-469-4562 suzuki.ca CONSUMERS SHOULD READ THE FOLLOWING: Limited time offers are subject to change without notice. *Limited time lease and purchase finance offers available to qualified retail customers on approved credit (O.A.C.) on a new 2008 Swift+ with manual transmission (MODEL STR48C8)/as shown $16,295 MSRP for 2008 Swift+ S with manual transmission, SX4 sedan with manual transmission (MODEL S3L83J8)/as shown $18,995 MSRP for 2008 SX4 sedan sport with manual transmission, SX4 JX AWD with manual transmission (MODEL H3N80J8)/as shown $22,695 MSRP for 2008 SX4 JLX with manual transmission, Grand Vitara JA with manual transmission (MODEL LLN81S8)/as shown $29,745 MSRP for 2008 Grand Vitara JLX (Destination and delivery of $1,195/$1,250/$1,250/$1,395, administration fee, taxes, license, insurance, and registration are extra). ** For SX4 sedan, SX4 JX AWD and Grand Vitara lease offers, monthly payment is $205/$225/$329 (including $1,250/$1,250/$1,395 destination and delivery). $0/$0/$0 down payment or equivalent trade-in, $0 security deposit, $72 PPSA, $350 acquisition fee, administration fee, $75/$75/$400 fuel conservation tax and first monthly payment due at lease inception. Total lease obligation is $12,298.55/$13,497.02/$19,733.45 including down payment. Taxes, license, insurance, applicable fees and registration are extra. 20,000 km / year total mileage allowance ($0.10/km for excess mileage). *** For special bi-weekly purchase finance offer on the Swift+ MSRP is $13,995 with $0 down financed at 2.9% APR equals $85.06 per bi-weekly period for a total of 182 bi-weekly payments, $1,195 destination & delivery, taxes and fees are extra. 0.9% purchase financing is available for 48 months on any 2008 SX4 sedan and any 2008 SX4 hatchback. 0% purchase financing is available for 60 months on any 2008 Grand Vitara. Finance example: $10,000 at 0.9% APR for a 48 month term; the monthly payment is $212.18; cost of borrowing is $184.64; total obligation is $10,184.64. Administration fee, $75/$75/$400 tax for fuel conservation, other taxes, license, insurance, and registration are extra. Cash credit of: $2,000 on all 2008 Swift+, $1,000 on all 2008 SX4 sedans, $1,500 on all 2008 SX4 hatchbacks, FWD & AWD, $3,000 on all 2008 Grand Vitara's, and $6,000 on all 2007 XL7's. Cash credits cannot be combined with special finance or lease rate offers. Cash credits will be deducted from negotiated price after tax. Retailers are free to set individual prices. These offers cannot be combined with any other offer except for the Suzuki Graduate Program. With the Suzuki Graduate Program, recent university or college graduates may be eligible for an allowance on the purchase or lease of certain models. Dealers may lease or sell for less. See participating dealers for details.