Ford Motor Co., aiming to give sales staff more flexibility in crafting deals, has dropped zero percent financing on new car and truck loans and put in place a menu of cash rebates and low interest rates, according to a Wall Street Journal story by Sholnn Freeman.

Ford's three-point marketing plan includes a "cash plus" option that offers buyers a $1,000 rebate as well as a low interest rate. Previously, Ford offered either a cash rebate

or a low financing rate.

The second option in the new program provides the biggest cash rebates, now in the range of $500 to $3,000.

Under the third option, customers can take Ford's best rate on financing, which now is 0.9 percent for 36-month loans in most areas of the country.

Of the Big Three, only DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group now has a national zero percent financing program.

Dealers say Ford also is adding dealer bonuses of between $500 and $1,000 a vehicle on Ford Explorer and Expedition sport utility vehicles in some parts of the country. Dealers generally pass on some of that money to customers to lower monthly car payments.

U.S. industrywide auto sales rose in April for the first time this year, and some automakers and analysts who once thought sales would reach about 15 million vehicles this year are now predicting the fourth straight year of sales of 17 million or more, according to Bloomberg News.