Does Ford Not Want New Mach E Buyers?

[mpshizzle]

Today just for fun I went to the Ford website and used the configurator to build my exact spec of car. I was shocked and extremely disappointed at what I saw.

A bit of context: I've owned my Mach E since April of 2021. Very early build. I got VERY lucky with the timing of my purchase. I got it at MSRP before the car market went insane.

Here are the differences I found between my Mach E and 2023 builds.

• Blue Cruise - 90 days free with the option to renew at $800/year. Mine got BC via OTA last summer and I still have it for free. At the end of the year I'll be able to buy 3 years at a cost of $600 total ($200/year)
• Park Assist - I guess self parking is gone? No mention at all of the feature. Mine came with it fully functional, 2022 models came with an upgrade promise, now it appears to be gone entirely?
• Kick to Open Tailgate - Again no mention of this feature. Too bad because I LOVE this feature. So handy when I get close to the car with full hands
• Mobile Charge connector - Ford is charging $500 for this. Tesla charges $230. I got mine for free
• MSRP - Almost $10,000 more than I paid... And this is assuming you don't get markups

So basically they're charging $10k more for a car that has fewer features, and higher subscription costs. That is insane to me. Why would anyone buy this when the Model Y exists. A similarly equipped Tesla Model Y is $10,000 cheaper!

When I got my car in April 2021 the EV scene was very different. The only real Mach E competitor was Tesla Y. At the time the two were similarly priced, but the Y didn't qualify for the federal tax credit. So my Mach E was cheaper, and had the added benefit of being a good looking car (not hard to look good when being compared to an egg though). I was and still am VERY happy with my purchase.

Sure I've had (And even now still have) my fair share of early adopter issues. But as a whole I've been very happy with my car. Over 50,000 miles and it's treated me very well and been SOOOOOO cheap to maintain and run.

But sadly I cannot recommend anyone buy a new Mach E, when you can get a similar Tesla for SO much cheaper. Even if it is ugly

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[Kamuelaflyer]

Welcome to part 2 of 2023!

1. BC This has been bandied about repeatedly here. I’ll not duplicate those posts as I have no pony in that fight since there are no BlueCruise roads here. Take a gander at the BC threads. Only job 1 cars get a one time $600 for 3 years deal.

2. Park Assist. I hate it and won’t use it. Plus, there are still parts issues anyway. It hasn’t been a thing for a long time.

3. Kick to Open. Same parts issue. Mine almost never works and I can do without it anyway. I’ll be glad to donate my kick to open chips to charity,

 

[mpshizzle]

Welcome to part 2 of 2023!

1. BC This has been bandied about repeatedly here. I’ll not duplicate those posts as I have no pony in that fight since there are no BlueCruise roads here. Take a gander at the BC threads. Only job 1 cars get a one time $600 for 3 years deal.

2. Park Assist. I hate it and won’t use it. Plus, there are still parts issues anyway. It hasn’t been a thing for a long time.

3. Kick to Open. Same parts issue. Mine almost never works and I can do without it anyway. I’ll be glad to donate my kick to open chips to charity,

LOL a kick to open chips sounds great to me!

In all seriousness you have to do the kick like this for it to work:

Yeah.. BC was not a suprise to me. That's been beat to death. But the accumulation of all of these things, combined with the astronomical MSRP shocked me

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

LOL a kick to open chips sounds great to me!

In all seriousness you have to do the kick like this for it to work:

Yeah.. BC was not a suprise to me. That's been beat to death. But the accumulation of all of these things, combined with the astronomical MSRP shocked me

They’re still selling out here anyway. People are going to the mainland to get them as the local dealer can’t keep them on the lot. For now at least.

 

[mpshizzle]

They’re still selling out here anyway. People are going to the mainland to get them as the local dealer can’t keep them on the lot. For now at least.

Wow.... I honestly haven't looks too closely into it here in utah, but I have noticed a few monkeys sitting on the lot where there used to be none. So I would say sales have definitely slowed down, but apparently if they still are moving some units then the pricing is in a complete turnoff like it would be for me.

My personal opinion if I were in the market for a new EV today, is I would not buy anything that does not have NACS. In 2 years it's gonna become the defacto.

But even ignoring that, I would take the hit on styling to save $10,000

 

[ARK]

I don’t think Ford could compete on price with Tesla right now, they seem to be making a conscious decision to go after market share and keep up their impressive growth rather than protect their margins, and I don’t think Ford has those same margins to get into a price war even if Ford wanted to.

Hopefully Ford can become more efficient to compete, but I think you are correct that right now the Tesla Model 3 and Y are great values, unlike the situation last year when they were among the most overpriced vehicles on the market.

 

[mpshizzle]

I don’t think Ford could compete on price with Tesla right now, they seem to be making a conscious decision to go after market share and keep up their impressive growth rather than protect their margins, and I don’t think Ford has those same margins to get into a price war even if Ford wanted to.

Hopefully Ford can become more efficient to compete, but I think you are correct that right now the Tesla Model 3 and Y are great values, unlike the situation last year when they were among the most overpriced vehicles on the market.

It's just disappointing to me that it USED to be priced where the Y is now.

So I see one of two scenarios

1)In 2021 they were selling Mach E at a loss, and now they're selling at normal margins

2)2021 had correct pricing and now they're just price gouging.

I just can't see "supply chain cost" resulting in almost $10000 increase. That's a bit much

 

[bp99]

2)2021 had correct pricing and now they're just price gouging.

I just can't see "supply chain cost" resulting in almost $10000 increase. That's a bit much

Why is it every time something costs more than someone thinks it should, they cry 'price gouging'? Price gouging is typically taking advantage of some sort of emergency to hike up prices on essentials like food, water, medicine and gas. Taking advantage of a bad situation. Typical intervention to price gouging is rationing (price gouging only works when there's insufficient supply and very high demand).

A MME is far from essential. Ford can price it however they want to meet their objectives of margins and volume based on market dynamics. Ford saw dealers getting ADM in a sellers market and decided they wanted that revenue rather than giving it to the dealers (market price is market price, it's just the split of who gets more of the profit - Ford or the dealers). They just had horrible timing with the market having changed.

If you don't like the price and can't negotiate a lower one, either find a different car to buy or wait for the market to be more favorable. There is no gouging here.

 

[generaltso]

Yeah.. BC was not a suprise to me. That's been beat to death. But the accumulation of all of these things, combined with the astronomical MSRP shocked me

The rest have been beat to death too.

 

[thekat03]

Ford also ramped up production a lot in the past 6 months. When I ordered my car, it was 9 months until it arrived at my dealership. Now people can potentially buy them off the lots, and actually test drive them before deciding what car they want. They also can hopefully get them at or below MSRP, instead of facing ridiculously high dealer mark-ups. I think the market is just leveling out, and with inflation, and interest rates going up, it's going to be bumpy, but the cars are still selling.

I bought my car last month, and still think it was the better car for me over the Model Y.

 

[leeman]

Customers are being nickeled and dimed.

 

[Jimrpa]

Ford has a long history of “decontenting” subsequent model years of vehicles. It’s very annoying. I really like the hands-free liftgate, and I’ve actually used parking assist a few times. I’d use it more often, but it doesn’t always identify parking spaces, and it’s a bit slow.

 

[RickMachE]

I have to laugh sometimes. People complain about a feature, then complain when it is excluded.

Ford deleted features in 2022 and 2023. They got feedback via sales, customer comments, etc. They adjusted.

This forum is loaded with threads about how Park Assist is awful.

Ford also deleted tilting headrests from F-150s and other vehicles in 2022 and forward. On our Lightning, we put my wife's headrest in backwards because the forward tilt is uncomfortable for her. For us, that is a big issue, but apparently Ford thinks it has no impact on sales.

 

[KevinS]

For the record, I am happy to trade my 2021 Select with the Technology/Comfort package for a 2023 vehicle.

 

[Mach1E]

Today just for fun I went to the Ford website and used the configurator to build my exact spec of car. I was shocked and extremely disappointed at what I saw.

A bit of context: I've owned my Mach E since April of 2021. Very early build. I got VERY lucky with the timing of my purchase. I got it at MSRP before the car market went insane.

Here are the differences I found between my Mach E and 2023 builds.

• Blue Cruise - 90 days free with the option to renew at $800/year. Mine got BC via OTA last summer and I still have it for free. At the end of the year I'll be able to buy 3 years at a cost of $600 total ($200/year)
• Park Assist - I guess self parking is gone? No mention at all of the feature. Mine came with it fully functional, 2022 models came with an upgrade promise, now it appears to be gone entirely?
• Kick to Open Tailgate - Again no mention of this feature. Too bad because I LOVE this feature. So handy when I get close to the car with full hands
• Mobile Charge connector - Ford is charging $500 for this. Tesla charges $230. I got mine for free
• MSRP - Almost $10,000 more than I paid... And this is assuming you don't get markups

So basically they're charging $10k more for a car that has fewer features, and higher subscription costs. That is insane to me. Why would anyone buy this when the Model Y exists. A similarly equipped Tesla Model Y is $10,000 cheaper!

When I got my car in April 2021 the EV scene was very different. The only real Mach E competitor was Tesla Y. At the time the two were similarly priced, but the Y didn't qualify for the federal tax credit. So my Mach E was cheaper, and had the added benefit of being a good looking car (not hard to look good when being compared to an egg though). I was and still am VERY happy with my purchase.

Sure I've had (And even now still have) my fair share of early adopter issues. But as a whole I've been very happy with my car. Over 50,000 miles and it's treated me very well and been SOOOOOO cheap to maintain and run.

But sadly I cannot recommend anyone buy a new Mach E, when you can get a similar Tesla for SO much cheaper. Even if it is ugly

You’re missing an important price detail on Bluecruise- you aren’t comparing apples to apples. It’s not “$600” vs “$800/yr.”

In 2021 you paid $1900 for the hardware and a 3 year subscription was $600 ($2500 total).

In 2023 people pay $0 for the hardware and a 3 year subscription is $2100.

It’s actually cheaper now (for the first 3 years).

Now job 1 2021 people got BC for free (but late) and can renew at $600z

Job 2 people paid $600 (plus $1900) but have to renew at $2100 for the next 3 years.

It’s actually us 2021 job 2 people who pay the MOST for BC!

In the end, the price increase over the last 2 years is right in line with inflation. But yes, the recent $15,000 price drop on the model Y makes it a relative bargain temporarily.

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