Ford Warns of E-mail Scam over Fusion Pricing

Ford Motor Co. is warning customers that e-mails purporting to come from its marketing team and offering to sell 2010 models of the Fusion Hybrid for almost half the sticker price are a hoax tied to the federal bailout of the auto industry—although not of Ford itself-- and spam to boot.

The bogus e-mail claims to come from a Ford sales manager in Dearborn MI and maintains that the company is offering 500 Fusion Hybrids for$15,500. That’s $12,270 below the manufacturer’s standard retail price. Supposedly the offer is designed to show that the company can generate new sales.

“The United States Government has given us the opportunity to bounce back on our feet, but unfortunately we have not achieved the fund necessary,’ the e-mail says. It also asks recipients to fill out a contact form and offers to let them pay for the cars “through the bank at 1 month after signing the contract.”

“Unfortunately, the offer is not legitimate and the e-mail is a hoax,” Ford says in a release posted to the news section of its Web site, adding that the sales manager under whose name the e-mail was sent is not a company employee.

“Ford recommends that people delete the e-mail and any attachments,” the company said.

Determined to spin the hoax their way, Ford also took the occasion in the press release to spout some eco-stats about its 2010 Fusion Hybrid’s fuel-efficiency ratings on the highway and in town, specifically compared to those of the Camry from rival Toyota.

“And you can e-mail that all you like,” Ford says in the release.