| -> | | | | 1500, 2500 or 3500 Pickup, which average 15 miles |
| In a recent Sunday Blog Carnival there was a post | | | | per gallon you can buy a maximum of 2400 gallons at |
| about a new incentive program called Let's Refuel | | | | the special price. |
| America! This is brilliant marketing to present a unique | | | | It appears that the company is rewarding people |
| offer... but I made the mistake of reading the fine | | | | who buy the cars that waste the most fuel. Those |
| print. | | | | gas-guzzling cars are harder to sell when fuel costs |
| In a nutshell the program is like this: Fuel prices | | | | are high. |
| continue to rise. So the Program appears to help their | | | | At the same time the program offers a cash back |
| buyers stabilize the cost of fuel. With this offer the | | | | program. You buy a car and they lower the price. |
| price of unleaded or diesel fuel is locked at $2.99 | | | | Of the 28 different vehicles listed, the biggest rebate |
| gallon for three years. The participants do this by | | | | and fuel allocation goes to those that waste the |
| using a special card linked to their credit card account. | | | | most. 7 of the 10 most fuel efficient vehicles give |
| Participants use the special card to purchase enough | | | | you $0.00 - nothing - back if you buy them. The |
| fuel at $2.99 per gallon to travel up to12,000 miles | | | | inefficient cars average nearly $1000 cash back. |
| per year in each of the next 3 years. So no matter | | | | If you include the fuel efficient cars the average |
| what the price at the pump says, you'll never have | | | | drops to just over $700 per car. |
| to pay more than $2.99 per gallon for qualifying fuel. | | | | On paper it make better sense to just give $700 per |
| At first glance, this is a great offer. Americans are | | | | car. |
| ranting that gas will hit $10.00 or more a gallon in the | | | | Another way to calculate in simple math: the 28 cars, |
| US. This is similar to the prices currently paid in | | | | pickups and jeeps listed average 18.6 miles a gallon |
| Europe. | | | | and the average gas allocation is 1977 gallons. |
| The offer appears to be very appealing for anxious | | | | On paper it makes better sense to just allocate 1900 |
| Americans. | | | | gallons per car. |
| But look at the fine print and there is another story. | | | | Those are the observations of North Americans living |
| Each type of car has a maximum amount of gallons | | | | in Europe with different cultural outlooks on cars, the |
| of gas allocated for the program. | | | | environment and what a good offer really is. |
| - If you buy the Dodge Caliber or Jeep Compass, | | | | But this offer is made to a specific market. This |
| which both average 24 miles per gallon, you can buy | | | | whole campaign is well targeted to its American |
| a maximum of 1500 gallons at the special price. | | | | market. |
| - If you buy the Jeep Commander or Dodge Ram | | | | |