Will Ford and Chrysler Group Experience the Same Success as GM with Employee Pricing?

Loyal customers who may have purchased vehicles the month prior, and paid thousands more to do so, may feel ripped off. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press)

Will such programs be regular yearly events in the future? It is entirely possible that automakers with bloated inventories will choose similar programs to thin down stock each and every year, but if done routinely many buyers will quickly learn only to buy new vehicles in summer months. While it has always been advantageous for consumers to purchase last year's model just before or after a new one is introduced, if still available, the price differences haven't been as considerable prior to the latest employee pricing schemes, and therefore haven't influenced buying patterns en masse. This could change if implemented annually.

Another negative effect to incentive programs offering such dramatic discounts is that loyal customers who may have purchased vehicles the month prior, and paid thousands more to do so, may not only feel ripped off by the automaker they've been loyal to, but may also see the resale value of their new car plummet overnight. After all, it's extremely difficult and expensive to inure a customer to any brand, and by offering something significantly better to one customer that wasn't offered to another, only because the first buyer happened to step into the dealership a day before the second buyer, is a recipe for discontent. No one likes paying too much.

Obviously the Big 3 feel such tactics are worth the risks, and over the short term they may be right.