except on the Mustang and after repeatedly saying no we will not do it.

http://money.cnn.com/2005/07/05/Auto...reut/index.htm

Ford to match GM's discount plan
Price war heats up as both automakers sell vehicles to customers for what an employee would pay.

DETROIT (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co., bowing to pressure from General Motors Corp., said Tuesday that it would match its larger rival's employee discount consumer incentives program.

Ford (Research) announced its new marketing campaign hours after GM (Research) said it was extending its "employee discount for everyone" deals through Aug. 1.

Ford shares rose nearly 1 percent to close at $10.40 in New York while GM stock edged higher 0.4 percent to end the day at $34.83.

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 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 cross-town rival.

The Chrysler arm of DaimlerChrysler (Research) is also expected to match the GM program 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.

"Its 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, according to analysts.

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 with May.

But Autodata Corp. of Woodcliff Lake, N.J., 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."

Merrill Lynch analyst John Casesa noted that GM has said lower leasing offset the cost of generous retail deals in June, making it a "financial home run" for the automaker after its first-quarter loss of $1.1 billion.

Casesa cautioned that the full impact of the GM discount 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," said Casesa 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."

 

Now's when we'll really see if there's more to GM's June results than a good price and an uncharacteristically stress-free dealership experience.

With DCX and Ford doing the same thing now, my prediction for GM's July market share: 26-27%

 

Very true.

I think GM has an advantage carrying some momentum into July.

But even a 27% market share for the month would still be good VS what 24½% for the first 5 months?
I would definitely love to see another 30% month though.

 

GM is excluding the vette and now GTO
Ford will exclude the stang
I wonder if DC will exclude the 300, Magnum and/or Charger?

 

Prolly the Viper and Charger. I don't think they could get away with holding it out on the 300.

 

What is the discount rate for ford? I may have to look into a little Focus daily driver.

 

Get a Cobalt instead.

Besides being nicer (IMO), remember that if it weren't for GM offering the Employee Pricing first, Ford (nor anyone else) wouldn't have bothered offering this discount to their customers.

 

Never, everything is 10 year 100k warrany now and they put the cobalt out with a 6 year 60k warranty, no thanks, thats like saying "ours isnt as good" Plus I havent seen the Cobalt in the real cheap price range. Not really looking for a car, but if I could get a new one for 10-11k i'd go for it.

 

You do realize the 5 year (not 10 year) / 100,000 mile warranty on the Focus is powertrain only.... the rest of the car is the standard 3 yr/ 36,000 mile warranty, right?

Compared to Cobalt, you get an extra 40,000 miles and no extra time (Cobalt's powertrain is 5 years also, not 6)

(I do give credit to Ford for the powertrain warranty, though)

Link to Ford's website

 

Whos is putting 10 year 100k on anything other then the Korean vehicles????


On a nother note, for.com has the ford family price wizard up now. Its really the same with GM, the price is what most people were already paying anyway. You just dont get the 20% of uninformed people losing a wad of cash to the dealer himself.

 

Ya actually I made that sound wrong, I wasnt comparing the cobalts warranty to the focus, just to the common 10yr/100k u hear on the radio. and ya its all foreign makers but so what, american dealers need to step up.

 

Nope, it's not "all foriegn makers" either... it's a few Korean manufacturers... that's about it.

And, if you knew that already... why would you buy a Focus but not a Cobalt when the 10 yr/ 100,000 mile warranty is a main concern of yours? (unless you just flat out dislike the Cobalt for some reason)

 

I disliek that its such a new vehicleand only goign to have that kinda warranty, I could understadn if it was an updated vehicle, but a totally new product should be built on higher standards, allowing for a better warranty, Only thing I hate on the cobalt is the spoiler, which i know i could get one without.


And I was just looking for MSRPs to back up why Id want a focus instead adn found I was wrong lol

I was sure the cobalt started at 17k, but theres really only a 300 dollar difference...

 

Fair enough... but if this is the case, you should really only be considering Kia's and Hyundai's....

(Or older design vehicles with lesser warranties, by the way your post reads, but that doesn't add up to me...)

 

Warrenty's are a gimic to get people to buy cars that they think may break down. A quality car does not need an extened warranty like that. As a matter of fact, all it does is encourage people to mistreat and beat on the cars becasue they are still covered. They put a big drain on the auto indusrty in general. The Koreans do it becasue they had to. They also have the margins to support it.