Filed under: Car Buying
Domestic Employee Discount Battle Ensues
Oh, I know there are some tired GM sales reps out there. We guess they will stay tired, because GM is extending their Employee Discount program until August 1st. We could say: "To everyone who wanted to buy GM, better buy now before the deal ends." However, with the price war just heating up, GM may extend the discount past August 1st. Ford and Chrysler have officially joined in this epic employee discount battle. All three programs are meant to clear out inventory, but Ford and Chrysler has been forced to level the playing field after GM extended its successful program. It will be interesting to see how the sales will look at the end of July. GM's incentive program seemed to hurt sales of Ford's truck and SUV lines in June. With Ford's incentive pricing drastically reducing prices on SUVs and trucks, the tables may turn for July sales. Or will the price war cut into sales of foreign makes? Guess we'll know for sure the first week in August.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
William Crabtree 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
Ok...time to buy a car!
Anywho...does anybody know each of the percentages off of invoice/MSRP or whatever each place offers? I am guessing buying a new car might be smart now.
GM-Isn't it like 4% or so? plus incentives?
Ford-Isn't their closer to 10%? plus incentives?
Chrysler-I have no clue???
Someone help me out?
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Travis 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
www.ford.com has a link. follow it and you'll see the discounts and cash back. not sure about chrysler.
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Slim 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
According to the Detroit News AutoInsider, this is how they work:
GM: Employee pricing varies by model, but is about 3 to 4 percent below dealer invoice. It's available on new cars and trucks through Aug. 1. Deal excludes Chevrolet Corvette, Pontiac GTO and medium-duty trucks.
Ford: Noncompany employees pay about 5 percent below invoice, plus available cash rebates. Lincoln Mark LT and Ford Mustang, GT and Escape Hybrid are excluded.
Chrysler: Consumers pay 4 to 5 percent below invoice, in addition to any available cash rebates. Deal excludes Chrysler 300, Dodge Magnum, Dodge Charger, Dodge Viper, and SRT performance line.
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Joel A 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
"Deal excludes Chrysler 300, Dodge Magnum, Dodge Charger..."
Well, that pretty much cuts out DCX for me. Neon? Uh, just donated it. I'm trying to move upward. Sebring? Uh, no. PT Cruiser? That'll look great at the country club...if I was staff. Crossfire? I'll get a XJK.
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JSM 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
thanks slim, in other words the deals exclude any car any of us might want to buy, except the trucks.
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William Crabtree 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
Thanks slim!
#4...no doubt! I wanted an SRT-4 and that % off would be the only way I would get one.
Oh well...guess I will dream some more...
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Patriotic Dissent 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
I wonder if Mazda and Volvo might be part of the Ford deal?
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Mike 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
I'm thinking GM still had Ford and Chrysler trumped. At least they actually have a full line of vehicles that are subject to the discount.
Ford comes in a close second and Chrysler just doesn't seem to get (need?) it.
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JSM 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
Interesting, I was just pricing Mustangs at the Ford site and when I got to the point where they were showing me actual VIN'd cars they were listing the "A to Z price" where they usually have the msrp - Not a good way to keep a happy consumer if they're not really offering these
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Jay 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
>> I wonder if Mazda and Volvo might be part
>> of the Ford deal?
I was at a Mazda dealership looking at 3 wagons about 2 weeks ago when rumors of Ford's version of the plan were beginning to become reality, and the salesman I spoke with there said that the Ford employee discount plan would be accepted at the Mazda dealer.
He may have just been saying so to get my interest as I told him I wasn't prepared to buy, but it may be case.
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William Crabtree 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
I really doubt Mazda is in on it. I asked about Mazda before to my girlfriends dad who works for Ford and he said it was a seperate program. And when you go to Ford's website it only shows the discount on Ford/Lincoln/Mercury and no others.
I, too, would like a Mazda at a lil' discount.
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Jay 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
>>Ford comes in a close second and Chrysler
>>just doesn't seem to get (need?) it.
I honestly don't think either of them really need it. Their June sales were completely unaffected by GM's employee pricing plan, like the sales of most of the rest of the auto industry. Because it didn't really affect anyone else's sales numbers, I think much of GM's sales were GM-loyalists were going to buy GM anyway but did so now when the prices are good, and when their promotion ends, their sales will plummet when all of their prospective buyers already have their cars. I think Ford and Chrysler trying to ape GM in this case will hurt their bottom line in the long run and drive down resale values at a time when they don't need anything negative attached to their respective turnarounds. At least they're keeping their newer and most important vehicles out of the program.
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Scott 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
Autoblog's post: "It will be interesting to see how the sales will look at the end of July. GMs incentive program seemed to hurt sales of Fords truck and SUV lines in June. With Fords incentive pricing drastically reducing prices on SUVs and trucks, the tables may turn for July sales."
Jay's comment: "I honestly don't think either of them really need it. Their June sales were completely unaffected by GM's employee pricing plan, like the sales of most of the rest of the auto industry."
Completely unaffected? Jay, apparently you haven't been reading the same news as Randall Halcomb...
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Jay 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
>>Jay, apparently you haven't been reading the
>>same news as Randall Halcomb...
No, but I did read a previous entry in Autoblog that pointed to the actual sales figures (it was yesterday, I believe). For the month of June 2005 compared to June 2004, Ford's sales went up .7%, and DCX went up around 5%. Which is pretty much how it's been for the last several months. So they didn't really lose any sales to GM. In fact, most everyone stayed pretty consistent. GM's sales seemed to have come from people who were going to by GM anyway...they didn't take sales from their competitors and they lost money in the process. So rather than do something silly to lose out on their profits, I'd rather see Ford and DCX exercise some restraint and not jump on the bandwagon. There are several car companies that sell far fewer cars than DCX and Ford, and they're not soiling themselves to bring out some sort of red-tag sale. They're doing just fine.
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Mike 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
I'm in need of a mini-van and looks like the Town & Country is a good deal right now with Chrysler's Employee discount plus $2000 cash back on a 2005. Can I still try to negotiate this price lower than what the employee discount price is?
Should I go in with a figure as far as what I can afford and see if they will come down to that?
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Jay 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
GM EMPLOYEE DISCOUNTS AND CANADA WIDE CLEARANCE ON NOW IN CANADA.
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Nat 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
One thing you're all missing -- when the customers hit the floor of a dealership that is giving the employee discount, they don't have to go through the bullshit of bargaining to get a deal -- and that's worth a lot [see Saturn].
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Alfonso Alegria, but, use Al 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
Mike, post #15 had asked, Can I still try to negotiate this price lower than what the employee discount price is? I am also in the market for a new auto, however, everytime I'm given a quote, it's based on the Base MSRP along with whatever options I choose (also based on the MSRP). You are then quoted the Family Discount Price based on the MSRP. What I'd like to know is, is that price set in stone or is there room for negotiation? For example, here is quote given to me by a local dealership for a Ford Focus ZX4 SES with some options:
TOTAL MSRP $19,995.00
EMPLOYEE PRICE $18,103.79
CASH BACK ($2,500.00)
__________
FORD FAMILY PRICE $15,603.79
Can anyone advise?????
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Mike 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
More info from #15 - I went to look at the car and asked if that price was negotiation because it was a bit higher than I was hoping. They said the were not allowed to charge more than that price because they would get in trouble from Chrysler. I said, that's good, but I don't want you to charge me more than that price, I want to pay less than that price. They told me that EP price was the bottom line and not negotiable. I was very suprised at this.
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AJ Brumfield 10:45PM (12/18/2005)
I've been looking at the Jeep liberty. While it has been included as part of the Employee discounted pricing, the deisel crd has not been. This morning I was given EP pricing on a diesel and called to verify that in fact the diesel was included. T'was!
Unfortunately, I am somewhat disheartened since the dealer invoice that I saw this morning from which the EP price was derived included ad pricing to the tune of nearly $500, fuel that the rig arrives with and a loyalty fee of $25.00 (I thought they were supposed to buy my loyalty....) If there is no bargaining, these "cost of doing business" fees will be on my shoulders if I bite.
I really like these rigs, but don't want to pay for sales perk addons.
Any ideas?
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