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Politics : Ask Michael Burke -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tom M who wrote (102197)	7/30/2005 8:44:36 AM
From: Pogeu Mahone	Respond to of 132070

You and the brain washed american public will believe anything! Pavloves dog! At a few dealers, 'discount' depends Advertised prices of some cars rise after Ford launch By Bruce Mohl, Globe Staff \| July 16, 2005 With much fanfare, Ford Motor Co. launched a national marketing campaign last week promising to save car buyers possibly thousands of dollars by giving them the same discounts Ford employees get. But at some local dealerships, including Quirk Ford in Quincy and Jack Madden Ford in Norwood, advertised prices for some models have gone up as much as $1,000, not down. Adam Abelha of Fairhaven, who has been hunting for an Explorer for weeks, said the employee discounts seem misleading. ''I thought I was going to pull the trigger and buy a truck this week, but now I may wait until after the employee discount promotion ends," he said. Executives at Quirk and Jack Madden Ford didn't return numerous calls seeking comment. A member of the Quirk sales staff said the dealership had been offering unusually steep discounts in June that expired earlier this month. He referred all other questions to a dealership executive, who did not return phone calls. The nationally advertised employee discounts cover certain 2005 models. The pitch is that anyone walking in off the street gets the same discount off the manufacturer's suggested retail price as someone who works at Ford. But while automakers heavily influence car prices, local dealers have leeway to adjust prices on their own. For example, at Quirk Ford in Quincy, a four-wheel drive Ford Explorer XLT was advertised at $22,249 on July 3. But on Sunday, after Ford began promising that everyone would pay the same price as its employees, Quirk raised the advertised price of the XLT by $1,000. Advertised prices at Quirk also rose $1,000 for the Ford Explorer XLS, Eddie Bauer Explorer, Freestyle SE and SEL, and Ford Five Hundred. After the employee discount program took effect, Jack Madden Ford in Norwood raised the advertised price for the 2005 Taurus SE sedan by $1,000 to $14,995. A Ford spokesman said it would be unusual for a car's price to increase after implementation of employee discount pricing. ''The discounts this month in almost all cases are better," said David Reuter. ''I'm not going to tell you that in certain regions, in certain areas, a customer couldn't get a better price last month than this month. But the circumstances are very rare." General Motors launched employee discount pricing in June and sales that month jumped 47 percent compared with June 2004. Both Ford and DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler division jumped on the employee discount bandwagon this month, launching programs that are scheduled to expire Aug. 1. At all three manufacturers, the employee pricing deals apply only to 2005 models, and customers can continue to receive other discounts. Certain popular models are excluded from the deals. Comparing advertised prices before and after the advent of employee discounts for Chrysler and GM cars was difficult because local dealers often haven't included specific prices in their ads. Edmunds.com, which markets automobile pricing information, said it surveyed a sample of car sales nationwide involving all three manufacturers and found only one instance where the price a consumer paid for a vehicle increased after the advent of employee discount pricing. ''It seems to be savings across the board," said Jeannine Fallon, a spokeswoman for Edmunds. ''In almost every instance it's a better deal with the employee discount." Fallon said the savings tend to be the greatest on popular cars that were not heavily discounted before the employee discount programs began. She also said some dealers have dropped prices below the employee discount level. Indeed, the local advertised prices were still often better than what Ford was promoting with its employee discount program, called the Ford Family Plan. For example, the Ford Family price for the four-wheel drive Explorer XLT is $24,739, several hundred dollars above what Quirk Ford is advertising. In its ads, Quirk Ford boasts that ''you buy for less than the employee price." Even though automobile manufacturers have suggested that employee discount prices are no-haggle prices, Fallon advised consumers to keep haggling. ''Push harder than the employee discount," she said. ''Dealers want to unload these vehicles." Bruce Mohl can be reached at mohl@globe.com. © Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company ------------------------------------------ Re: car deflation in 6/2004. Now: Employee discounts for everyone & an extra $3500 off to boot!