Looks like the Ford Crooks learned from the Toyota Crooks. Let the Frenzy Begin:
This is out of a news article posted here:
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/9975294.htm

Hmm. Am I wrong, or will the manufacturers ultimately suffer? The demand is there to raise the MSRP, but the dealers will raise their price in response, ultimately resulting in more consumer dissatisfaction. Seems like Ford is losing a few more thousand per sale than they ought to.

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Here's one to balance out the "$5000 over MSRP" sales:

My cubemate, who used to be my roommate, is a previous owner of three Hybrids plus he leased an EV-1 for our company in the mid-90s. He and I know a lot about Hybrids.

His brother, who lives in Michigan in the Detroit area, is buying an Escape Hybrid. He works for a company who is a Ford supplier, so he gets a better price, something called the "X Plan" or the "Ex Plan". But his neighbor is a current Ford employee and gets an even BETTER PRICE, the "A Plan." (Those are Ford programs and terms for discounting prices to certain groups I suppose.)

Anyhoo, the point of the story is that he's going to get the Escape somewhere near $20,000 to $21,000 out the door. :o

So at least one person is getting a good price.

Hi Lars-ss:

___The X-Plan is a good deal but it doesn’t give you that great of a deal … Usually an extra $1,000 off over and above what the average consumer will pay. Not some magical wild $21K for a brand new Ford Escape Hybrid or similar.

___The following link might help explain what the X-Plan is all about with pics of the internal web pages as to the discounts offered the last time I purchased a Ford Truck using it.

Have you purchased a Ford Lately!

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

My dealer said he attended a meeting of other dealers where it was strongly suggested they all raise prices well above MSRP. The only problem is, most if not all of the 2004 production run is heading for potential buyers who placed their orders months ago. Any dealer who tries to raise the price beyond anything agreed upon when the order was placed will find hostile customers and potential lawsuits. So far, I haven't heard from anyone who recently began the process of ordering a Hybrid for next year.

Ford readily admits they are losing money on the Escape Hybrid, but they say it's a short-term loss due to start-up costs which will be overcome as the technology migrates to other models.

Nothing wrong with that. It is my understanding that Toyota lost money on the Prius until the second-generation model, correct? And, now they're doing quite well.

What I'm actually anticipating is that after Toyota, Honda and Ford spend fortunes promoting hybrid technology, other turtle manufacturers will slip out a hybrid model and reap the benefits with a fraction of the effort.

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Well, that would be quite a fraction. The easiest way for other manufacturers to get on the hybrid bandwagon would be license the technology. No one is going to expand production, though, until Sanyo builds another battery factory.

Hi All:

___Someone posted over in one of the Edmunds Hybrid forums this evening that the Lexus RXh 400 SUV will retail at $52,000! That is a $10,000 premium over and above the Lexus RX330! If so, we now know where the greed really lye’s. Or that Hybridization actually does cost between $3,500 and $10,000 in real world OEM costs? These outrageous MSRP’s and ADM’s are going to be the death of the Hybrid as we know it if this type of garbage continues. I cannot wait to see those 9,000 Lexus RXh owners with down payments already in place swallow that $10K as they write the check out for the balance. That is one huge markup if I do say so myself. Not an hour or two later, someone posted a link to an online First Look on the RXh which stated just a $4,000 premium? We shall se soon enough.

___As a sidebar, I have been discussing the $8,000 premium for the Accord Hybrid over and above the PZEV based I4 Accord EX-L w/ NAVI in the same forums. I will never be able to except an $8,000 premium for the same car with a bit more performance, small amount more fuel economy (possibly?), and higher emissions. In the case of the Accord I4, the fuel economy of the AH might actually be less when both are driven by the same Hypermiler under the exact same conditions.

___Good Luck to us all as we are going to need it

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

Sheesh. What, do they think we're Republicans?

I suggest we don't speculate about price unless we really know. I think a $10k premium is inaccurate.

Also, note that many of the new hybrids come with many features standard. And, at this point MSRP really doesn't matter because dealers are charging whatever they want, anyway. It won't kill the hybrid because when demand settles, so will the prices. It's basic economics (trust me... very basic. I take my very first economics class next semester!)

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