DEARBORN, Mich. | Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday it will offer employee pricing, zero percent financing and cash incentives on a variety of its vehicles in a move to boost interest in its vehicles amid one of the worst sales downturns in the industry's history.

Under the offer, which starts Wednesday and runs through Jan. 5, Ford will offer employee pricing on most of its 2008 and 2009 models.

On top of that pricing, the Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker said it's offering up to $6,000 cash back on those models. And in lieu of the cash back, customers also have the option of zero percent financing on nine of Ford's more fuel-efficient vehicles.

"Ford is bullish on fuel economy," Ken Czubay, the automaker's vice president of sales and marketing, said in a statement.

"Each new and significantly freshened vehicle we've brought to market in the past year has the best or among the best fuel economy in its segment, and we want to provide customers an extra reason to drive one of these high-quality, fuel-efficient cars, crossovers and trucks."

The incentives exclude the 2009 F-150, 2008 and 2009 Escape and Mariner hybrids, 2008 and 2009 Shelby GT500, F-Series chassis cabs models and E-Series cutaways models.

The offer comes as tight credit and economic uncertainty have dragged U.S. auto sales to their lowest rate in 25 years. Ford's sales in October fell 30 percent from a year earlier.

Officials for Ford and the other U.S. automakers are asking the federal government for another $25 billion in emergency loans in order to prevent the collapse of one or more of the companies.

Other automakers have also put forth generous incentives in recent months in an effort to stimulate sales.

General Motors Corp. offered employee pricing on many of its models in August and September, while Nissan Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Co. more recently began offering zero-percent financing on some of their models.