Its A FOORRRDDDD Incentives Extended to September 30th

DETROIT August 5, 2003; Reuters reported that Ford Motor Co. on Tuesday said it was extending most of its incentive offers on Ford-branded vehicles through Sept. 30, and sweetening deals on five models.

Ford's incentives -- including its Lincoln and Mercury brands -- averaged $3,687 per vehicle in July, a 5.8 percent increase from June. Despite that increase, Ford's sales fell 11.5 percent, due to lower fleet sales, weak car sales and the changeover to a new version of the F-150 pickup.

Most of Ford's vehicles are already offered with zero-percent financing for up to five years or $3,000 in rebates.

Ford's tweaks include lower interest rates for the Mustang, Escape and Explorer Sport Trac and a $500 increase in rebates for the Taurus and Escape. Additionally, the high performance Focus SVT model will now be sold with the same incentives offered on other Focus versions.