Ford’s New Campaign Could Save You Thousands
Ford is offering its employee-pricing plan, known as the A Plan, to shoppers on most of its 2024 and 2025 models through June 2. The A Plan’s widened eligibility is part of Ford’s “From America, For America” campaign launching as President Trump’s new 25% tariff on all foreign auto imports takes effect. This campaign also includes a June 30 extension of its program, providing a free home charger and complimentary installation for purchases or leases on the automaker’s electric Mustang Mach-E SUV, F-150 Lightning pickup truck, or E-Transit cargo van. Ford’s discounts apply to its entire 2024 and 2025 model year inventory except for F-150 Raptors, 2025 Super Duty pickups, the Expedition, Lincoln Navigator, and Ford’s fleet vehicles.
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The A-Plan savings program provides a discount of about $2,000 to $10,000 per vehicle. While Ford declined to provide a full list of discounts, a customer purchasing a $65,000 F-150 XLT would spend $55,000 with the A Plan, while a Ford Escape ST SUV would drop from $36,300 to $33,000, according to anonymous dealership information sourced by The Detroit Free Press.
Related: Ford Mustang Sales Are Tanking. Here’s Why
Ford had more unsold cars in its inventory in February than all brands except Jaguar, Mini, and Dodge, Cox Automotive reports. This data was measured by how many days an automaker would take to sell all of its inventory’s vehicles. At the end of March, Ford had over 568,000 cars in its inventory, representing an 8% year-over-year increase. Rob Kaffl, Ford’s director of US sales, told The Detroit Free Press: “We’re in a very competitive position in our stock. And the auto sector, and overall public, has seen a lot of uncertainty in the market right now especially in the automotive space. So we feel by providing this message in ‘From America, For America,’ we’re providing some security.” On Tuesday, Ford’s first quarter report revealed sales were down 1.3% from a year ago, but its electric vehicle (EV) sales increased 25.5% to represent 15% of its overall sales.
Ford and General Motors (GM) are the two largest vehicle producers in the US, but GM imports 46% of its inventory sold in the US compared to Ford’s 21%, according to Electrek. Today, Ford released a video highlighting its commitment to domestic auto manufacturing and sales as part of its From America, For America campaign. The video notes that Ford employs the most hourly auto workers in the US and assembles the most vehicles domestically.
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Final Thoughts
In February, think tank Anderson Economic Group predicted that costs for North America-assembled cars could increase anywhere from $4,000 to $12,000—with EVs facing $12,000-plus price hikes, CNN reports. Auto consumers are losing value in other areas, like complimentary maintenance plans. Hyundai, one of the most popular vehicle brands among US drivers, announced to its dealers that it would be ending its complimentary maintenance program covering routine maintenance on new car purchases for the first three years or 36,000 miles, whichever comes first.
Shoppers priced out of the new vehicle market likely won’t find much better value with used listings, as rising prices from tariffs are expected to increase pre-owned vehicle demand, further raising costs. While Ford’s offering of its employee discount is aimed at clearing out its inventory surplus, the promotion’s savings are substantial enough to warrant attention from shoppers, who appear to be buying cars at a higher rate to beat tariff price hikes. In March, the same month that Trump announced his administration’s auto tariffs, Hyundai, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Mazda reported increased customer demand, according to Jalopnik.