Future of Ford

[cgp777]

Is anyone else out there getting a bit unsettled about Ford’s future, especially here in the UK?
There is quite a bit of negative press about Ford at the moment, and I’ve noticed the significant and rapid depreciation of my MME, compared to other EV’s.
The level of product knowledge and understanding within the Ford Service/support department seems still too low and more issues reported, just about every week now, tho I have been very lucky and had only a few minor issues, during the 32k miles I’ve now done, but I am starting to feel a bit nervous, especially as my car only has about a year’s warranty to run?
I still absolutely love my MME, but I am starting to look at other brands a bit now?
Wouldn’t it be good to hear from someone within the Ford UK group, to offer a bit of reassurance?
Safe and happy driving to you all?

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[thekat03]

Is anyone else out there getting a bit unsettled about Ford’s future, especially here in the UK?
There is quite a bit of negative press about Ford at the moment, and I’ve noticed the significant and rapid depreciation of my MME, compared to other EV’s.
The level of product knowledge and understanding within the Ford Service/support department seems still too low and more issues reported, just about every week now, tho I have been very lucky and had only a few minor issues, during the 32k miles I’ve now done, but I am starting to feel a bit nervous, especially as my car only has about a year’s warranty to run?
I still absolutely love my MME, but I am starting to look at other brands a bit now?
Wouldn’t it be good to hear from someone within the Ford UK group, to offer a bit of reassurance?
Safe and happy driving to you all?

You haven't looked at depreciation for the Toyota bZ4X yet, have you? That car (well, the one I had until 4 months ago) has a 35% drop in value on trade in for a 1 year old car, per Kelley Blue Book. That's way worse than almost any other EV I've seen. I think like many computers and phones and other tech, there's some risk our cars will depreciate in value faster as tech becomes obsolete, so I am not surprised they are hit a bit harder than the average car when driven off the lot. All new businesses lose money for years before turning a profit, and Ford's EV branch is essentially a new business. Ford has weathered a lot of struggles over the past century. The challenge of competing with Tesla and all the new Chinese car companies is going to definitely test Ford's resourcefulness, but I think they'll make it.

 

[Fremont Kid]

No, I'm not worried about Ford's future. Ford can make the adjustments. I think Ford is ahead of most other EV manufacturers and will continue to improve. Also, remember how prominent Ford was for 100+ years. Cash reserves are quite large, and as son of a UAW Ford employee I applaud the most recent contract resolving the autoworker strike.

I am a retired computer systems person who has worked at many types of companies, and 16 years at a large insurer which had a world class IT shop. Many of us complain that Ford does not know IT because it is a manufacturer. Well, how good an IT shop should a hospital have? If I'm a patient I want it to be great. In fact, most larger health care networks have excellent shops. I won't denigrate Ford's IT just because it is a manufacturer. In fact, I will support its efforts and progress while providing specific areas for improvement, as have many others on this forum.

Also, as I've mentioned previously, many automakers develop leading-edge products taking losses early in their lifecycle, reaping large profits later. Toyota introduced the Prius in 2003 and was criticized for the development costs and low market share, only to sell millions and lease the technology to other automakers. Ford's intro to EVs via the MME, Connect and Lightning seems to me to fit a similar pattern.

Glad you enjoy your MME.

 

[RickMachE]

Nope.

 

[txaggies07]

If trade-in values stayed super high I would maybe trade-in to pickup something else in a couple years. With bad trade-in values it just means I will keep my car until it is much much older. Ford, even with problems, will still be in business by the time I sell the car.

Would I buy the Mach-E today...I don't know. However, when I made the decision it was the right one and there is only so much second-guessing one should do in their life. Make the best decisions you can with the information available at the time. Look back on past decisions to learn from them, not to second guess them.

 

[thekat03]

No, I'm not worried about Ford's future. Ford can make the adjustments. I think Ford is ahead of most other EV manufacturers and will continue to improve. Also, remember how prominent Ford was for 100+ years. Cash reserves are quite large, and as son of a UAW Ford employee I applaud the most recent contract resolving the autoworker strike.

I am a retired computer systems person who has worked at many types of companies, and 16 years at a large insurer which had a world class IT shop. Many of us complain that Ford does not know IT because it is a manufacturer. Well, how good an IT shop should a hospital have? If I'm a patient I want it to be great. In fact, most larger health care networks have excellent shops. I won't denigrate Ford's IT just because it is a manufacturer. In fact, I will support its efforts and progress while providing specific areas for improvement, as have many others on this forum.

Also, as I've mentioned previously, many automakers develop leading-edge products taking losses early in their lifecycle, reaping large profits later. Toyota introduced the Prius in 2003 and was criticized for the development costs and low market share, only to sell millions and lease the technology to other automakers. Ford's intro to EVs via the MME, Connect and Lightning seems to me to fit a similar pattern.

Glad you enjoy your MME.

I work in healthcare and am well aware of how much better hospital IT should be, but they don't directly bring in money, so they have to fight for funding. I want and expect the software part of car manufacturers to grow, just as cell phones grew from just phones to mini-computers, but I understand that won't happen overnight, and encourage patience and understanding that the growing process will be hard, but worthwhile.

 

[kltye]

Is anyone else out there getting a bit unsettled about Ford’s future, especially here in the UK?
There is quite a bit of negative press about Ford at the moment, and I’ve noticed the significant and rapid depreciation of my MME, compared to other EV’s.
The level of product knowledge and understanding within the Ford Service/support department seems still too low and more issues reported, just about every week now, tho I have been very lucky and had only a few minor issues, during the 32k miles I’ve now done, but I am starting to feel a bit nervous, especially as my car only has about a year’s warranty to run?
I still absolutely love my MME, but I am starting to look at other brands a bit now?
Wouldn’t it be good to hear from someone within the Ford UK group, to offer a bit of reassurance?
Safe and happy driving to you all?

Ford absolutely needs to bring up their level of support for their EVs, and they desperately need an upgrade for the software team. Having said that, I believe Ford recognizes these issues (step 1 in fixing it), so no, I'm not worried about their future.

I buy cars fully expecting its value to be close to zero when the time comes to replace it, so any money I get for getting rid of it is a bonus (Not quite that extreme, but you get my point) If I wanted non-depreciating cars, I'd buy a Japanese brand (but not the bz4x, of course), but then again I like nice cars ?

/flame suit on

 

[JohnFoxeSheets]

Make the best decisions you can with the information available at the time. Look back on past decisions to learn from them, not to second guess them.

THIS

I cannot tell you how many times I've said nearly exactly these words.

 

[RedStallion]

It used to be BMW i3 that had the most depreciation. Depreciation is something important for used cars buyers and those who change cars frequently.
I never care much about depreciation, I simply drive my cars for ~100k miles or more at which point the residual drops to about 10%, no matter what car you drive.

 

[KevinS]

If gas prices go through the roof due to war or other factors, I think we'll see some of the doom-and-gloom about EVs change quickly.

 

[AliRafiee]

I’m not worried personally.
But if you are it’s not too late to get an extended warranty.

BTW, I bought my 2011 Mustang GT new for $31K and sold it a year ago for $20K to a dealer. They posted it for $26K and it was gone within a week.

Now, I know that the price of the MME was a bit inflated, but I’m thinking the price will come back up, not that I think resell value is that bad here in the US.

 

[kennethjk]

And for those that have the option plan, there is an out clause at the end of the 3 or 4 years. Cars worth nothing just give it back and loan is forgiven, although I wonder about the tax treatment of that forgiven Loan

 

[kevgallacher]

The level of product knowledge and understanding within the Ford Service/support department seems still too low and more issues reported, just about every week now, tho I have been very lucky and had only a few minor issues, during the 32k miles I’ve now done, but I am starting to feel a bit nervous, especially as my car only has about a year’s warranty to run?

I wouldn’t worry too much about the issues you hear online, it always sound much worse than it actually is. The vast majority of owners have had no issues, the small amount of people that do are all over websites and forums complaining about it. It happens with all tech from games consoles to mobile phones to tvs etc. if there are major issues affecting a large amount of owners they would need to recall the car. You have driven 32000 miles with no issues this will be the same with most people

 

[Scorpy2643]

Ford is fine. This is the result of a master campaign in spin put forth by “eat the rich” rich person millionaire Shawn Fain.

 

[wenklaw]

Again this is posted in the UK section and Ford are considered very different in the UK than the USA. My pennys worth is Ford UK are in a bit of a transformation period in the UK, Fords Mach E is perceived expensive in the UK as it wears essentially a Ford badge, BMW, Merc, Audi even VW generally have nicer and better main dealer setups although Ford do appear to be making improvements. Ford have a fair way to go to level up in the UK to what we consider premium cars of which the mach e has a premium price tag here in the UK and I am not convinced as yet Ford are there in terms of service.

Depreciation of a new car nothing new, mach e essentially just doing the same as other EV's (in the UK), not particularly one way or the other. Buy a new car and thats what happens it doesnt worry me as I expected it.

Having owned some decent motors in my time the mach e does what it does IMO as good if not better than its competition, it looks good, drives well and isnt a effing Tesla.

Enjoy it and dont worry about it

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