10 January 2005

Multimap Drives Ford’s Customers to their Nearest Dealerships across Europe

Ford, one of the world's leading car manufacturers, and Multimap, Europe’s number one online mapping provider, today announced a deal which increases footfall to Ford dealerships in nineteen European countries*. Multimap’s mapping services are part of Ford’s latest suite of new look and feel web sites, called Firefly #3, which has been designed to improve customers’ online experience, and increase brand loyalty. The addition of Multimap’s services to the new suite makes it easier and quicker for customers to find their nearest dealers, thereby driving more traffic to them. The resultant increase in footfall is further boosted by the services’ accessibility: customers can search for dealers and travel directions from any page on the web site. Multimap's dealer locator, mapping and driving directions are provided in the local language; sites also support bilingual and trilingual versions, where relevant.

Visitors to Ford’s European web sites access the dealer locator at the simple click of a mouse. This service allows them to search by postcode, town, or dealer name, or by clicking on the area of interest on the map delivered. They can further refine their search by selecting dealers with particular facilities or services such as car/van rental, vehicle repair, and used cars. Multimap delivers a list of the top three dealerships that fulfil these criteria, and users click for further location information including a detailed map of the area selected, and a link to the dealership’s own web site. In most countries customers can also receive step-by-step travel directions to the dealership of their choice and a map with a highlighted route of their journey.

Commenting on the deal, Kevin Welsh, e-business manager, Ford Europe, said, “Key to our brief was that the integration should be simple and quick, and the services highly cost-effective. Multimap delivered on all counts, as it did with our UK web site several years ago. The rollout of its online mapping services was rapid and smooth, and all our requirements for tailored services for particular country sites have been fulfilled without a hiccup. Multimap has a can-do attitude, and that, coupled with its immensely skilled and dedicated technical team, not to mention its high-quality maps of the world, translates to happy and loyal customers and dealers. In short, we’re delighted with the service!”

Jeff Kelisky, Multimap’s CEO, said, "We are really pleased to be working with Ford on this project. Ford had a challenging brief, involving some 19 sites, all of which had slightly different requirements. Our technical expertise and wide experience of working in multiple languages across Europe meant that we were able to deliver to Ford’s deadline, within budget and without difficulty. We are delighted to be powering the mapping services that should increase footfall to Ford dealers across Europe.”

* Ford has rolled out Multimap’s dealer locator on national websites in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia Spain, Sweden , Switzerland and Turkey. Multimap’s step-by-step “Travel Directions” service has also been rolled out on a number of these national websites.

About Multimap

Multimap is Europe's leading provider of mapping and location-based services. The company delivers more online maps, point-to-point driving directions and geo-spatial ("where's my nearest?") searches to more companies than any other supplier in Europe. All services are offered on mobile, PDA, kiosk, and interactive TV platforms and in multiple languages.

The public website, www.multimap.com, provides a range of free, useful services to assist with everyday life. Key features include street-level maps of Europe, USA, Canada and Australia; road maps of the world; door-to-door travel directions; aerial photographs; weather forecasts; links to location information; and services such as hotel, restaurant and entertainment booking. The public site attracts over 7.3 million unique users, registers more than 140 million page impressions every month, and is one of the top 10 most visited websites in the UK. Multimap recently featured in The Sunday Times Fast Track 100 league table of fastest-growing unquoted UK companies across all sectors.