For many people, fuel economy is a major factor in buying a car. That little combined MPG number may very well have been the deciding factor in why many people bought Fords recently. Too bad those numbers weren't so accurate. Here's how Ford's going to apologize, with dollars.
These numbers come from an internal-use only Ford memo that was secretly acquired by an anonymous source, possibly by folding the document and shoving it down underpants. It reveals that the number used to determine if a given model will have apology money paid to it is the combined MPG number, and that the amounts will range from $200 to $1050. The amounts also vary if the car was bought or leased.
The Lincoln MKZ gets the highest $1050 payout, since it also seems to have the most overinflated (and less repetitious) numbers now. They went from 45 city/45 hwy/45 combined down to 38/37/38. That's a big drop.
Here's the full document in all of its fold glory so you can see exactly what the changes were, who's getting paid, and how much.
UPDATE: As pointed out by Nick Bunkley, these numbers were made public last week.