Ford of Canada has followed the local unit of DaimlerChrysler by announcing a new programme to offer employee discount pricing to customers who purchase a new vehicle from Friday.
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The so-called ‘Ford Family Plan’ is designed to drive showroom traffic during July, traditionally a pek selling month for the Canadian auto industry.
In an offer similar to DC’s Ford will offer employee discount pricing to all, plus up to $C5,000 “dealer delivery allowance”.
The discount will apply to 2005 model year vehicles and is in addition to other special offers already available.
“It’s the Ford Family Plan price plus other special offers – plain and simple,” a Ford spokesman said.
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By GlobalDataExcluded from the new promotion are trucks larger than F-350 and E-350, the Mustang and Escape Hybrid SUV.
A national advertising campaign will start on July 9.
Auto industry analyst Dennis DesRosiers said: “As expected it only took Ford a matter of hours before they matched DCX with “employee discounts for everyone”. How far behind will GM be?
“From the ‘business’ of the automotive sector perspective there is not much positive about these programmes. They will further lower the price points in the market, seriously hurt resale value in the used vehicle market, undermine sales of new models and further erode brand value.
“From a consumer perspective though, some (not all) of these deals are very good so consumers will “buy” a lot of product but at the same time they will “sell” the stock and this isn’t good for any public entity in the automotive sector.”
DesRosiers said one of the bigger problems in the auto industry is created when consumers “buy the deal rather than the product”.
“Nothing is worse for a consumer than getting enticed into a vehicle that he or she doesn’t need or isn’t right for him or doesn’t suit their needs.
“They drive around for the next five to eight years with a terrible chip on their shoulders because sure as the sun will rise tomorrow they eventually figure out that the deal may have been good but they would have been better off in the vehicle that better suited their need.”
“This creates negative brand equity of the nth degree and is very difficult to overcome.”
