Ford Family Plan gives dealers a boost in profits

Much talk around the industry paints employee pricing deals as a bad gig for dealers. In fact, a few weeks ago, there was a report of a Ford salesman who made just above $20 on a Ranger he sold. A July upswing in Ford-Mercury-Lincoln sales, though, has many larger dealers reveling in profits they haven't seen in years. Ford's Steve Lyons, group vice president of marketing, sales and service told Automotive News that dealer profits topped $200 million in July, a 72 percent increase. The bigger dealers are ecstatic for now, but they know that the pricing plan isn't sustainable.