Ford Motor Co. is offering a Dell desktop computer to people who buy or lease a 2005 Ford Focus as part of a nationwide promotion that runs through March.

According to a report in Automotive News, some Ford dealers say customers are unaware of the promotion. Customers can combine the offer with other Focus incentives and take $500 in cash instead of the computer.

This is not the first time Ford has used consumer goods as incentives. But it is the first time the automaker has supported such an incentive with national factory advertising, says Focus marketing manager Brad Roney.

The Dell program is "not screaming about cash-back offers on the vehicle," said Brad Roney, Focus marketing manager.

The computer package includes a 15-inch flat-screen monitor and a printer. A group of Chicago-area dealers developed the idea for the promotion, which began in Chicago in April 2004. The offer also was available for about a month in Boston and California before the national program began Feb. 1.

Focus sales in those areas during the promotion were 30 percent higher, on average, than in the rest of the country, Roney told Automotive News.