(no subject)
Been on a 'True Blue' course today up at the Henry Ford College in Loughborough. Meant getting up at 5:15 this morning so that I could leave at 6:00 to be there for 8:30. Normally only a two hour drive but like to be safe in case of any roadworks etc.
Basically its a product training course. Was really looking forward to it as the ones the last few years have been superb. The Ford training I have got to say is quite impressive.
The same format applied as in previous years - half the day based at the college listening to talks etc and the other half about half an hour away at an old airfield and race circuit at a small village called Preswold.
This year, I was at the college in the morning then at the track in the afternoon - the way I prefer it to be honest as you can get quite sleepy after lunch listening to talks.
There were four talks:
1) Jason Dawe, a journalist who has been on Top Gear. He was there last year and is an excellent speaker. He actually used to be on car sales himself so talks a lot from experience and is really enthusiastic. He did a Talk about the 'Focus family'. Very informative.
2) Second one, I didnt really feel was very relavent to us, which is not normal for this course. Basically this lady spoke about what women look for in cars, and how to sell to them. I dunno, just seemed a bit strange really.
3) This one was about voice activation and bluetooth technology Ford offer in their cars. knew a bit about this one already as have sold one with the system where you can control majors functions of the car with your voice, e.g the radio, climate control, and telephone. Unfortunatly one the of the demo cars wasnt working all that well!!
4) Realyl good one actually about the current offers and special edition models. All very useful stuff for the job we do. Could do with having that kind of talk reguarly to understand current stuff.
After lunch we were transfered to Preswold.
Three activities in this session:
1) New Fiesta against rivals - We got to try the Fiesta, Renault Clio, Toyota Yaris and VW polo on several different aspects - steering (we did a figure of eight around some cones), parking (had to parrellel park within some cones), ABS test (had a sleepery serface to demonstrate the ABS systems) and ride quiality (drove over a series of bumps at 30mph). Overall I guess the fiesta was best although the Yaris was really easy to park, the Polo had a good ride quality and the Clio had a really nice 1.5 diesel engine. The Fiesta was really hard over the bumps, but pretty good on the other bits.
2) New Focus against key competitors on the road - Basically, this one was done on the public roads using sat nav to guide us. We tried the Honda Civic which looked awsome but the dash was just mental and I know I would hate it, and then the VW Golf and Focus. Although I know I shouldnt say it, but really liked the way the Golf drove and think if I was in the market, the Golf would beat the Focus.
3) On the race track - We got to drive Focus C-Max 2.0 TDCi and Focus 1.6TDCi round the little track and a fairly good speed and also swearve in cones etc to make the tyres squieel. Great thing about that place, is that is so open you can safley push the cars in a way you cant do on the road. Then some proffesional women racing drivers took us for a few laps in a Focus ST - wow they can sure drive. Was great as they really push the cars. Although the one I was with (who was rather tastey!) said it can get boring going round and round all day! I wouldnt mind swoping with her!
Got back home about 6:30. Am totally shattered so just going to watch some tv then head to bed..yawn...
Basically its a product training course. Was really looking forward to it as the ones the last few years have been superb. The Ford training I have got to say is quite impressive.
The same format applied as in previous years - half the day based at the college listening to talks etc and the other half about half an hour away at an old airfield and race circuit at a small village called Preswold.
This year, I was at the college in the morning then at the track in the afternoon - the way I prefer it to be honest as you can get quite sleepy after lunch listening to talks.
There were four talks:
1) Jason Dawe, a journalist who has been on Top Gear. He was there last year and is an excellent speaker. He actually used to be on car sales himself so talks a lot from experience and is really enthusiastic. He did a Talk about the 'Focus family'. Very informative.
2) Second one, I didnt really feel was very relavent to us, which is not normal for this course. Basically this lady spoke about what women look for in cars, and how to sell to them. I dunno, just seemed a bit strange really.
3) This one was about voice activation and bluetooth technology Ford offer in their cars. knew a bit about this one already as have sold one with the system where you can control majors functions of the car with your voice, e.g the radio, climate control, and telephone. Unfortunatly one the of the demo cars wasnt working all that well!!
4) Realyl good one actually about the current offers and special edition models. All very useful stuff for the job we do. Could do with having that kind of talk reguarly to understand current stuff.
After lunch we were transfered to Preswold.
Three activities in this session:
1) New Fiesta against rivals - We got to try the Fiesta, Renault Clio, Toyota Yaris and VW polo on several different aspects - steering (we did a figure of eight around some cones), parking (had to parrellel park within some cones), ABS test (had a sleepery serface to demonstrate the ABS systems) and ride quiality (drove over a series of bumps at 30mph). Overall I guess the fiesta was best although the Yaris was really easy to park, the Polo had a good ride quality and the Clio had a really nice 1.5 diesel engine. The Fiesta was really hard over the bumps, but pretty good on the other bits.
2) New Focus against key competitors on the road - Basically, this one was done on the public roads using sat nav to guide us. We tried the Honda Civic which looked awsome but the dash was just mental and I know I would hate it, and then the VW Golf and Focus. Although I know I shouldnt say it, but really liked the way the Golf drove and think if I was in the market, the Golf would beat the Focus.
3) On the race track - We got to drive Focus C-Max 2.0 TDCi and Focus 1.6TDCi round the little track and a fairly good speed and also swearve in cones etc to make the tyres squieel. Great thing about that place, is that is so open you can safley push the cars in a way you cant do on the road. Then some proffesional women racing drivers took us for a few laps in a Focus ST - wow they can sure drive. Was great as they really push the cars. Although the one I was with (who was rather tastey!) said it can get boring going round and round all day! I wouldnt mind swoping with her!
Got back home about 6:30. Am totally shattered so just going to watch some tv then head to bed..yawn...