The Finacial Times has reported that both Ford and Chrysler are giving healthy discount incentives on their new 2009 Ford F-150 and Dodge Ram pickup trucks. The incentives are in place to try and boost North American sales as this has been a troublesome market lately for the two American auto giants.
A discount of $2,500 will be offered for every trade-in of the F-150 and Dodge is giving $2,000 cash back on its new Ram. Though these incentives are seen as a desperate move by many industry insiders, the numbers don’t lie. Sales of large pickups made up almost 16% of the U.S. light-vehicle market sales last month due to heavy incentives from the major truck makers in this country. Expect these heavy discounts to continue.
Though it seems that there has been a slow-down in the rise of fuel prices, the last few months have left their permanent mark on the American psyche. People are realizing more and more that these past months have been merely a warning of how bad things could get. This might be the beginning of the end of automakers relying on big, cheap-to-produce trucks as their bread and butter.
Source: Automotive News
