11:55 pm, March 22, 2011
FORD could be planning to extend its warranty to five years in April, a source has told Car Dealer.
The move, although unconfirmed by the manufacturer, would make sense as it would bring it more in line with bitter rival Vauxhall and its ‘Lifetime’ warranty.
Our source said: ‘I’ve been told by someone in the Ford hierarchy that this is a move they plan to make on April 1. As with all good stories it slipped out over a few drinks, but I’ve no reason to believe it’s untrue.
‘The source told me that Ford wanted to take the fight to Vauxhall and other brands that have longer warranties and with the new Focus it makes sense to announce it now.’
April 1 would coincide with the manufacturer’s quarter two marketing schemes so it makes sense for it to launch the change then.
Although, the brand’s MD Nigel Sharp has denied he’s considering extending the warranty he did tell What Car? recently that he was considering a plan that would ‘keep customers within Ford when they change cars’.
He told the magazine: ‘To do that we want to keep in touch with our customers over a period of five years, so beyond that first MoT time, and look after our cars within the franchised dealer network.’
That certainly sounds like a five-year warranty to us… but we’ll have to wait and see what happens on April Fools Day. Car Dealer contacted the manufacturer but a spokesman would not comment on the story.
