Ford is telling dealers to hold off on any more EV related investments...

[cgorske]

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/b...cle-charging-station-investments/73786689007/

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[Billyk24]

Hmm. Wanted to produce 3 row suv EVs at the Oakville, Canada plant but now this has been delayed from 2025 to 2027? Refocused on smaller global platforms that cost less. Introduction of smaller models for 2025 or 2026? Meanwhile Model E plans also put on hold.

 

[ToOldForThis]

Interesting... that's about all I can say about this.

 

[ack154]

Hmm. Wanted to produce 3 row suv EVs at the Oakville, Canada plant but now this has been delayed from 2025 to 2027? Refocused on smaller global platforms that cost less. Introduction of smaller models for 2025 or 2026? Meanwhile Model E plans also put on hold.

It's almost like they maybe shouldn't have killed off nearly EVERY actual small/regular car a few years ago (at least in the US).

 

[the golden eel]

"The company also reduced employee training requirements."

I don't like this one at all.

I understand the cost hurdles with charging infrastructure, but no reason (IMHO) to not get your employees up to speed on the products you are actively selling.

 

[Sikkun]

It's almost like they maybe shouldn't have killed off nearly EVERY actual small/regular car a few years ago (at least in the US).

I’m sure Toyota isn’t complaining.

 

[Mach-Lee]

The dealers probably complained hard enough, and with concerns over losing more sales, it appears Ford gave in to relaxing the requirements.

The charger installs were the hardest aspect of certification, those will probably be pushed back or scaled down again. But we'd still like to see improved training for sales and service personnel to make things go smoother.

 

[kodiakng]

wish they'd remove all public facing charger install requirements and focus on right sizing both training and service. ford can invest in public charging efforts in general more effectively than forcing it on dealers.

 

[cgorske]

But we'd still like to see improved training for sales and service personnel to make things go smoother.

I totally agree. I always figured the original charger install requirements were a way to force more chargers throughout the country, but now with the addition of Tesla Superchargers and more chargers being added all the time, this seems like an unnecessarily large expense for dealers.

I completely agree that the money would be much better spent on training of sales and service people at the dealer. As we all know, we've seen lots and lots of posts on this forum where dealers have either been apathetic or just completely misinformed. If it wasn't for this forum and excellent helpful posts from several of you regular contributors (such as Mach-Lee above), I know many of us would be completely lost when things like 12V batteries die, OTAs get stuck updating, etc. I'll never understand why Ford just threw Mach-E's and Lightnings into the wild and basically just told the owners and dealers, "OK, you guys are on your own".

 

[Electric Goat]

Good. IMO, transitioning the vast majority of Americans to plug-in hybrids first is the way to go. Going pure EV for most households (including mine) would be a complete PITA.

 

[zvez]

The dealers probably complained hard enough, and with concerns over losing more sales, it appears Ford gave in to relaxing the requirements.

The charger installs were the hardest aspect of certification, those will probably be pushed back or scaled down again. But we'd still like to see improved training for sales and service personnel to make things go smoother.

yeah, while nice I don't think DC supercharging should be a requirement for a dealer. I mean costwise it seems a waste.

 

[zvez]

Good. IMO, transitioning the vast majority of Americans to plug-in hybrids first is the way to go. Going pure EV for most households (including mine) would be a complete PITA.

got to say the new plug in prius is quite nice, saw one in person the other day for the first time.

 

[Electric Goat]

got to say the new plug in prius is quite nice, saw one in person the other day for the first time.

I agree. It's a great option as a commuter vehicle. My wife would love a plug-in hybrid Subaru Outback. It'd be a great daily commuter for her along with being a great family vacation road trip car to places where there's little to no infrastructure. We love the almost 600 miles range of her current Subaru. Adding a plug-in hybrid variant (or making it standard) would be icing on the cake.

 

[Jgg181]

The Facts:

Average(not just Ford)dealers make 40-50% of their annual operations profits with Service/parts sales.

EVs do not require a great deal of maintenance services, in general.

Any new business investment requires a short, medium, and longterm plan for generating ‘replacement’ profit.

EV mfgs. required significant franchise dealership upfront investment, with a promise for longterm gains(profits).

In a competitive EV market(can you say, “Tesla lowering prices often and a lot”), makes it extremely difficult to profit selling EVs…and make no mistake, every mfg. is struggling, including Tesla.

There is a very good reason the Biden Administration just levied a significant increase on Chinese-made EVs and associated batteries(100% tariff on Chinese EVs, and 25% tariff on Chinese EV batteries).

EV Training for sometimes, transient dealership sales and service personnel, may be seen by many dealers as a mfg. ‘cost’, not a dealership financial responsibility.

Just sayin…

 

[RickMachE]

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/b...cle-charging-station-investments/73786689007/

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"until we complete our review and work with the Dealer Council in June"

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