Report

Ford kills off Blue Oval Certified dealer program

Back in 2000, Ford rolled out what it called its Blue Oval Certified dealer program to reward its best retail outlets for outstanding customer satisfaction. But after 11 years of mixed results, Automotive News reports that Ford has scrapped the plan.

That's probably good news to dealers, since the program had gone from a chance for stores to earn thousands in rewards for strong satisfaction scores to a reason to earn special employee purchase prices on new Ford vehicles. Some dealers told AN that there was fear that a dealership would lose the franchise if the satisfaction scores weren't met.

While the Blue Oval Certified program has met its maker, we wouldn't be surprised if another program is right around the corner. Dealers will want rewards for making the grade, and car buyers will continue to be pressured into filling out those annoying satisfaction score cards.

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