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Error processing SSI fileFord sales up in August as employee pricing continues
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DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co.'s U.S. sales were up 3 percent in August as consumers continued to take advantage of a discount program that let them pay the employee price on some vehicles. Truck sales were down, likely the victim of rising gas prices.
Sales of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury cars were up 25.3 percent, but truck sales fell 4.3 percent despite employee discounts on 2006 models of sport utility vehicles like the Lincoln Navigator and Ford Expedition.
"There's no question that demand for traditional sport utility vehicles has been affected by rising gas prices," Ford's vice president for marketing and sales Steve Lyons said.
Ford sales are up nearly 2 percent for the year. The company said Thursday that it plans to extend the employee discount program on most 2005 vehicles until Sept. 30. It had been scheduled to end Sept. 6.
Auto sales were expected to drop in August as a summer of heavily publicized discounts took its toll. In July, the first month Ford offered the employee discount program, its sales were up 36 percent. General Motors Corp. was the first to offer employee discounts in June.
Ford shares were down 29 cents to $9.67 in early afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. GM shares were down $1.57 to $32.62.
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The Detroit News.
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