Ford has been offering a $1,000 conquest incentive to Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge owners looking to buy a Ford, Lincoln or Mercury SUV, truck or crossover, but not car. These offers are found in several regional markets: New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Denver and Phoenix.
So, are they effective?
From the Wall Street Journal: "Chrysler and GM owners "have been defecting to Ford and Lincoln-Mercury products in great numbers since the beginning of the year," Amanda DeMouthe, a marketing manager for Ford's Northeast operations, wrote in an April 9 email to dealers.
Independent numbers seem to back up Ms. DeMouthe's assertion. In March, 48% of Ford buyers turned in cars or trucks of other manufacturers, up from 38% in August, according to Edmunds.com, an auto-shopping Web site."
Ford has had the benefit of separating itself from it's U.S. rivals by not taking a government bailout. This has left to a lot of positive perception from the general public, especially consumers angry about private companies begging for government money when the nation is in a pretty deep recession.
But Ford isn't the only one trying a conquest rebate. Suzuki is offering $1,000 to a customer who trades in an SUV or minivan to buy the Suzuki XL7, and the customer is required to trade that vehicle into the dealer. Details here in Adobe PDF format.
Nothing is really new with conquest incentive programs. They seem to be working for Ford.
