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Ford expands airbags
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April 8, 1998: 11:00 a.m. ET
All models to offer side-collision protection airbags by 2001
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Ford Motor is taking a major step to improve car safety, as Jacques Nasser, president of Ford's automotive operations, announced Wednesday that the company will offer side airbags on all cars and the Windstar minivan by 2001.
Joining CNNfn's "Before Hours" from the New York Auto Show, Nasser also spoke about Ford's success in the luxury segment of the auto market, concentrating on the company's new Lincoln LS luxury sport models.
Here is a transcript of his remarks.
DEBORAH MARCHINI, CNNfn ANCHOR: Can you confirm, first of all, a report that Ford Motor is in fact planning to put side-impact airbags in all of its vehicles?
JACQUES NASSER, PRESIDENT, FORD AUTOMOTIVE OPERATIONS: Yes, we're planning to announce it officially today at the New York [auto] show and it's a move on our part to really continue the leadership that we've got in safety as it relates to vehicles.
MARCHINI: Why are you doing this? Is there consumer demand for it?
NASSER: We feel it's the right thing to do and we have the technology. Over the next two to three years, we plan to roll it out successively with each new model as it integrates into our plan.
We think it's a good thing for our customers and we're really pushing anything that enhances safety and security, while at the same time being affordable.
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNNfn ANCHOR: This announcement's a pretty gutsy move with that luxury sports sedan that's over your shoulder there. You're going after the baby boomers who are in the high earnings brackets right now.
Are you worried about cannibalizing sales for the Ford Explorer -- which has done very well -- and the minivan, which also targets that market?
NASSER: We don't think so. The Ford Explorer, in particular, has done exceptionally well despite increase competitive activity in that particular segment. And Lincoln this year is up about 60 percent compared to last year's sales. Lincoln, as you know, is very strong in the traditional luxury segment in the U.S. market.
And what we have here with the Lincoln LS is really a brand new segment for Lincoln, a vehicle that will be sold worldwide.
MARCHINI: You have also a product called the Lincoln Navigator, which is a luxury sport utility vehicle. How is that doing? Are you concerned about the pressures to raise insurance rates and perhaps regulate construction of these vehicles because they, like a lot of sport utility vehicles, might pose a safety threat to the drivers of cars?
NASSER: Of course, we're always concerned about safety and that's why our safety ratings here in the U.S. are second to none.
The sport utility segment is growing and it's really at this stage dominated by Lincoln. The marketplace is telling us that people really love their trucks and love sports utility vehicles.
DEFTERIOS: This is a car designed from California, isn't it? Something the Japanese car makers did a decade ago, same thing with the Germans. What are you getting from the West Coast that you could not get from Detroit?
NASSER: Well, I think different things. We're placing our Lincoln and Mercury headquarters -- and also a new design center particularly dedicated to Lincoln -- in California.
It's to absorb some of the trends that are happening in California, to live the experience of the West Coast and also perhaps get a better understanding of trends coming in across the Pacific. In some ways, it's also to hire and recruit and train different people from that market as well. 
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