FORD F-SERIES SETS ALL-TIME TRUCK SALES RECORD; CELEBRATES 28 STRAIGHT YEARS TOPPING THE CHARTS

Long-time Ford customer Guillermo Zavala, Jr. is surprised with the keys to a new 2005 King Ranch F-150.

* Undisputed Champion: Ford F-Series tops its own all-time truck sales record with more than 912,000 units sold in a single year. During the past 25 years, F-Series has been the only nameplate to cross the 800,000 annual sales mark in the U.S. * 28 Years and Counting: On Dec. 31, F-Series will extend its winning streak to 28 years as the best-selling truck in the U.S., along with claiming the title of best-selling overall vehicle for 23 consecutive years.

FORD MAKES HOLIDAY GIFT OF KING RANCH F-150 TRUCK TO LOYAL SAN ANTONIO CUSTOMER TO CELEBRATE F-SERIES SALES RECORD

DEARBORN, Mich., Dec. 29, 2004 - When it comes to legendary winning streaks, a few select names immediately come to mind: the New York Yankees, the Boston Celtics and the Ford F-Series. The Yankees won five World Series in a row (1949-1953), and the Celtics celebrated eight consecutive NBA crowns (1959-1966). But only F-Series can claim 28 straight championships (1977-2004).

As the most successful vehicle in the history of automobiles, the Ford F-Series is in a league of its own at the top of the automotive game. Today, the undisputed truck leader is beating its own benchmark by setting a new all-time record of more than 912,000 trucks sold in one year. And on Dec. 31, F-Series will extend its lead as the best-selling truck in America for 28 consecutive years and the best-selling vehicle for 23 years in a row.

Legacy of Leadership Ford Motor Company has sold more than 28 million F-Series around the world since the nameplate's debut in 1948. Its annual sales volume tops what many companies achieve for their entire product lineup. This year, Ford has sold more F-Series trucks in a single month than some of its competitors have during the first three-quarters of the year.

"This is an unprecedented milestone," said Ford Division President Steve Lyons. "In the last 50 years, no other vehicle has been more central to the success of Ford than the F-Series. Today, we sell about one F-Series truck every 34 seconds in the U.S."

During the last 25 years, F-Series has been the only nameplate in the entire automotive industry to sell more than 800,000 units in a year in the U.S. It has achieved that milestone not once, but nine times. Now, F-Series crosses the 900,000 threshold for the second time, topping its last all-time sales record of 911,597 units set in 2001. Out of more than 250 different car, truck, and SUV nameplates, just one - Ford F-Series - will account for more than 5 percent of total U.S. vehicle sales in 2004.