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April 28, 1999
Web posted at: 10:00 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT)

by Kathleen Ohlson

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(IDG) -- Ford Motor Co. continued its push into the Internet arena, forming a business unit to sell used auto parts over the Web, the automobile maker said today in a statement.

Ford will sell reused components and other parts to body shops, insurance companies and customers, the Dearborn, Mich., company said. The parts won't be limited to Ford and will include Honda and Toyota among other automakers, according to Bill Li, chief operating officer at the new Ford unit.

The venture is the next logical step for the automaker because the Internet is the fastest and easiest way to meet customers' needs, said Geoffrey Bock, an analyst at the Patricia Seybold Group in Boston. Ford should be able to lower its operation costs, improve customer service by creating a system to track customers' needs and "stay competitive with the market," Bock added.

Ford will announce the unit's name and more information at a future date, the company said. Ford said it formed the unit as an "environmental enterprise."