" This time we really mean it" Ford...

[UncleDave]

Ford extends its deadline for dealers to buy into their EV business.

Ford hasn't shared any metricss on what % of their dealers have committed to this program, but it seems the uptake isnt what they had hoped.

https://www.autonews.com/dealers/ford-postpones-deadline-dealers-decide-ev-outlays

 

[KGMtech]

Shocking? dealers don't want to have to beta test what Ford should be doing before the EV's are ready for sale.

 

[Wrenchturner44]

Or maybe the dealers are wise enough to know that the supporting infrastructure is not there yet. As the Stellantis CEO said, we have approached this technological conversion putting the literal cart before the horse.

 

[alarmguy]

Ford extends its deadline for dealers to buy into their EV business.

Ford hasn't shared any metricss on what % of their dealers have committed to this program, but it seems the uptake isnt what they had hoped.

https://www.autonews.com/dealers/ford-postpones-deadline-dealers-decide-ev-outlays

"but it seems the uptake isnt what they had hoped"
Why? Does the link you provided say that?

 

[UncleDave]

"but it seems the uptake isnt what they had hoped"
Why? Does the link you provided say that?

This is what the industry is surmising. Since they dont report this no one really knows.

Why extend a deadline if your biggest players bought in and you hit your sign up goal?

There is dialog all over the inter web to check out.

 

[SC Maintenance]

This one size fits all solution is not smart.

In California where gas is expensive, there not tied into the US oil infrastructure, and there one of the best places on earth for solar and wind - makes sense.

In states where you not only get the $7500 federal rebate but an additional state rebate it makes sense. If the government wants to transfer others money to you - take it.

In South Carolina gas is cheap and there is no additional rebate. Furthermore most manufacturers don't allocate EV's to the state, so if I want one I would need to travel. Makes no sense for me to get an EV.

 

[alarmguy]

This is what the industry is surmising. Since they dont report this no one really knows.

Why extend a deadline if your biggest players bought in and you hit your sign up goal?

There is dialog all over the inter web to check out.

In all seriousness Dave.
The deadline has been extended 4 weeks.
How about another reason, fairness to lessor dealers who were trying to get the proper financing or whatever they needed to do in order to sign up.
Or just Ford itself getting everyone taken car of
Or everyone else like a mentioned asking for a little more time to file the paperwork.
Lets be realistic. 4 weeks is nothing and the reason is nothing more than speculation.

In regard to your other statement
"This is what the industry is surmising. Since they dont report this no one really knows."
Ford actually has stated once the sign up period has ended they will report how many signed up. Which would be the practice of any company if they so chose do at all.

"This is what the industry is surmising."
No, this is what the media is reporting, there is a story for everyone who wants one

"Why extend a deadline if your biggest players bought in and you hit your sign up goal?"
Because the smaller dealers asked for a little extra time as well as some on the fence.

 

[SC Maintenance]

In all seriousness Dave.
The deadline has been extended 4 weeks.
How about another reason, fairness to lessor dealers who were trying to get the proper financing or whatever they needed to do in order to sign up.
Or just Ford itself getting everyone taken car of
Or everyone else like a mentioned asking for a little more time to file the paperwork.
Lets be realistic. 4 weeks is nothing and the reason is nothing more than speculation.

Probably unlikely - these sort of corporate sign ups are usually done starting with a basic contract / letter of intent. After you agree everyone gets there crap in order. LIke buying a house - you make an offer, its accepted, then you do all the paperwork / get lawyers / inspections and so on.

There could be legitimate business reasons, but paperwork isn't one of them. Financing I doubt either - $1.2M in financing isn't much for a decent size dealer.

 

[alarmguy]

Probably unlikely - these sort of corporate sign ups are usually done starting with a basic contract / letter of intent. After you agree everyone gets there crap in order. LIke buying a house - you make an offer, its accepted, then you do all the paperwork / get lawyers / inspections and so on.

There could be legitimate business reasons, but paperwork isn't one of them. Financing I doubt either - $1.2M in financing isn't much for a decent size dealer.

I agree, I was just giving a host of reasons other than a "cover up" by Ford. Since Ford already stated that they are going to release the numbers once the sign up is done. Also the Lincoln division already had a deadline date of Dec 15. the Ford Division now a revised Dec 1st
I think the most plausible is smaller dealers asking for more time.
The big ones are already in.

 

[jeepman3071]

I'm sure a lot of it depends on location. Like some mentioned, in states like CA and more populated areas I can see it making sense, but if you are a small town dealer you won't see the same volume of EVs.

 

[SC Maintenance]

I agree, I was just giving a host of reasons other than a "cover up" by Ford. Since Ford already stated that they are going to release the numbers once the sign up is done. Also the Lincoln division already had a deadline date of Dec 15. the Ford Division now a revised Dec 1st
I think the most plausible is smaller dealers asking for more time.
The big ones are already in.

If you want my guess - and that is all it is - its the big dealers unhappy - likely due to allocations or lack of exclusivity, etc - which they were likely promised behind closed doors.

$1.2M isn't a lot of money. A McDonalds franchise is way more than that. My guess is everyone signed up.

My experience is the big dealers call the shots. Ford wouldn't let a few small dealers delay their announcement - they would tell them to sign the paper and they will help them work out financing or whatever later on.

 

[UncleDave]

In all seriousness Dave.
The deadline has been extended 4 weeks.
How about another reason, fairness to lessor dealers who were trying to get the proper financing or whatever they needed to do in order to sign up.
Or just Ford itself getting everyone taken car of
Or everyone else like a mentioned asking for a little more time to file the paperwork.
Lets be realistic. 4 weeks is nothing and the reason is nothing more than speculation.

In regard to your other statement
"This is what the industry is surmising. Since they dont report this no one really knows."
Ford actually has stated once the sign up period has ended they will report how many signed up. Which would be the practice of any company if they so chose do at all.

"This is what the industry is surmising."
No, this is what the media is reporting, there is a story for everyone who wants one

"Why extend a deadline if your biggest players bought in and you hit your sign up goal?"
Because the smaller dealers asked for a little extra time as well as some on the fence.

There are a litany of dedicated automotive sources that aren't Fords competition surmising this, it's very easy to look up. Why are they even bothering to talk about this?

Lets look at what Ford did...

Ford took a stand and drew a line in the sand.

Now they are moving the line they drew.

Why?

Do you think Ford cares about little dealers? If they did they wouldn't be asking for large investments from them.
Dealer consolidation has been happening for decades to ever larger payers and the little guys have been squeezed harder and harder.

 

[JeffKeryk]

My guess is, the dealerships want to be able to set the price. Doesn't Ford specify the EVs must be sold at MSRP?
I dunno for sure, but I won't be buying one, so Ford could care less about me.

One thing seems to be true; the dealership sales model is a problem. And ultimately, the customers are worse off for it.

 

[alarmguy]

My experience is the big dealers call the shots. Ford wouldn't let a few small dealers delay their announcement - they would tell them to sign the paper and they will help them work out financing or whatever later on.

I was just repeating what Ford stated. Im not one who thinks things are conspiracy unless proven and its hard for a public company to lie without penalty. The official ford line is some dealers asked for more time and they gave it.

 

[alarmguy]

There are a litany of dedicated automotive sources that aren't Fords competition surmising this, it's very easy to look up. Why are they even bothering to talk about this?

Lets look at what Ford did...

Ford took a stand and drew a line in the sand.

Now they are moving the line they drew.

Why?

Do you think Ford cares about little dealers? If they did they wouldn't be asking for large investments from them.
Dealer consolidation has been happening for decades to ever larger payers and the little guys have been squeezed harder and harder.

As I replied above ( I dont understand what the big deal is *LOL* 4 weeks ) The 4 week timeline is irrelevant and a thread about negative biased speculation based on no fact.

"I was just repeating what Ford stated. Im not one who thinks things are conspiracy unless proven and its hard for a public company to lie without penalty. The official ford line is some dealers asked for more time and they gave it." Good god

 

[Silver]

Shocking? dealers don't want to have to beta test what Ford should be doing before the EV's are ready for sale.

Let's not kid ourselves. The public has been beta testing vehicles since the Model A, granted they didn't have a propensity to burst into flames.

 

[UncleDave]

As I replied above ( I dont understand what the big deal is *LOL* 4 weeks )

"I was just repeating what Ford stated. Im not one who thinks things are conspiracy unless proven and its hard for a public company to lie without penalty. The official ford line is some dealers asked for more time and they gave it."

I dont recall anyone but you using the word "conspiracy".

Ford got a lot of press by demanding investment while simultaneously drawing a line in the sand on dates - then it was shown to be toothless.

Companies that move deadlines may as well not have them to begin with.

Notice how Ford move is positioned as an ultimatum.

If the program was initially successful they wouldn't be moving goalposts, but they would be bragging about how much of their channel was onboard.

https://s3mag.com/ford-extends-deadline-for-dealer-ev-ultimatum/

 

[UncleDave]

Probably unlikely - these sort of corporate sign ups are usually done starting with a basic contract / letter of intent. After you agree everyone gets there crap in order. LIke buying a house - you make an offer, its accepted, then you do all the paperwork / get lawyers / inspections and so on.

There could be legitimate business reasons, but paperwork isn't one of them. Financing I doubt either - $1.2M in financing isn't much for a decent size dealer.

The 1.2 isnt the end of the commitment. It's the step in price.

Dealers have to sign up for online sales, and forgoe ADM on EV's.

There are a lot of things that go with the money that affect dealer margin and sales.

 

[CKN]

My local Chevrolet and Nissan dealers have put in solar panes and charging infrastructure in for selling new and used EVs. The local Nissan dealer claims to sell more used EVs than anybody else. Their lot has several used EVs. The Nissan dealer however still acts like they do when trying to sell a used Sentra to those with bad credit. They are terrible. The Chevrolet dealer is marginally better. Utah is a terrible state to buy a new vehicle in.

 

[UncleDave]

My local Chevrolet and Nissan dealers have put in solar panes and charging infrastructure in for selling new and used EVs. The local Nissan dealer claims to sell more used EVs than anybody else. Their lot has several used EVs. The Nissan dealer however still acts like they do when trying to sell a used Sentra to those with bad credit. They are terrible. The Chevrolet dealer is marginally better. Utah is a terrible state to buy a new vehicle in.

This model has been protected too long.

Ford is in a tough position - thing is they got there before everyone else and I give them credit for that because every other automaker is going to have to do the same thing. They are making tough choices and thats always hard.
I do not want to see Ford fail and have been very happy with all but one of their products.

We use dealers in our industry as well, but if they fail to do their job - we'll sell the product directly to the end users which the auto companies are forbidden to do.