Bandwagon grows for auto discounts

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. jumped on the employee-discount bandwagon Tuesday, announcing it will join GM and Chrysler in allowing customers to buy vehicles at employee rates.

Ford’s decision follows a huge sales surge General Motors Corp. saw last month because of the heavily promoted discount, which drove monthly sales to their highest total in nearly 19 years. Chrysler said Friday it also would match such programs.

GM has given the same discount it provides to employees to anyone buying most new GM cars or trucks since June 1. The promotion, which was set to expire Tuesday, will remain in effect until Aug. 1. It includes all 2005 GM vehicles except the Chevrolet Corvette, Pontiac GTO and GMC medium duty trucks.

“It’s the summer selling season and that first month of the deal helped (GM) clear out a lot of their 2005 models,” said analyst Ron Pinelli, president of Woodcliff Lake, N.J.-based Autodata Corp. “To continue with it just makes good sense.”

Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday its “Ford Family Plan” will let all customers buy most of its 2005 models at the employee rate beginning today. The promotion excludes the Ford Mustang, GT and the Escape hybrid. It also will run through Aug. 1.