Ford to Raise ’87 Prices 2.5%

Ford Motor Co. said today it expects to raise 1987 vehicle prices about 2.5% based on an equal increase in the Consumer Price Index.

Louis R. Ross, executive vice president for North American Automotive Operations, said the price increases most likely will be announced on a tentative basis sometime next month.

Ford President Harold A. Poling said Ford has about a $750 cost differential between its cars and Japanese cars, down from about $2,500 a year ago.

He added that “a major hunk of it was the exchange rate from 250 to 160 yen” to the U.S. dollar.