Ford Expands Sales Rebate Incentives
Ford Motor Co. today expanded its incentive program to include rebates ranging from $500 to $4,000, but did not match industry leader General Motors Corp.’s expensive dealer incentive plan.
The No. 2 U.S. auto maker said its dealers preferred to see bigger rebates go directly to customers rather than participate in a sales contest.
“Our dealers said, ‘Don’t give it to us, give it to the customer,’ ” said Ross Roberts, general manager of the Lincoln-Mercury division.
Analysts had been watching to see if Ford would match GM’s dealer incentive plan, which called for payments of up to $1,000 per car if dealers exceed sales quotas. GM dealers can use the money for additional rebates, advertising or keep it as profit.
GM’s Low-Interest Financing
GM is offering low-interest financing plans and rebates of up to $1,500 under its customer incentive program. Chrysler Corp. has a plan with financing rates as low as zero percent and rebates as well. It has no dealer incentive plan.
Each of the auto makers’ plans runs indefinitely, allowing the companies to adjust them if one of its competitors takes action.
Under Ford’s incentive program, customers can choose from rebates on all Ford models as well as cut-rate financing. While the lowest loan rate remains 2.9% on two-year loans, Ford increased the rates on three- and four-year loans.
Ford’s previous program expired Monday.
Thomas Wagner, general manager of the Ford division, said customers indicated a preference for bigger rebates instead of interest rate plans. He noted that the prime lending rate has been dropping for the last several weeks.
Increased Rebates
Ford’s plan includes increased rebates on two of its most popular car models, the Taurus and Sable, as well as on the new Cougar and Thunderbird models, which were introduced in December.
The smallest rebate of $500 is on the Ford Probe and the highest of $4,000 is for the Merkur XR4TI, which was discontinued last year but which many dealers still have in stock.
Ford said 21 car and truck models have rebates of $1,000 or more, and 13 have rebates of $750 or more.
Ford’s auto sales this year are down 2%, the smallest decline of any Big Three auto maker. Industry car sales are down 6%.
