• The service allows new customers to book a test drive or book a new car and also get it delivered.
• Existing customers can schedule car service and troubleshoot basic car problems.
• Ford has also laid out new operating plans for its dealerships, for the period after the lockdown.

With the coronavirus pandemic still having a tight grip on the country (with the nationwide lockdown extended), carmakers are introducing new services to accommodate their customers. Ford has just launched its Dial-A-Ford service, which is a centrally controlled helpline created to serve both, new and existing customers.

The new service allows new customers to book a test drive or book a new car and even have it delivered to their doorstep. Existing customers can use it to schedule a car service with doorstep pick-up and drop-off facility. Customers can also use Dial-A-Ford to troubleshoot basic car problems.

Keeping in mind the current situation, Ford also aims to adopt industry best practices for sanitisation of cars (involved in doorstep deliver or pick-up) as well as its facilities. To this extent, the carmaker has even laid out new operating plans for when its dealerships and workshops reopen.

These plans, applicable to employees and customers, include checking of body temperature via contactless infrared thermometers of anyone entering Ford’s dealerships, ensuring usage of face masks and gloves at all times, and providing the facility for disposal of used masks and gloves. Ford will also provide sanitiser dispensers around the dealerships, rearrange floor layouts to promote social distancing, as well as have them all thoroughly disinfected three times a day.