Concerned about lack of marketing from Ford

[dbsb3233]

The first year is not sold out. The "First Edition" model of the first year is sold out.

And even then, it's only "fully reserved", with non-committing reservations.

No Mach-e's have been sold yet.

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[ChasingCoral]

Except in the Netherlands where folks just had to switch to non-refundable order deposits.

 

[dbsb3233]

Except in the Netherlands where folks just had to switch to non-refundable order deposits.

That's certainly a raw deal.

But it's not actually a vehicle sale either. Just a deposit, even if non-refundable if one backs without following through with the purchase.

 

[portlandg]

And even then, it's only "fully reserved", with non-committing reservations.

No Mach-e's have been sold yet.

Judging by the comments that are appearing on here lately the FE was 'sold out' but there seems to be a few people cancelling. Also the latest reservation number seems to be 10068xxx so this would indicate that there are a few more than the 50,000 suggested first years production run. Watch this space for actual numbers

 

[dbsb3233]

Also the latest reservation number seems to be 10068xxx so this would indicate that there are a few more than the 50,000 suggested first years production run.

That's a tricky one too. The reservation numbers being reported seemed to be leveling off in the 46,000's thru March, but then a few in the 50k's and 60k's popped up, seemingly inconsistent with the pattern/pace we saw in the early months. So it's hard to tell whether those are really part of the same (presumed) sequencing, or they're some completely different pattern.

It's especially hard to believe that 22,000 reservations came in from March to now, amidst the economic destruction from the virus.

 

[SD_Solar]

It's especially hard to believe that 22,000 reservations came in from March to now, amidst the economic destruction from the virus.

Remember that there are millions of Federal and State employees that will still be getting full pay and benefits during the destruction. Also, the US has over 18 million adult Millionaires and the EU over 13 million, so don’t think we will have a shortage of buyers for a $60,000 car in only a small 50K production.

And you probably don’t need to be a millionaire to afford the Mach-E --- hope not anyway.

 

[dbsb3233]

Remember that there are millions of Federal and State employees that will still be getting full pay and benefits during the destruction. Also, the US has over 18 million adult Millionaires and the EU over 13 million, so don’t think we will have a shortage of buyers for a $60,000 car in only a small 50K production.

And you probably don’t need to be a millionaire to afford the Mach-E --- hope not anyway.

True, but they were getting paid with or without the virus. In other words, it doesn't create new customers that wouldn't have existed before. There's no additional demand, but there will surely be reduced demand compared to 3 months ago (especially for an expensive vehicle). That's always the case for big-ticket purchases when a recession hits. Here's what happened to US auto sales during/following the last recession...

 

[SD_Solar]

I may be overly optimistic, but I think Ford already has more than enough reservations for the first year planned production. Yes, there will be cancellations from those ruined by the shutdown which will open up some slots.

But, by the time demo cars are seen in the Ford Dealer Showrooms all over the country this Fall, I think Ford will have a lot of disappointed customers when they are told what the wait is for battery supply to catch up with sales.

 

[Billyk24]

Question, was the LG battery plant effected by the world wide health issue? Are they creating an expanded plant to increase production and if so where are they with this expansion? Does a delayed MME also mean more battery packs can be expected than the agreed upon 50k?

 

[SD_Solar]

Question, was the LG battery plant effected by the world wide health issue? Are they creating an expanded plant to increase production and if so where are they with this expansion? Does a delayed MME also mean more battery packs can be expected than the agreed upon 50k

Actually Poland closed the borders off and did much better than most of the EU.
Only a total of 861 deaths or 23/Million rate which is less than 1/10th of the US rate.

The LG Poland plant is up and running. The last info I have seen on it from this article which is about a month old:
http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20200416000739

As for a “delayed MME” --- I have not seen any Official info from Ford that deliveries have been pushed back.

 

[dbsb3233]

I may be overly optimistic, but I think Ford already has more than enough reservations for the first year planned production. Yes, there will be cancellations from those ruined by the shutdown which will open up some slots.

But, by the time demo cars are seen in the Ford Dealer Showrooms all over the country this Fall, I think Ford will have a lot of disappointed customers when they are told what the wait is for battery supply to catch up with sales.

I'm not so sure about more than 50k reservations, but I do agree that they'll have enough demand to sell all 50k. Even if it's 30k sold with reservations and 20k "normally" (i.e. off the lot). Despite the recession, it should have enough demand as a special vehicle to sell them all.

And no "official" MME delay yet (all auto manufacturing is a fluid situation at this point dependent on how the coming months unfold), but it's looking likely that MME production will probably see a 4-6 week delay, and that's if things go well.

 

[ClaudeMach-E]

Remember that there are millions of Federal and State employees that will still be getting full pay and benefits during the destruction. Also, the US has over 18 million adult Millionaires and the EU over 13 million, so don’t think we will have a shortage of buyers for a $60,000 car in only a small 50K production.

And you probably don’t need to be a millionaire to afford the Mach-E --- hope not anyway.

It can also mean that they are taking more orders to replace those that are or will be cancelling and also already taking orders for delivery late 2021 or the second year pf production.

 

[Cvdbos]

Except in the Netherlands where folks just had to switch to non-refundable order deposits.

This "You need now to switch to the orderstatus" attitude, seems to be dealer dependent in the Netherlands.
Ik have a reservation, starting January 16, and my dealer told me I still have plenty of time.
His reaction (the dealer) was, "keep your reservation alive, wait what happens the coming months, we wil see".
When I check my reservation in my Ford account on the dealer page, it still says "Confirmation in the summer of 2020".
For me, due to the delay, a logical approach.

 

[pbojanoski]

Well there you go. Obviously no problem then.

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