Ford Drops Friends & Neighbors Promotion

Ford recently launched a major sale meant to drive up bargains this holiday season, however it’s ending a month early.

The Ford Friends and Neighbors sales promotion ends November 30, with a new promotion set to begin December 1. The highly anticipated fixed-price Ford sales program was supposed to be an attempt by Ford to gain more market share through aggressive sales incentives, but it didn’t go as planned. The Friends and Neighbors sale gave all consumers access to Ford employee and special business partner pricing.

Whatever the prices were, consumers didn’t seem to see them as enticing as Ford would have hoped. As reported by the Wall Street Journal, “Dealers say some customers were confused by the new approach because they have grown accustomed to seeing cash rebates and other bonuses advertised up front. Buyers didn’t always feel like they were getting a good enough deal, especially when stacked up against rival offers.”

Since the first incentive program didn’t work out as planned, Ford is moving swiftly onto another plan, however the details are still very few. Elizabeth Weigandt, Spokeswoman for Ford told Edmunds.com, “Starting Tuesday, Ford is moving to a new Holiday Sales Event, Dealers offered insights on the kinds of offers resonating most with customers in-market, and we are updating our plan based on their feedback. We will continue to be competitive yet disciplined on incentives and offers for customers.”

Ford is trying to regain market share lost while it went though a factory upgrade to allow production of the new aluminum body Ford F-150 pickups. The WSJ reports while Ford worked out its Factory situation, dealers had a shortage of trucks to sell and GM and FCA took full advantage.

What automaker incentive programs have you seen work the best? Do you think Ford needed to market their program better or were their prices still not enticing enough for consumers? What kind of sales initiative does Ford need to make up ground it may have lost during factory upgrades in early 2015?