Ford Quadruples BlueCruise Price to $800/yr for All Renewals

[phil]

Ford generally helps those who help themselves.

Ford giveth, and Ford taketh away.

Sponsored

 

[engnrng]

From Ford's Investor Day re: Blue Cruise:

"Ford for the 2024 model-year expects to build 500,000 vehicles equipped with the hands-free technology. At an expected take rate of 20%, Field said BlueCruise alone could amount to $200 million in revenue."

Clearly they expect *some* of us to buy-in. Not me though...

At a Take Rate of 20%, about 100,000 units, that revenue works out to $2000 each. Sounds like a purchase price, not a subscription.

 

[Mirak]

From Ford's Investor Day re: Blue Cruise:

"Ford for the 2024 model-year expects to build 500,000 vehicles equipped with the hands-free technology. At an expected take rate of 20%, Field said BlueCruise alone could amount to $200 million in revenue."

Clearly they expect *some* of us to buy-in. Not me though...

Ouch. The 500k is delusional. That 20% would agree to such a hefty subscription fee for such a limited service is likewise delusional. This is concerning. Ford is trying to paper over its losses to investors with fantasy numbers.

 

[MellowJohnny]

Ouch. The 500k is delusional. That 20% would agree to such a hefty subscription fee for such a limited a service is likewise delusional. This is concerning.

I think most EV makers are missing the mark on subscription estimates - I hope it doesn't end up like Sirrus-XM or gym memberships..."well, how much *can* you pay?"

The subscription for my Volvo App, which basically lets me remote start / unlock the doors is $200 a year. Not a chance. They need to get this stuff down to reasonable numbers. Reality will set in eventually.

 

[TheVirtualTim]

All new Mach-E's (23.5 model year) are getting the hardware ... no need to spec-up to a package that includes it. Whereas older cars didn't get the hardware unless you opted for package/trim-level that included it -- at an extra cost to the buyer.

So when I saw the new pricing ... I had several initial thoughts. Such as -- maybe that price was to recoup the hardware cost for those who didn't have to pay extra for the package ... but the $600/3-year was for those who DID buy the hardware.

I was shocked to see confirmation that Ford expects _everyone_ to pay the $800/year or $2100/3-year price ... even those who already bought the hardware kit.

I also was pretty confident (operative word being 'was') that the $800/year was a typo that was meant to say $800/3-years. I thought they bumped the price from $600 to $800. Then was shocked to learn it wasn't a typo.

$800/year is beyond crazy. It's good that those who bought Job 1 cars that were promised BC would be $600/3-year subscription will have that pricing honored ... but just ONCE. After the 3-years they go up to $800/year just like everyone else.

Hopefully when Ford realizes that they'll make $800/year off the 1 or 2% of the customers willing to shell out for it ... while making $0/year off the other 98% (who were previously willing to pay $600/3-years) ... they'll recognize it is in their best interest to revisit pricing.

Also ... Ford is really destroying customer loyalty with a move like this.

 

[mkhuffman]

Has anyone posted here to say they will actually pay the $800 per year for BC? I know we are not a good representation of the entire market, but if 100% of forum posters in this thread are rejecting it, I cannot imagine 20% of the rest of MME owners will accept it. It isn't rational.

 

[Blue highway]

I read someplace that Ford leadership thinks along the lines of 30% take rate being successful. seems unlikely they will hit that.

 

[LincolnLuvr]

Somehow my comment disappeared but I think the $800/year fee would be justified if Blue Cruise coverage were as extensive as Super Cruise's.

As a counterpoint, maybe the valuation is justified when you consider that Enhanced Autopilot is more expensive. And as a bonus, Blue Cruise 1.2 doesn't feature frequent phantom braking! haha

 

[MONDO]

Has anyone posted here to say they will actually pay the $800 per year for BC? I know we are not a good representation of the entire market, but if 100% of forum posters in this thread are rejecting it, I cannot imagine 20% of the rest of MME owners will accept it. It isn't rational.

I’ve read almost every reply. There is like 3 people who said they might do it at the new pricing because they drive 30K miles/ year.

 

[PNW_Chris]

I really don't use it that much. Usually either on long drives, but I find it spotty at that. Too many times do I have to grab the wheel and always pay attention. The other times I use it is in stop and go traffic. Unless I'm really not in a hurry, this leaves too much of a gap. $200 a year for something that I still feel is more novelty than useful is a bit too much for me. I might "try" this after the product matures much more, but I doubt I will be subscribing to it unless the tech goes up and price comes down.

 

[kodiakng]

From Ford's Investor Day re: Blue Cruise:

"Ford for the 2024 model-year expects to build 500,000 vehicles equipped with the hands-free technology. At an expected take rate of 20%, Field said BlueCruise alone could amount to $200 million in revenue."

Clearly they expect *some* of us to buy-in. Not me though...

imagine if they priced it to target an 80%+ take rate...

ford doesn't see BlueCruise as a safety feature but as a luxury item.

 

[mateo]

To be fair to Ford, I think there's likely a big difference between a) people spending money on a subscription by rolling it into their initial purchase or lease and b) those who are asked to renew 3 years later.

I personally would NOT have purchased it at the same price I did for my '22 had the hardware been included regardless. If I know the next owner (or even me) can later add it then I'm not incentivized to spend that money at purchase.

However, I feel like many people would say that they plan on trading the car back after three years and therefore still purchase the subscription because to them its the same difference. They aren't likely to think that it won't impact resale value at all.

So, say 20% of new purchasers opt-in and only 1% of people subsequently renew. Isn't that just proof it should be a one time purchase regardless since the total cost to Ford is essentially the same since they have to keep the software up to date anyway for new vehicles?

 

[ca_jon]

Encinitas Ford posts the window stickers of all their MachE special orders on their web site. They show 2023 Premium models have BC as Standard Equipment (no 3 yr subscription), and Select models have "BC/3yr subscription" specified in the standard equipment section. To me that means Premium buyers will never need a subscription, but Select buyers will. My 2022 Premium window sticker also did not specify a subscription for BC - it's in included in "Standard Equipment at no additional charge" section - their words, not mine.

 

[kennelh]

I'm have a Job 1 2021 and balked at renewing last March when my year trial was about to expire since I don't do many road trips. I was planning to delay until June when I will be taking a longer trip where the $200/year might have been worth it. When we got the trial extension thru Dec 2023 I was planning to see if we got BC 1.2 before then and if so would have upgraded.

I'm also one of the people who received the survey from Ford about the new pricing. I made it pretty clear I would never pay for BC up-front but would wait to decide until the 90 day trial period was over, since BC 1.0 is pretty annoying with its ping-ponging and right-side-lane hugging. But it was annoying that the only options given were the $75/month, $800/year, or $5K lifetime.

 

[NJDevFan30]

After 3 attempts to install BC, I finally realized that I was happy enough with the blue bubble, and further effort was not worthwhile to me

For what it's worth, I was in a similar situation as you. Job 1 MME without BC. It took getting the BEV team involved and it got resolved.

OTAs never installed. Took it in per the CSP. Turns out a module needed replacement. Dealer replaced and installed BC "successfully."

They never bothered testing it on the road and it would never enable.

Months later I got around to taking it to another dealer. They said the software was bad and needed to be custom corrected by Ford, essentially modifying code for some anomaly that showed up in Job 1 cars. It took like 3-4 rounds of getting new code and reinstalling to get it to work. The dealer said they'd had the issue multiple times.

Ford's always tried to make things right by paying for rentals (when no loaner was available), gas, and threw in some other perks. Not ideal but it got fixed.

Now will I pay $800/yr. No way.

Sponsored