Ford's stair-step workout for dealers - Bonuses: 'Motivator' or 'royal pain?

摘要

DETROIT - Its U.S. market share down in 13 of the past 15 months, Ford Motor Co. has dug up one of the old-school, sales-boosting tricks it had seemingly buried: stair-step incentives. The move conies as other automakers swear off stair-steps and dealers criticize such a strategy as profit-eroding, confusing and ineffective long term. It signals frustration within Ford at lackluster results dating to the start of 2014, even as executives downplay the slide as a temporary lull linked to a flurry of ongoing product launches.