DETROIT (AP) General Motors Corp. announced yesterday it was extending its discount program that allows customers to buy cars and trucks at the employee rate and helped the automaker’s sales soar last month.
Competitor Ford Motor Co., meanwhile, said it would begin its own employee price program for all customers.
GM has given the same discount it provides to employees to anyone buying most new GM cars or trucks since June 1. The promotion, which was set to expire yesterday, will remain in effect until Aug. 1.
The current promotion includes all 2005 GM vehicles except the Chevrolet Corvette, Pontiac GTO and GMC medium-duty trucks.
Ford said yesterday its “Ford Family Plan” would let all customers buy most its 2005 models at the employee rate beginning today. The promotion excludes the Ford Mustang, GT and the Escape hybrid.
“Consumers made it pretty clear in the month of June that they wanted a clear plan for purchasing their cars,” said David Reuter, Ford spokesman. Ford’s discount runs through Aug. 1.
DaimlerChrysler AG’s Chrysler Group has said it will match GM’s incentive starting today with an employee discount program of its own.
In June, GM saw its sales rise 41 percent to their highest monthly total in nearly 19 years because of the heavily promoted discount.
GM sold 550,829 vehicles last month, up from 374,970 in June 2004. That’s an increase of 41.3 percent after accounting for differences in the number of selling days, a sharp contrast from the single-digit growth the company has posted so far this year.
Almost all of the growth came from light truck sales, which jumped 69.2 percent to 375,092 vehicles.
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