C-MAX Hybrid Guide

Unique Ad Campaign for Ford C-MAX Hybrids Gains Traction with New CustomersPreliminary Nielsen data from 2012 ad campaign indicate initial advertising efforts for Ford C-MAX hybrids have resonated well with consumersCampaign continues building on launch momentum of Ford’s five electrified vehicles with new TV spots and appearances, print ads and billboards along with fresh digital, social and direct mail componentsC-MAX Hybrid is featured in the new ABC reality cooking show “The Taste,” and will be a key part of challenges on the March 8 episode. The overall winner, to be announced March 12, will be awarded a C-MAX HybridC-MAX hybrids are drawing new customers to the Ford brand, with conquest rates remaining above 60 percent since vehicle launch last fall, and one-third of sales transacting in the Midwest Ford C-MAX Hybrid Owners – Ford’s new C-MAX hybrids are gaining momentum with new customers and are luring more Toyota hybrid owners out of their cars and into Ford’s new hybrids. Some of that momentum is coming from the unique advertising campaign for C-MAX Hybrid, which launched last fall as the vehicle hit showrooms, helping the C-MAX Hybrid become the fastest-selling hybrid ever at launch. Preliminary Nielsen data show the “La Linea” ad campaign for C-MAX hybrids is resonating well with consumers. Initial results show the campaign’s message communication, brand communication and purchase consideration are significantly higher than the norm – helping Ford to continue building awareness for this all-new nameplate. “We had a strong launch and are pleased with the overall reception of the C-MAX launch campaign,” said C.J. O’Donnell, marketing and strategy manager, Ford Electrified Vehicles. “But this is just a start; we intend to take a much larger share of the hybrid market.” As part of a plan to increase awareness and build on the momentum of the successful 2012 launch, Ford will continue C-MAX’s unique advertising campaign in 2013 – from billboards, gas pump screens, TV spots and movie theater screens to “American Idol.” The next wave of the campaign starts where the first phase left off, with two new TV spots featuring the main character from the animated series “La Linea” who acts out playful poetry read by the narrator and designed to showcase the many features of Ford C-MAX. C-MAX will also pop up on various other TV shows, including the new ABC reality cooking show “The Taste.” And details are being finalized for C-MAX Hybrid to once again hit the road as part of the Go Further Tour and Green Festivals relationship that, in 2012, gave more than 16,000 people around the U.S. a chance to test drive and experience – most for the first time ever – an electrified vehicle. The goal is to get Ford hybrid vehicles in front of as many people as possible and ultimately, to continue building market share – Ford’s share of the hybrid market grew nearly 9 percentage points between December 2011 and December 2012, while Toyota’s share dropped 8 points. Additionally, initial sales data show C-MAX hybrids are bringing new customers to the Ford brand, with conquest rates remaining above 60 percent since launch; Toyota Prius and Honda CR-V hold the top competitive trade-in spots. One-third of all C-MAX sales take place in the Midwest (Great Lakes and Central regions), an area where hybrid sales have historically been lower. The C-MAX Hybrid ad campaign launched in October – the first full month C-MAX Hybrid and C-MAX Energi were at dealerships – and consisted of TV commercials, an online series of webisodes called “Hybrid Games,” and experiential elements through the Go Further Tour and Green Festivals relationship. The main character from the animated “La Linea” series popularized in the U.S. in the late 1970s and ’80s stars in the TV spots. In the ads, the character is put into troubling situations involving his car that can only be solved through the comfort and convenience of a Ford C-MAX. However, Ford takes on C-MAX competition even more playfully. For example, in one spot that highlights the greater horsepower of C-MAX versus the competition, the narrator quotes C-MAX as saying, “Wheeee!” The unique campaign’s digital components are also gaining traction among viewers. Internal Ford data show webisodes of “Hybrid Games” performing well beyond original projections. As of Dec. 31, these webisodes were viewed nearly 417,000 times via Ford.com – double the goal. C-MAX Hybrid and C-MAX Energi are two of five electrified vehicles Ford has launched in the last 18 months. The others are Focus Electric, Fusion Hybrid and Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid. C-MAX Hybrid and Fusion Hybrid are available at dealers nationwide and by spring, Focus Electric, C-MAX Energi and Fusion Energi will be available at more than 900 EV Certified Ford dealers across the country. The EV Certified dealers represent about one-third of U.S. Ford dealers. More information about Ford’s electrified vehicle lineup can be found here.

Just as you could get the Ford Model T in any color, as long as it was black, when the company brought the C-MAX stateside, it declared you could get any powertrain, as long as it was a hybrid. This week the C-MAX Energi rolls into the Autoline studio with John Davis, Chief Program Engineer, in tow. We’ll be asking him all about the car and about what challenges Ford faces in trying to sell a plug-in. We’ll also want to know why the C-MAX struggles, in testing, to meet the fuel economy ratings on the EPA label. And, yes, we will also get to the top news of the week. GM earnings are disappointing; 2013 just may be the year of the diesel as Ram and Subaru both announce new entries; and Federal Mogul says goodbye to spark plugs while Chevrolet says hello to shape memory alloys. Joining John McElroy in studio to talk about all that and much more, is Peter De Lorenzo, the Autoextremist, and Todd Lassa from Automobile.

welcome to the C-MAX Hybrid community :)

Topic pinned!

:dogwalk:

This topic has been PINNED! ;) Bill

There should be shared passwords between the FordSYNCForum.com and this site. Let us look into this. How do you mean compatible with iPad? With iPhone, we can implement TapaTalk in the near future. THANKS for the comments and feedback - Bill

We've had numerous requests on how to add your C-MAX's color to your profile page? We've added that option and it takes just a few clicks to complete. :) Simply click on this link and add/edit your profile information, click "Save Changes" and you're done! Note that you must be logged into complete this.

We've opened a new section, which is categorized by each C-MAX color. It can be found here and we've already migrated most topics over there. Enjoy!

Thanks for your review and welcome to the C-MAX Hybrid community :) Bill

We've added this new section so that other C-MAX Hybrid members can share their driving tips & tricks that have improved their mileage. Please feel free to share your driving methods that you've used to maximize your C-MAX's efficiency! Click here to start a topic now or click here to read topics & posts.

Hi, We have fixed your validation manually so that you can now post ;) Robert did fix the C-MAX forum being hidden to guests on BlueOvalForums.com Yes, the site does require that you make 10 posts before requesting tracking information.

Sorry about this failure. We've spent some time figuring out what the root problems were and ironed them out. We've asked IPS to work on the gallery as there are a few bugs, which will be fixed in their next update :) Bill

I bet the Ford C-MAX wins it!

Ford was certainly smart to use the C-MAX for their Hybrid models rather than a sedan. I've read a lot of comments about the room that the C-MAX has to offer.

There were a lot of people doubting Ford's strategy of only offering the C-MAX in a hybrid. With Ford's quality having improved dramatically over the years and with Ford having not taken any tax-payer money, there has been a lot of people looking at Ford and purchasing their products. It also seemed that people were waiting for something that was U.S. made and affordable.

The site was injected with bad code, which we have fixed. It took a little longer than expected since it was in a few different spots. We're all clean now, however, it may still flag as bad until it's all checked out: http://sitecheck.sucuri.net/results/fordcmaxhybridforum.com

Welcome to the C-MAX Hybrid community! ;)

GE to Purchase 2,000 Ford C-MAX Energi Plug-in Hybrids; Companies Collaborate with Georgia Tech to Accelerate Alternative Fuel Vehicle Adoption and Research GE will purchase 2,000 C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrids – Ford’s largest-ever plug-in electrified vehicle fleet sale – as part of GE’s commitment to convert half of its global fleet to alternative fuel vehicles C-MAX Energi is America’s most fuel-efficient plug-in hybrid with a 108 MPGe city EPA rating and a 620-mile single-tank range that will benefit GE’s sales and service professionals – many who drive more mileage daily than average commuters Ford will promote GE’s WattStation™ charging station and CNG in a Box™ natural gas fueling station with its commercial buyers. Ford will also supply new alternative fuel vehicles for use at GE’s Vehicle Innovation Center Georgia Institute of Technology researchers to study GE employee driving and charging habits through innovative MyFord® Mobile app to help optimize all-electric driving C-MAX ENERGI OWNERS – Ford Motor Company today announces a collaboration with GE (NYSE: GE), in which the company will purchase 2,000 Ford C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrids for its fleet – Ford’s largest-ever plug-in electrified vehicle fleet sale. Ford will also jointly market GE’s alternative fuel infrastructure solutions. For GE, the purchase of 2,000 Ford C-MAX Energi vehicles is another step in the company’s initiative to convert half of its global fleet to alternative fuel vehicles as part of its commitment to ecomagination. The addition of the Ford vehicles brings the number of alternative fuel vehicles in GE’s fleet to more than 5,000 in its goal of 25,000 vehicles. “Ford is launching six new electrified vehicles – a big bet that fuel prices will continue rising and lead to more demand for advanced fuel-efficient vehicles,” says Ken Czubay, Ford vice president, U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service. “We are pleased to partner with GE, a company that is charting a similar course, to promote advanced technology and energy savings.” Mark Vachon, vice president of ecomagination at GE, says, “At GE, we are focused on providing our customers and our fleet with more economically and environmentally efficient vehicles. The Ford C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid is a great addition to our expanding fleet of alternative fuel vehicles.” The two companies will also work with researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology to study GE employee driving and charging habits, with the goal of improving all-electric driving and charging performance. Researchers will use Ford’s MyFord® Mobile app – with real-time battery charge status and value charging that automatically recharges at lower-cost, off-peak electricity rates. “Understanding driving and charging habits is key to advancing vehicle and charging infrastructure,” says Professor Bert Bras of the Sustainable Design & Manufacturing laboratory at Georgia Tech. “Through access to vehicle data, we can accelerate research and development of new technologies to further improve efficiency, driver satisfaction and environmental benefits.” Study findings will be shared with commercial customers to provide insights and help facilitate deployment of electric vehicles in their own fleets amid a growing electric vehicle infrastructure that now includes more than 10,000 public charging stations across the country. Ecomagination is GE’s commitment to providing innovative solutions that maximize resources, drive economic performance and help make the world work better. Max efficiency With many Americans facing record gasoline prices, Ford is committed to deliver eight vehicles by year-end that deliver 40 mpg or more. The all-new Ford C-MAX Energi is America’s most fuel-efficient plug-in hybrid with an EPA- estimated 108 miles-per-gallon equivalent (MPGe) city rating and 100 MPGe combined rating. C-MAX Energi is expected to be America’s most affordable plug-in hybrid with a starting price of $29,995, after federal tax credit and including destination and delivery costs. The C-MAX Energi joins the C-MAX Hybrid as part of Ford’s first hybrid-only dedicated line of vehicles. C-MAX Hybrid, available in dealerships this fall, is America’s most fuel-efficient hybrid utility vehicle with EPA ratings of 47 mpg city, 47 mpg highway and 47 mpg combined. The C-MAX hybrids are on sale now and part of Ford’s strategy to deliver the power of choice for leading fuel economy across the lineup that includes six electrified vehicles. The other EVs are: Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid expected to achieve at least 100 MPGe to become the world’s most fuel-efficient sedan Fusion Hybrid at 47 mpg city, highway and combined is America’s most fuel-efficient, non-rechargeable sedan Focus Electric at 105 MPGe combined is America’s most fuel-efficient five-seat car Lincoln MKZ Hybrid coming later this year and expected to remain the most fuel-efficient luxury sedan in America More information about C-MAX Hybrid and C-MAX Energi can be found here. Fueling infrastructure Ford will promote GE’s WattStation™ charging station and CNG in a Box™ natural gas fueling station with its commercial customers. GE’s WattStation is an easy-to-use electric vehicle charger that significantly decreases the time needed for vehicle charging. The WattStation uses smart grid technology and comes with an app that helps customers more easily locate vehicle electricity sources. GE’s ecomagination qualified CNG in a Box is a fully integrated CNG fueling supply system offering cost-effective plug-and-play simplicity for fleet and retail fueling stations seeking to offer CNG fuel. Ford also will supply new alternative fuel vehicles for use at GE’s Vehicle Innovation Center at the headquarters of GE’s fleet management business in Eden Prairie, Minn. The Vehicle Innovation Center gives GE’s commercial customers the opportunity to learn about and test-drive alternative fuel cars and trucks from a variety of manufacturers in a single location with assistance from GE’s fleet, transportation, energy and advanced technology experts. Ford already has placed its pure electric Focus at the center.

We'd like your feedback on how we can make this forum better. Are there certain features that you'd like to see or maybe another category added? Please share your thoughts, opinions and suggestions with us so that this site can better serve everyone. Thanks, Bill

The C-MAX is the buzz of the auto world right now, so they are hard to find on dealer lots

Congratulations on taking delivery of your C-MAX. Please share some photos too :camera:

You can also download other manuals for both the C-MAX Enegi and Hybrid from Ford here.

Welcome to the Ford C-MAX Hybrid community :)