I have heard from my local dealer that Chrysler and then Ford will be running an employee discount program much like GM has been. He said the Big 3 have been struggling and now they're all going to be doing this type of thing. Has anyone else heard this?

 

Chryslers considering it and i understand ford's got it on the discussion table- nothing definite though. The other thing that remains to be seen is how they structure it- in GM's case, many folks were better off with the larger rebates and the regular deal offered before the employye price promotion, unless they were buying a Duramax (those customers made out like bandits on the GMS deal)

 

Saw a D-Max at a local GMC dealer the other night. Sticker was $46,xxx and it was marked down just over $10k. Small dealer, never has more than two or three on the lot at any time anyway. Couldn't believe it was still there, they certainly moved some stuff over the last month. Their lot looked like it was hit by a tornado Too much truck for me though. I gots to have my vinyl interior

Sorry about the thread hijack.

 

Should see our lot...I delivered the last of the 53 D-maxes yesterday evening. We finally put a dent in the Suburban/Tahoe inventory (now just heavy, not buried in them). A couple Colorados left, delivered about half of the gas-pickup inventory, down to three Trailblazers (!), no Impalas (and none coming), a couple of Malibus, a couple of Cobalts...sheesh!

 

Back to the original topic. I gotta say it kind of concerns me that they are having to rely on new things to sell vehicles. I remember when big rebates became the norm, I wondered how they were going to sell them next year If you drum up the guy who was going to buy next year, this year...who will take his place? How will they ever get away from the large incentive? What will they have to do next? Just drop vehicles in driveways. I can't believe I am concerned for manufacturers, but it kinda worries me for anyone involved.

 

Ford did not do too bad last month on truck sales they sold like 72,000 which is just off of last years total. Despite GMs sales promotion. Remember last year was a record year for F-series sales. Bit if GM continues this promotion which it looks like it will an Chrysler follows suit they might have to just follow. Car sales were up for Ford as well as GM an Chrysler. GMs big vehicles Suburban an Tahoe an the like were not selling before this promo but now are as polar has said. GM is a desperate company that had to make a desperate move an it paid off for them. But what happens when it ends the showrooms dry up an people say Ill just wait until they do it again. People will expect this forever. The whole issue is fuel prices which are up over $1.00 more then two years ago. This has really hurt the automakers. Like polar said some customers were better off with the older rebates then with this new program. But could you tell customers that. No they just thought they stole there vehicles from GM. So do your math when you are buying a vehicle. It might not to good of a deal then you thought.

 

Man, you've hit the nail right on the head. Unfortunately, American corporations in general (and American auto manufacturers in particular) can't see very far beyond the end of their corporate nose. "What do we have to do TODAY to move our product?" is their never-ending question, with little regard as to the effect it has 5 years down the road. Rest assured that you'll be able to purchase a 2005 GM, Ford, or Chrysler product at employee-pricing levels for the month of July, starting on Tuesday or Wednesday. (Whether or not that results in a lower final cost is difficult to say, but it will happen. No one can ignore the amazing success GM has had with it for June.)

One downside to this is the negative impact it will have on resale value of recent-year ('02, '03, '04) vehicles; leasing payments will undoubtedly go up. If you don't think this is important, consider this: the 2 best-selling cars in America are the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. They also happen to be the 2 most-popular retail leased vehicles, BECAUSE THEIR RESALE VALUES ARE SO HIGH. Neither of those two companies have to provide much financial support (ultra-low lease rates, super-high rebates) in order to produce those wonderful monthly payments they're always advertising; it's the vehicle and its resale value that creates the low payment. It's one important lesson Detroit needs to learn.

 

Its official Ford is matching GMs offer although under a different name. According to to the Detroit news as off 1 hr prior to this typing Ford is matching GMs offer.I think it was a given that this was going to happen. Maybe Polar or Jeff will have more details.

 

We'll post all the info tomorrow afternoon- there's a special closed-circuit broadcast at 2pm EDT that will give us Ford dealers all the details.

 

Maybe Jr. (Bill Ford Jr.) is just going to "sleep on it" on whether to include the 2006's, right??? I'm sure he'll wake up, go get the paper and read that the "Family Plan" is only available on the 2005 models. He'll then make the phone call to include ALL 2006 models.... After that, he'll sit down and watch the View for an hour and then go visit with his physic (who is now driving a week old Duramax)

 

Ford Bows to G.M. Pressure and Matches Employee Discount Deal

</NYT_HEADLINE><NYT_BYLINE type=" " version="1.0">By REUTERS
</NYT_BYLINE><NYT_TEXT>Filed at 5:00 p.m. ET

DETROIT (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co. (F.N), bowing to pressure from General Motors Corp. (GM.N), said on Tuesday that it was matching the big consumer incentives program that delivered blockbuster sales for GM last month.

Ford announced its new marketing campaign hours after GM said it was extending its ``Employee Discount for Everyone'' deals through Aug. 1.

The GM move was widely expected and set the stage for another intensification of Detroit's long-running price war.

Under the GM program, which was launched last month and due to expire July 5, the world's largest automaker is selling anybody a 2005 model car or truck at the same low price that GM employees pay.

Ford spokesman David Reuter said the ``Ford Family Plan'' -- which takes effect on Wednesday and will also run through Aug. 1 -- would be similar to GM's and shave thousands of dollars off the sticker prices of most 2005 models.

The GM program, which resonated with consumers, drove its June sales up 41 percent and delivered the company its best sales month in almost 19 years.

Ford's sales fell for the 13th straight month, meanwhile, and it can ill afford not to remain competitive with its larger, cross-town rival.

The Chrysler arm of DaimlerChrysler (DCX.N) (DCXGn.DE) is expected to match the GM program on Wednesday, as it too responds to marketplace pressures brought on by GM.

``We are going to advertise this widely in a huge, significant way throughout the month,'' said Reuter.

``It's pretty clear from what GM has done that customers like a great deal delivered in a very simple clear way.''

Ford's only hot-selling car, the all-new Mustang, will not be included in the ``Family Plan'' program, Reuter said. Gas-electric hybrid versions of its Escape sport utility vehicle are also excluded.

GM's program resonated with consumers because of its simplicity and because it eliminated the haggling over prices that many consumers dread.

``Customers like the one-price, no-haggle aspect of the program and continue to respond to it,'' said Jane Liu, vice president of data analysis at industry tracking firm Edmunds.com.

But selling cars by slashing thousands of dollars off their invoice prices is not without costs, and it can damage any brand's residual values.

SHRINKING PROFITS

Paul Ballew, GM's head of global market and industry analysis, told reporters and analysts on a conference call last Friday that GM's cost of incentives was flat or up only slightly in June compared to May.

But Autodata Corp. of Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, said GM's June incentives increased about 11 percent over the previous month to an industry-leading average of $4,458 per vehicle.

According to Autodata's incentive numbers, it cost GM more than $250 million to sell the 558,092 vehicles it sold in June than it would have at May's incentive levels.

``This is just going to lead to lower sticker prices in general,'' Autodata's Dave Lucas said of GM's program and the mounting pressure on other automakers to match it.

``This will have ramifications across even the Japanese,'' Lucas added. ``They certainly will feel the pressure.''

Edmunds.com, disputing Autodata's calculations, said GM's June incentives had only increased 3.6 percent over May, however.

Merrill Lynch analyst John Casesa said on Tuesday that GM's employee discounts may well have been a ``financial home run'' for the automaker after its first-quarter loss of $1.1 billion.

He cautioned that the full impact of the GM program would have to take into account the impact on sales and margins in the future, however.

``The everyday low price strategy should be an easy one for competitors to copy,'' Casesa wrote in a research note.

``And when they do, we fear that Detroit will have once again simply set a lower price level for all its products going forward, lowering the structural profitability of the industry.''

GM shares closed up 18 cents or 0.52 percent at $34.83 in Tuesday's trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Ford closed up 9 cents, or 0.87 percent, at $10.40.


</NYT_TEXT>

 

i guess i'll wait to beat my head against the wall when i see the details tomorrow....bought my 05 F-150 2 months ago =(

if they make it like GM's deal then maybe the hindsight damage won't be so bad.... unno reduce the rebates while reducing the price etc......

missed the Home Depot deal by like a month already ($500 down the drain).....

 

10:05PM and still nothing from Ford.....I'll try again in about an hour and see if they posted anything.

 

Until Jeff and PB get the complete info, I found this:

The Plan

The plan is simple to understand. All 2005 eligible models will be sold at or below the employee and retiree discount price less bonus customer cash incentives. Excluded from the plan are Ford trucks larger than F-350 and E-350, the Ford Mustang, Ford GT and Ford Escape Hybrid.

Beginning July 6, participating dealers will receive supplemental window stickers for all 2005 models outlining the MSRP, the employee discount and applicable cash rebates. For example:

Model MSRP Employee Price Less Customer Cash = Ford Family Price
Ford Explorer $32,895 $28,739 - $4,000 = $24,739
XLT 4x4

Mercury Montego $26,840 $24,019 - $500 = $23,519
Luxury AWD

Lincoln Navigator $51,145 $44,133 - $2,000 = $42,133
Luxury 4x2

(Sorry if the columns don't line up - cut-and-paste HMTL is a pain...)

 

Interesting. They are going to receive supplemental stickers that list the price with rebates included. I would imagine if some dealers would have done this on their own, they would have had less on the lot they would have to sticker up tomorrow. $45k stickers scare people. Put a simple sticker on the windshield that says $38-39k after rebates and see how many more people look at it. I'd like to see a figure of how many standard issue Super Duties have sold for sticker in the past few years. Would it take fingers on just one hand or both to count them?