Taking Ford's Cars To The Extreme

LINK: Ford's webcast of the event should be available here at 1 PM.
TWITTER: WWJ's Jeff Gilbert will be sending updates from the event. Follow his Twitter feed (@jefferygilbert) here.

DEARBORN (WWJ) Ford is preparing to step up its presence in the area of "Action Motorsports." This goes well beyond racing to include drifting, rally racing and other events that the company refers to as "visually engaging forms of motorsports, featuring iconic action sports athletes."

Involvement in events like these, Ford says, helps the company connect with young buyers.

Ford will demonstrate some of its plans at the company's Product Development Center in Dearborn this afternoon. The demonstration will include a number of people well known in the action motorsports field, including Brian Deegan, a 14 time medalist in a program known as the X-Games.

The 17th edition of the X-Games will be held in Los Angeles July 28th thru the 31st and will be televised on ESPN. It features a number of extreme sports ranging from stateboarding to rally car racing.

Ford's Fiesta subcompact will be defending its gold medals in the rally competition.

Executives from Ford's marketing and motorsports departments will be at the event to explain the benefit the company gets from its involvement in action sports.

WWJ AutoBeat Reporter Jeff Gilbert will be at the event. Watch for his coverage on air and online.