Ford Offers Conquest Cash To Chrysler Defectors

Ford has been offering a $1,000 conquest incentive to Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge owners looking to buy a Ford, Lincoln or Mercury SUV, truck or crossover, but not car. These offers are found in several regional markets: New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Denver and Phoenix.

So, are they effective?

From the Wall Street Journal: "Chrysler and GM owners "have been defecting to Ford and Lincoln-Mercury products in great numbers since the beginning of the year," Amanda DeMouthe, a marketing manager for Ford's Northeast operations, wrote in an April 9 email to dealers.

Independent numbers seem to back up Ms. DeMouthe's assertion. In March, 48% of Ford buyers turned in cars or trucks of other manufacturers, up from 38% in August, according to Edmunds.com, an auto-shopping Web site."

Ford has had the benefit of separating itself from it's U.S. rivals by not taking a government bailout. This has left to a lot of positive perception from the general public, especially consumers angry about private companies begging for government money when the nation is in a pretty deep recession.

But Ford isn't the only one trying a conquest rebate. Suzuki is offering $1,000 to a customer who trades in an SUV or minivan to buy the Suzuki XL7, and the customer is required to trade that vehicle into the dealer. Details here in Adobe PDF format.

Nothing is really new with conquest incentive programs. They seem to be working for Ford.

Audi Q5 Conquests Lexus RX

Currently the Lexus RX model controls 70% of the luxury-compact-SUV segment, but Audi is trying its best to reduce that dominance with their newest entry the Audi Q5.

From Advertising Age: "Roughly half of the trade-ins at Audi dealerships for the new Q5 are the Lexus RX, Audi Chief Marketing Officer Scott Keogh told Advertising Age at the New York auto show earlier this month."

"Although the pair of Q5 launch TV spots don't mention the Lexus model specifically, rows of the RX appear in both. In the ads, the actors can't locate their SUVs since all the vehicles look alike -- except for the Audi. " more.

Price points on the cars are pretty similar, though, the Q5 is a bit smaller in size and interior space. Audi is building some great products which is giving their product portfolio an overall lift. The Audi brand is gaining some momentum with some excellent products that are not only nipping at Lexus, but BMW too as the Audi A4/A5 are considered formidable competitors against the BMW 3-series.

The new Lexus RX borrows heavily from its shared platform sibling, the Toyota Venza. They share a lot of the same interior treatments; though, the exterior of the new RX is quite inline with the RX model DNA, yet it is a bit more egg-like in the new design. So, the new look also may not be helping the Lexus against some formidable competition.