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 DETROIT (AP) - General Motors Corp. dropped its popular employee-discount plan Monday in a signal that the era of big incentives could be ending. Ford Motor Co. said it will continue employee pricing for another month but also will try to cut back on incentives for 2006 models.
GM was the first to allow customers to buy 2005 vehicles at the employee rate in June. The automaker's sales jumped 41 percent that month, and Ford and Chrysler followed with their own employee pricing plans in July. All of the plans were set to expire Monday.
Ford, however, said it's extending employee pricing through Sept. 6 for Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles. It's also adding some 2006 models to the discount plan, including the Ford Escape, Ford Expedition, Ford Econoline and Lincoln Navigator, all of which saw sales fall in the first six months of this year. The Escape, Expedition and Navigator are sport utility vehicles; the Econoline is a van.
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