Ford Employee Pricing

For the month of August Ford has their employee pricing event on which is supposed to be the best deals of the year. I decided to do some research to see how good the savings are right now with my test vehicle being the Ford F-150 because it looked like this is where the big savings were to be found.  If you are not familiar with ford, their pricing schemes are easily the most complex in existence.  They often switch between low rates with low discounts and high rates with big discounts, even from month to month you can see dramatic changes in their discounting methods.  I am guessing they are trying to hit a larger audience, since older buyers probably like the discounts but younger buyers like the low rates, so they try and hit both markets by switching back and forth.

That's just the start of it, lets say for instance you like the F-150 XLT.  You get 4 engine choices, 4 box length choices and 11 axel ratios..... all those are not exclusive since one type often goes with another but it is a LOT of options.  Each configuration has a different discount applied so considering they have 9 different models to apply a multitude of configurations it's safe to say there are probably over 100 different pricing models for the F-150.

I didn't have a week to put this together so I figured I would stick to base configurations of each model to look at the discounting.  The details on savings are below but suffice to say there are some really good deals on the F-150 right now.  The XLT and FX2 seem like really good deals and the rates are not bad now either with 3.49% for five years and 4.49% for seven years.  The other striking thing from looking at the F-150 is the wide margin of prices!  You can go from under $20 k to just over $50 k.

I'd say if you are in the market for a new pick-up the F-150 is a great deal!



Here is a summary:

MODEL	PRICE	DISCOUNT	NET	% OFF
XL	19,999	1,985	18,014	10%
STX	27,299	7,688	19,611	28%
XLT	30,199	8,913	21,286	30%
FX2	39,899	11,771	28,128	30%
FX4	45,799	12,597	33,202	28%
Lariat	45,299	12,527	32,772	28%
King Ranch	60,499	14,655	45,844	24%
Platinum	61,099	14,739	46,360	24%
Limited	64,799	14,757	50,042	23%

2013 Ford Fusion

Here is a good article on the new 2013 Ford Fusion, it has a radical re-design that may scare away conservative types:  http://www.autos.ca/first-drives/first-drive-2013-ford-fusion/

This will mean that pretty soon, the 2012 models will be increasingly difficult to sell, people will either be scared away from Fusions by the new look or love the new look and refuse to buy the older model.  Right now Ford are offering $7,000 off the 2012 Fusion SEL with AWD, and $7,500 off the Sport model (compared to $2,500 off the 2013 models).  Unfortunately they are charging an outrageous 5.79% interest which puts a dent in the savings for sure.  That's normal operating procedure for Ford of course, high discounts combined with high rates, it must work for their target market, they are the only company that consistently uses that approach.  The customer can walk away saying "I saved over $7,000 on the vehicle"...... yes and you paid almost $5,000 in interest charges as well.

I think the new model looks great, not Kia Optima EX Luxury great but better than most out there. I'd say better than all except the Optima right now for an affordable mid sized sedan.  The SE AWD looks especially appealing with an intercooled turbo 2.0L 237 HP engine.