Does Ford Not Want New Mach E Buyers?

[smpack11]

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.

My son was a Ford Salesman, he had been told that every Mach-E is being produced at a $45,000 loss for Ford. The Mach-E's in North Florida and sitting on the lots...all EV manufacturers are. The salesmen are dropping like flys, they just are not selling cars. Notice my first sentence.....Was a Ford salesmen. Ok, I know that no one will have an sympathy for car salesmen. But, some are very good honest fair people, and some are not. Just like everything. I hate to see more jobs going away.

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[jgcom]

I am in the Job-1 club that got the things you mention for "free," though at the expense of the ups and downs of dozens of OTAs that have given and taken away. We ponied up (sorry) money during the depths of the pandemic recession, too.

That said, I never use or have deactivated the parking assist and kick-open hatch features, and would have been glad to have saved a buck by not buying them. I'm convinced, with incomplete and laughable evidence, that the neighbor's cat had learned to activate the hatch when my phone was too close ?.

On the other hand, I see almost no MMEs in south Louisiana but plenty of Teslas, despite there being no dealers for the latter and very sparse Tesla repair support here. The price could be the reason, or maybe, just maybe, it is because the local dealers would prefer, culturally and perhaps ideologically, if the whole electric Ford thing would just go away.

 

[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

Funny thing. Apparently, an MME built in the Jan 24, 2021 build week has the little-known "Minding Reading" Chip. Since you posted this I used the kick-to-open feature successfully like 5 times in a row. A new record! So then I was thinking (a mistake as I was thinking this while right next to the car -- obviously in range of the chip) "This actually is a nice feature, I'll keep on using it." Yeah, you know what's happened since -- it hasn't kicked to open once.

 

[mpshizzle]

Funny thing. Apparently, an MME built in the Jan 24, 2021 build week has the little-known "Minding Reading" Chip. Since you posted this I used the kick-to-open feature successfully like 5 times in a row. A new record! So then I was thinking (a mistake as I was thinking this while right next to the car -- obviously in range of the chip) "This actually is a nice feature, I'll keep on using it." Yeah, you know what's happened since -- it hasn't kicked to open once.

Hahahaha It can sense fear

 

[alexgorod]

Regarding the trunk kicks, mine is working flawlessly, perhaps me playing soccer when I was young is appreciated by the car. I always open the trunk with a kick, otherwise I wouldn't remember what to do.

I didn't play soccer much, at least during the last 50 years, but the trunk kicks work pretty much every time for me, at least for opening the trunk. Closing success rate is much lower, around 30%, but I'd used it much less even if it worked every time.

I had this feature in my previous car (X3) and it became a "must-have" for any new car that I'm going to get in the future.

 

[mpshizzle]

I didn't play soccer much, at least during the last 50 years, but the trunk kicks work pretty much every time for me, at least for opening the trunk. Closing success rate is much lower, around 30%, but I'd used it much less even if it worked every time.

I had this feature in my previous car (X3) and it became a "must-have" for any new car that I'm going to get in the future.

This has been my experience. Kick to open is near 100% success rate for me.

Closing is much less. But I've recently discovered that when it's open there is a SIGNIFICANT dealy. And that's helped. Like Kick, chime starts 2 seconds later, then another second and it sarts to close

 

[ChehRob]

Program loss per car may not be the same as marginal cost per last car produced.

 

[Mach-Lee]

This has been my experience. Kick to open is near 100% success rate for me.

Closing is much less. But I've recently discovered that when it's open there is a SIGNIFICANT dealy. And that's helped. Like Kick, chime starts 2 seconds later, then another second and it sarts to close

Yeah I think they added a delay so you can step out of the way before it closes on your head. I wish it would ding right away so you know you got it instead of waiting in silence for 2 seconds to see if anything happens.

 

[woody]

I didn't play soccer much, at least during the last 50 years, but the trunk kicks work pretty much every time for me, at least for opening the trunk. Closing success rate is much lower, around 30%, but I'd used it much less even if it worked every time.

I had this feature in my previous car (X3) and it became a "must-have" for any new car that I'm going to get in the future.

Mt kick to open experience is the same. However my kick to close is about 75% first time, 95% w/ 2nd or 3rd kick. Use it when unloading w/ hands full.
Why should some owners have so much difficulty w/ this function?
This is yet another example of unreliability of the MME.
Too much inconsistency and no reason for it or correction offered.

 

[AZBill]

You didn't say your absolute price. Assuming $50k, that's a 20% increase over 2.5 years. If you compound the 8% annual inflation in the US for 2.5 years, it will be close to 20%. So inflation alone can explain the price increase just fine. Haven't you heard of the latest stand-off with the UAW?

But there are lots of other factors. Early on, Ford underpriced the car and dealers used the gap in demand and supply with huge mark-ups and pocketed the difference. Then Ford adjusted prices higher to pocket part of that themselves. It's not a daily price change like Tesla, but still they aren't blind nor dumb.

Tesla OTOH increased prices 1-2 years ago with much less competition (chips supply woes cutting gas car supplies, lack of 300 mile range EVs) and are now getting desperate to keep the growth story alive in the face of increasing competition. So different motives.

But at the end, it's all a matter of demand and supply. As Ford CEO says openly, the electric cars are still making loss for Ford. So there isn't much incentive to try to sell more.
Cars are obviously not all about price.

Actual inflation rate for the last two years is 18.5%, plus interest rates are up.

 

[ARK]

This has been my experience. Kick to open is near 100% success rate for me.

Closing is much less. But I've recently discovered that when it's open there is a SIGNIFICANT dealy. And that's helped. Like Kick, chime starts 2 seconds later, then another second and it sarts to close

Ditto, and I sort of wondered if maybe I change my distance and kick differently or something after it’s open, but yeah, much harder to get it to close with a kick then to get it open.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

It appears that all OEMs have an issue with the kick open lift gate. I noticed that GM puts a light that projects the logo on the floor to give you something to aim for and wonder if that is more effective.

 

[JoeDimwit]

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.

Probably because companies are crying “Rising Costs!!!” All while telling shareholders “Record Profits!!!”… ?‍

 

[JoeDimwit]

It wasn’t for free, it was $1900.

Yes it was included in the Premium package, but you paid for it.

On my GT (on the window sticker), it was a $1900 line item.

Now that hardware actually is free (even on the Select models), but the BC software is more expensive (but $2100
Total is still less than the $2500 I paid for the option in 2021).

Doesn’t matter which way you compare it, Bluecruise (and the accompanying 360 cameras etc) is a cheaper option today than it was in 2021.

Your other points about MSRP are legit though. The price did go up, but again, right in line with inflation and without the crazy ADMs we saw a year or two ago.

If you want a “deal” on the Mach E today, buy a Select, get the free 360 camera and don’t pay for Bluecruise.

GT’s were job 2, not job 1 cars.

 

[Mach1E]

GT’s were job 2, not job 1 cars.

Never said they were job 1 cars.

Just said that the hardware cost $1900 in 2021.

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