By George Kennedy, Autoblog - To help those effected by Hurricane Sandy cope with the natural disaster, automakers are stepping up in various ways. Known to us right now are contributions of aid or assistance by Ford, General Motors, Toyota, Fisker and Nissan. Toyota and Ford have opted to give in the most straightforward fashion: donations of money. Ford has announced that its own employees have collected US$50,000 to donate, and Toyota has stated that it will contribute US$1 million in support of relief efforts. Both companies have made these contributions to the American Red Cross.
Other automakers have opted to offer tangible, on-the-ground resources to the relief effort. GM has pledged 50 utility vehicles, including Express cargo vans, Traverse crossovers and Tahoe SUVs, to the Red Cross. The vehicles will be fitted with 200 OnStar Hands-Free calling minutes and a month of turn-by-turn navigation. GM has also donated US$250,000 to the Red Cross.
Fisker Automotive has offered up its 3.2-million-square-foot Wilmington, DE facility as a staging area for rescue crews and power trucks.
For many, part of the rebuilding process will be replacing their flooded vehicle(s). To that end, Nissan North America has announced that it will offer discounted pricing and financing on new cars through January 2 to help victims replace the transportation they may have lost from flood or storm damage. For current customers, Nissan is also offering payment extensions for the next three payments without fees. Ford has also just announced a similar program, offering a US$500 discount on new vehicles and allowing current owners to skip a payment or two.
We are certain more automakers have/will come forward with aid similar to those efforts mentioned here.
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