Ford will extend employee discount

[espo19047]

Automaker will not offer deal on most 2006 models




Steve Lyons
LOS ANGELES -- Ford Motor Co. will extend its employee discount plan through this month.
Ford sales chief Steve Lyons told Automotive News in an interview Wednesday that Ford will keep the discount on its 2005 models through Sept. 30. But it won't add additional 2006 models to the program like General Motors did last week.
"Frankly, we've got to get on with launching our new cars," said Lyons, Ford group vice president of marketing, sales and service. "So let's go."
Ford previously had committed to offering employee discounts only through Sept. 6. Ford already had included five 2006 nameplates in the program last month: the Escape and Expedition SUVs, E-series vans and wagons and F-250 and F-350 pickups. Those nameplates had early 2006 launches, and inventory of the 2005 models had been running low.
With the September extension, Lyons now says Ford will keep the employee discount on some of those 2006 models but will likely remove it from others. Those details are still being worked out, a spokesman said. But Sept. 30 will probably be the end for the employee discount program, Lyons said. "By then, we'll be down sufficiently (on inventory), so we can just walk away," he said. "I just think this is bad for business."
Ford's major launch this fall is the 2006 Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln Zephyr mid-sized cars. Those models began shipping from an assembly plant in Hermosillo, Mexico, this week, Lyons said. They should start trickling into dealer showrooms in the next week or two.

http://www.autonews.com/defaultRegis...s?newsId=13212

[toro83]

This employee discount thing has really got to end... It's getting ridiculous.

I'm looking forward to seeing the Fusion, Milan, and Zephyr. The company I work for has Ford and Lincoln-Mercury dealerships so I'm excited to see all three models and how they're differentiated from eachother.

[AdmiralViscen]

Lyons is acknowledging how damaging it is, so I'm not worried about it not ending.