DETROIT — Opening Day came early for employees Tuesday at Jack Kain’s Ford-Lincoln-Mercury dealership when Ford Motor Co. announced a new program that would help buyers in the event of a job loss.
“When I read it to our salespeople, you would have thought we just knocked a home run,” said Kain, a dealer in Versailles, Ky. “We’ve been waiting for this for a long time.”
Weighed down by the lowest sales levels in 27 years and consumer confidence at historic lows, Ford and General Motors Corp. announced two programs that would cover buyers’ monthly car payments in the event they lose their jobs. All automakers report sales figures for March today, which are expected to be just as dismal as February, when companies sold about 689,000 cars.
“It really attacks one of the key challenges in the market right now, and that’s confidence in the consumer’s ability to make their car payment,” said Tim Longnecker, automotive-industry executive for Acxiom Automotive, a marketing-consulting firm. “I think they’re good programs, and I think they will spur demand.”
Under Ford’s plan, customers who purchase a new car or truck between Tuesday and June 1 and subsequently lose their job through no fault of their own will have Ford make their monthly payments for up to one year. The maximum monthly payment Ford will make is $700 — customers would have to make up the difference for payments exceeding that amount. That amount would cover the monthly payment of a vehicle costing $30,000 to $40,000, depending on interest rates, down payment and trade-in value.
