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By Dominic Maher, 17 November 1999 00:25

NEWS Ford Motor Company and Priceline.com have joined forces to offer customers in Florida a "name-your-own-price" purchase model. The 90-day trial will allow customers to use the Priceline.com network to place bids for any Ford vehicle. Once the customer has named a price, all bids are passed on to dealers within the area. The first dealer to accept the offer gets the sale. If the offer is not accepted then dealers can submit a counteroffer for the customer's consideration. Tony Clifford-Winters, IT industry analyst at research company, Sitdel, said: "The killer will be how many match. Dealers won't give them [cars] away." He said the main danger would be demand going up too high and the company not being able to keep up. "However, Ford does have the ability to ramp up production if it is very successful," said Clifford-Winters. Kevin Turnbull, chief executive at Autobytel UK said it's a sign of things to come. "The industry suffers from over supply, so any company that can overcome this is in a good position." He added the market demand is around 52 million vehicles per year but the industry is capable of manufacturing around 72 million each year. Chris Piers, head of business development at the Consumers Association, said allowing the customer to call the first price puts more pressure on the dealer. He said: "It may be a good way to market, but it places more power in the hands of Ford and takes more away from the dealer." Once the trial period is over, the two companies will decide whether to expand the model into other states.