For the Ford Special Vehicle Team (SVT), 2003 is an important year. Besides being Ford Motor Company''s Centennial year, SVT is celebrating its own milestone, ten years of producing high performance vehicles. Today at the Chicago Auto Show, John Coletti, Director of Ford SVT Programs, celebrates SVT''s 10th Anniversary by showing off the SVT Mustang Cobra 10th Anniversary Package and the SVT''s first concept vehicle in their ten year history, the SVT Lightning concept. The 10th Anniversary Cobra will go on sale this summer, while the SVT Lightning concept is a hint at the not-to-distant future of SVT.SVT has come a long way in ten years as an organization, from a small "skunkworks" operation to a full-fledged business organization and integral part of the Ford Performance Group. Created to "Polish the Ford Oval", SVT was officially launched with the debut of the 1993 SVT Mustang Cobra and SVT F-150 Lightning at the 1992 Chicago Auto Show. Since then, SVT has produced more than 100,000 performance vehicles, including coupes, convertibles, four-door sport sedans, pickup trucks, and now "pocket rockets". Over one hundred thousand loyal owners and a national car club, the SVT Owner''s Association (SVTOA), show that SVT is the dominant force in the domestic performance market.
But, perhaps the greatest proof of Ford SVT''s success can be found by looking at the competition. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and new performance vehicle divisions have sprung up in the hopes of achieving what SVT has already done. However, ten years of experience, a highly trained dealer network, and a legacy of 100,000 vehicles give Ford SVT a definitive advantage over these new ventures. Plus, SVT engineers are hard at work on the next generation of SVT products.
As John Coletti, Director of SVT Programs, likes to say, "Ten years and we''re just picking up speed."
To commemorate this significant year, Ford SVT will offer 2,003 units of the SVT Mustang Cobra "10th Anniversary Package". Other product highlights for 2003 include the new 5-door SVT Focus, a "European Appearance Package" option for the 3-door SVT Focus, and continuous refinement in several areas of the SVT F-150 Lightning.
Ford SVT History The Ford Special Vehicle Team (SVT) was conceived in 1991, when Ford senior management recognized the corporate advantages of investigating niche vehicle market opportunities. The idea was to assemble passionate driving enthusiasts within Ford and some of its key suppliers into a small, cross-functional group of engineers, product planners and marketing professionals with a common mission: create vehicles to satisfy the desires of knowledgeable, high-performance auto enthusiasts.
SVT was charged to develop and market factory high-performance "halo" vehicles that would add luster to the company''s lineup - or "Polish the Ford Oval." To that end, the team focused on creating limited-production cars and trucks with balanced performance attributes -- vehicles that stop as well as they accelerate, ride as well as they handle and, above all, are fun to drive. All vehicles that wear the SVT badge are designed and developed with four hallmarks in mind: Performance, Substance, Exclusivity and Value.
The official launch of SVT came during the 1992 Chicago Auto Show with the unveiling of the 1993 SVT Mustang Cobra and SVT F-150 Lightning. Both went on sale in February of ''93. Since that time more than 100,000 SVT vehicles have been produced, including several versions of the Cobra (both coupe and convertible) and Lightning pickup, the SVT Contour sports sedan, and both three- and five-door versions of the SVT Focus. SVT has also produced special Cobra ''R'' models in 1993, ''95 and 2000.
For 2003, as Ford Motor Company celebrates its Centennial, the Special Vehicle Team has reached another milestone that solidifies its position as the undisputed leader in factory-built performance vehicles. SVT not only marks its 10th anniversary this year, but also finds itself bolstered in the marketplace, thanks to a new operational alliance as part of the recently formed Ford Performance Group.
The new group takes a decade of SVT performance car sales successes and combines them with the strengths of the Ford Racing Technology group and the company''s Vehicle Personalization organization to create the industry''s largest and most comprehensive performance vehicles, parts and accessories marketing operation.
"We created this group to maximize the most passionate and exciting parts of our business," explains Jim O''Connor, Ford group vice president for North America Marketing, Sales and Service. O''Connor sees the group''s formation as a key element in Ford''s strategy to re-energize the car market while solidifying and expanding the truck segment through the growth of performance-oriented products and accessories.
Mike Zevalkink, formerly executive director of Ford North American Car Product Development, is charged with aligning the business strategies within the Ford Performance Group to deliver even more special enthusiast-oriented vehicles, plus new parts and personalization products - all supported by Ford victories in racing.
"From the excellent driving dynamics built into every Ford Focus, to the sheer strength of the 2003 SVT Mustang Cobra and F-150 Lightning and the excitement brewing with the production of the Ford GT, it''s clear that performance and passion is core to Ford''s business," Zevalkink says. "The difference between Ford and the competition is that Ford has more than 100,000 SVT vehicles already on the street. What''s more, we sell at least as many feature vehicles each year, plus a line of factory-backed performance accessories - and now plan to widen our lead in performance products and services."
To the people at SVT, inclusion in the Ford Performance Group means leveraging the company''s best strengths in racing and product development to even better deliver on the team''s core values o
