Annual Student Auto Skills Contest to Start in Florida, Ends at Ford Headquarters

ORLANDO, Fla.--April 15, 2004--The hands-on portion of the nation's largest competition for high school auto technicians begins with the first statewide competition on Friday, April 16, in Daytona Beach, Fla., and ends with a National Finals event June 29 at Ford Motor Company's World Headquarters in Dearborn, Mich.

More than $5 million in scholarships and prizes will be awarded over the next few months, as competitions are held in all 50 states culminating in the National Finals contest, according to co-sponsors Ford Motor Company and AAA.

The Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills competition is for high school juniors and seniors. It provides two-student teams enrolled in high school automotive technology courses the chance to test their abilities in accurately diagnosing and servicing identically "bugged" vehicles. The top winning team from each state also earns the right to compete for national honors and prizes. Those students are considered by Ford and AAA as the best student auto technicians in the country.

(Note to editors: Contest information for each state -- including dates, locations and local contacts -- is available at: www.aaa.com/news.)

Contests in each state and at the national level are organized with the support of AAA's Approved Auto Repair program, Ford personnel and local educators. AAA's Approved Auto Repair program is a service for AAA members and the public that independently inspects and approves repair facilities nationwide.

Ford Motor Company provides technical assistance, vehicles and equipment for the state and national contests. Each state championship team wins scholarship funds for the Ford ASSET (Automotive Student Service Education Training) or FACT (Ford Accelerated Credential Training) programs. Participants in the ASSET program can earn a two-year associate degree in automotive service and get a chance to "earn-as-they-learn" by working at Ford or Lincoln-Mercury dealerships. Ford's FACT is a 14-month automotive service training program offered in conjunction with Universal Technical Institute. The FACT program gives students the ability to gain Ford credentials at an accelerated rate.

Scholarships also are available to contestants from some of the nation's top technical schools: Apex Technical School, Advanced Technology Institute, Baron Institute of Technology, Cowley Community College, Dunwoody College of Technology, Nashville Auto-Diesel College, New England Institute of Technology, Mid-Plains Community College, Northwest Iowa Community College, University of Northwestern Ohio, Universal Technical Institute, Western Technical Institute, and Wyo Tech.