Ford CEO Says ‘Employee Pricing’ for Everyone Will Continue Amid Auto Tariffs

Jim Farley, the chief executive, did not say whether the company will increase prices after the employee pricing offer ends..

Ford CEO Jim Farley poses for a photo at the launch of the all-new electric Ford F-150 Lightning pickup truck at the Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Mich., on April 26, 2022. Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

Ford CEO Jim Farley on Wednesday said that a new company policy to extend “employee pricing” to all Ford customers will continue amid uncertainty over auto tariffs.

Speaking with CNN on Wednesday morning, the U.S. auto giant’s chief executive said that the employee pricing for car buyers will last until July 4 to encourage sales to potentially nervous consumers due to new tariffs on auto imports.

Farley said that he’s not sure whether prices on Ford cars and trucks will increase after the employee pricing offer ends. The company will have to ascertain what other car companies will do with their pricing first.

“We want to keep our prices competitive and low,” he told the outlet. “We think this is an opportunity for Ford. We have a different footprint, a different exposure for tariffs.”

Earlier this month, Ford announced that the pricing measures would mitigate “uncertain times for many Americans” and would give all U.S. consumers “access to significant savings on a wide range of 2024 and 2025 gas, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and diesel Ford and Lincoln vehicles.”

President Donald Trump signed executive orders this week to relax some tariffs on auto imports, although additional 25 percent tariffs on auto parts scheduled to start on May 3 will still go into effect. However, vehicles that go through their final assembly in the United States will be able to qualify to receive credits on those duties for two years.

“The proclamation modifies the tariff action on automobiles and automobile parts by encouraging manufacturers to assemble their automobiles in the U.S., thereby reducing American reliance on foreign imports of automobiles and automobile parts,” said a White House fact sheet.

The order allows for car companies to offset “a portion of tariffs for automobile parts used in U.S.-assembled vehicles equal” to 3.75 percent of the vehicle’s MSRP, or manufacturer’s suggested retail price, for the next year, and 2.5 percent of U.S. production for the following year, the White House said.

“For instance, if a manufacturer builds a car in the U.S. that has 85% U.S. or USMCA [United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement] content, the manufacturer effectively will not owe tariffs on that vehicle’s production for the first year,” the fact sheet said.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who spoke at a White House briefing on Tuesday, said the goal was to enable automakers to create more domestic manufacturing jobs.

“President Trump has had meetings with both domestic and foreign auto producers, and he’s committed to bringing back auto production to the U.S.,” Bessent said. “So we want to give the automakers a path to do that, quickly, efficiently, and create as many jobs as possible.”

The White House’s Rapid Response account on X said that Trump signed a second order on Tuesday afternoon to prevent his various tariffs from being stacked on top of his existing taxes on imported autos and auto parts.

Aside from Ford’s decision earlier this month, General Motors said in a statement that it would move to increase its production of light-duty trucks at its Fort Wayne, Indiana, assembly plant, saying that it will hire temporary workers for the plant, which will be part of “operational adjustments“ in a bid to ”support current manufacturing and business needs.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.