On the surface, Ford’s latest Announcement There is a fantastic agreement for cars -buyers. The company retreats its “hired price for everyone” campaign and devises aggressive “zero, zero, zero” summer sales event: zero down payment, zero percent interest for 48 months, and zero payments for the first 90 days.
It’s a tempting offer, but as you look closer to the economic landscape, it starts looking less like a self -assured summer promotion and more like a defensive maneuver against a gathering storm. The new “Zero Down, zero -interest” of the driver is an estimated response to economically emphasized consumers and the next ending of the $ 7,500 EV tax tax.
Ford says it responds to customers who, squeezed from higher mortgage rates and travel costs, want to buy a new car without a heavy prepayment. “Many families have seen their savings head to higher mortgage rates and summer travel costs,” Rob KAFFL, who is director, US sales and business relations said in A Blog post.. “They want a new vehicle, but also want options that allow them to leave a previous down payment. ”
Data from the New York Federal Reserve BankThe latest Q1 2025 domestic debt and credit report paints a severe image. Total automatic loan -debt in the United States has swelled to $ 1.64 trillion. More importantly, the rate of serious crimes – lends 90 or more days past – ascended to 2.94%. While this figure stabilized recently, it remains raised, signaling that a significant number of Americans are struggling to make their car payments. For many, down payment is no longer feasible, and with intermediate new cars -loan rates still high, zero percent interest rate is a massive financial relief.
Ford wants to attract buying buyers for petrol-powered F-150 and bronchi. But there is a second, more urgent deadline that may nourish this fire sale: the EV tax cliff.
The highly popular federal tax credit of $ 7,500 for new electric vehicles will expire constantly on September 30th. After that date, the single largest government motivation to buy EV disappears overnight. This creates a massive sense of urgency for motorists like Ford to sell their current inventory of electric vehicles, such as the Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning, before they effectively become $ 7,500 more expensive for the consumer on October 1.
While Ford celebrated strong overall Q2 sales, a closer look at industrial data reveals narrative weakness: sales of its fully electric models have declined. The company’s growth is offered by gas and hybrid trucks, not the EVs, which are about to lose their largest salespoint.
Extending its “Ford Power Promise” and pushing it into this new zero -percent financial agreement, Ford essentially sounds an alarming bell. The company tells potential EV buyers that this is their last, best chance to get a deal before the market is fundamentally changing. It is an aggressive attempt to empty EV invention and lock sales of anxious consumers before a difficult economic climate and the end of government subsidies creates a perfect storm for the car industry.
