Is there a future for the Mach-E?

[Kamuelaflyer]

This is a necessary strategy

Surrender are not a strategy, it’s defeat. Make no bones about it, this is defeat. Can they come back and try again? Sure, but it will fail as very few will trust them.

The Mach E is already an excellent car in the American market

No, it’s not. It’s a good car, but it’s not excellent. It’s also being surpassed by newer vehicles, as well as vehicles with a refresh or a newer generation. Ford has offered nothing new and has now pushed back the mme gen 2 so far that they no longer discuss it. The Mach-e could easily be sporting a 10 year old design with archaic hardware before a possible second generation makes an appearance, if it makes it that long.

This isn’t a strategic regrouping. It’s a surrender and staking their future and very existence on ICE vehicles. They’re a dead company walking. Both Jim Farley and Bill Ford know it too.

Believe what you want, buy what you like. It’s your mind and your money. But I am done with Ford in totality. We will never buy another Ford of any sort.

Sponsored

 

[celestial_knight]

Lol there is no way they are going to compete with Tesla FSD, at least not anytime soon (though Jim has spoken with some fire and seems to believe they are coming for it, and talks about future level 3)

Yet Tesla was on 150 kw charging not long ago

Americans don’t buy electric cars, and don’t have money to do so. Charging is a nice diversion but takes time. We are still from recovering from inflation and a zombie economy and now tariffs

American cars are not competitive right now overseas. America does not have the massive numbers of trained Stem personnel and whole networks of established processes that China has to compete in the state of the art

So what do? Make nice cars at an affordable price

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

Make nice cars at an affordable price

What makes you think they can do that? A lot of rhetoric gets tossed around but nothing concrete. The affordable nice car is a pie dream. They can go nice, and hey can do affordable. They can’t go both. And if they try, they’ll lose their shirts. They’re lamp lighters after electric lights arrived on the scene.

Bring on the Chinese cars.

 

[celestial_knight]

I think a big difference between you and me is that I had already made peace with the fact that my next car may not be a Ford, and also that Chinese cars are probably not coming here

I already knew this would happen. But Ford has made a great car with what they could, the 2024 refresh and 2025 BlueCruise have made it far better than what it was, and I’d be open to buying Ford again

if Mach E had FSD lite and 400+ mile range in a few years with good thermals I wouldn’t look anywhere else. (Charging time is ok for me; I actually am not sure that I want super fast charging as that surely can’t be good for the battery )

but Ford’s Ceo knows they might not be able to pull it off, that’s why they’ve got to pivot to mass market. GM is not really competitive either, and note that they sell well with affordable vehicles, and transitional interiors that are familiar to ice drivers

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

Mach E had FSD lite and 400+ mile range in a few years with good thermals I wouldn’t look anywhere else. (Charging time is ok for me;

If.

 

[buzznwood]

Lol there is no way they are going to compete with Tesla FSD, at least not anytime soon (though Jim has spoken with some fire and seems to believe they are coming for it, and talks about future level 3)

Yet Tesla was on 150 kw charging not long ago

Americans don’t buy electric cars, and don’t have money to do so. Charging is a nice diversion but takes time. We are still from recovering from inflation and a zombie economy and now tariffs

American cars are not competitive right now overseas. America does not have the massive numbers of trained Stem personnel and whole networks of established processes that China has to compete in the state of the art

So what do? Make nice cars at an affordable price

FSD, charging rates and tariffs are all just convent excuses that gloss over fords miss-management. Unfortunatly they have a long history of giving up on a model de-contenting it and letting it wither on the vine and then wandering why sales slow down.

In the past there tends to be a point where finally some adults are in charge to turn things around only for classic ford to once again reappear years down the line and the sequence starts over once more.

This time however I am not so sure, the past few years has been filled with so many bone headed knee jerk reactions, project cancellations and serious drops in quality control that fords goose is close to being cooked for good, maybe things will turn around once again, I will be happy to be proved wrong as I have a soft spot for fords, but based on the current management and the direction they are following I doubt it.

It doesn't impact me as I will enjoy my mach-e for a number of years to come , run it into the ground as it works perfectly fine for my use case, but when it comes time to replace I will be looking elsewhere as on curret form ford are dead to me, thankfully there plenty of other options on the horizon that do move the EV game forward.

 

[SonicBlue]

Short answer, no. There is no future for the mme as we currently know it anyway.

Long answer? For awhile there is. The car, imo, will be left to wither on the vine. Eventually, if Ford stops its doing business like Boeing act, they might have another similar EV and even call it a mme, but that’ll be in name only.

Full disclosure: I also think Ford stopped making Mustangs in 1967. So there’s that.

I’m confused. Aren’t you describing the lifecycle of any car?

 

[Jimrpa]

Talking to people who are ford insiders familiar when Ford's upcoming products, the common consensus is the mach-e will get a second gen riding on CE1, also know as the universal electric platform.

This is a very flexible ev platform engineered and designed by the guy who led the engineering team for the model 3 and Y. He brought the best minds from Tesla over with him, paired with talented Ex-rivian and apple employees. The aero is being done by F1 experts.

The reason why this team exists is Ford needed an extremely radical approach to create smaller, affordable EVs that were profitable to produce, and could go toe to toe with the best affordable Chinese EVs in the world. The team is so radical that they exist on the other side of the country, and you can't even get in the building as a Ford employee unless they clear you, all to prevent corporate meddling. It's a startup in terms of speed, open mindedness, and cost, but with access to Ford's resources and manufacturing expertise.

I certainly hope you’re right.
I get VERY nervous with the repeated use of the words “smaller” and “affordable”. To me, those are synonymous with tiny batteries, low-power anemic motors, lack of technology, and cheap, barren interiors. I fear that we will get something akin to a decontented EcoSport, available with one motor only, capable of 0-60 in a leisurely 13-14 seconds, offering interior accoutrements such as crank windows, manually adjustable seats with only fore and aft adjustments, and a DIO Dollar Store Bluetooth speaker that snaps into the dash for an “audio system”.

 

[Jimrpa]

It's a startup in terms of speed, open mindedness, and cost, but with access to Ford's resources and manufacturing expertise.

Aren’t you describing what Ford was trying to achieve with “Team Edison”? And before that, with moving Lincoln design to California?

 

[SonicBlue]

I’m not so worried about Ford stopping production in the Mach E since I plan to keep mine for a long time. Who knows what will best meet my needs when I’m ready to get rid of it.

Agree. Also, there’s more than enough of these things on the road after 5-6 years to alleviate any concerns over parts and maintenance.

I’m more worried about them stopping support for SYNC 4a, specifically updating the navigation, list of chargers (including Tesla), etc. Especially since I pay for connected services and nav!

Meh. Don’t care. I use Apple CarPlay almost exclusively. Mostly better and “free.”

 

[SonicBlue]

I hardly think it matters. It is sort of interesting to discuss, but in the long term, it isn't going to change the world one way or another.

I really liked my Olds Starfire and my Pontiac Fiero. Neither no longer exist to buy (new), and I probably wouldn't buy either of them these days. My wife loves her 2008 Mustang but wouldn't buy some years of Mustang. The world moves on.

We love the Mach-E and probably will have it for a very long time, maybe even for the rest of our lives. But at the end of the day, it is just a car that can be replaced. If not by Ford, by some other manufacture.

Ford is the one that should be worried.

This is the correct mindset.

 

[Jimrpa]

If wishes were horses. Ford doesn't have the ability to do the state of the art dance with the Chinese. The CEO is a realist. He was shocked at the teardown of the (early) Mach E versus Tesla and Chinese vehicles

America is seriously hurting in manufacturing, making real things, and now in STEM human capital relative to China. This is a necessary strategy

The Mach E is already an excellent car in the American market, and sells well amongst its competitors. If only Americans would buy even more of them

One could then ask “why aren’t Americans buying more of them?”

 

[SonicBlue]

I willing to wager the machE is done after 2026 model year.
Ford has not updated anything really meaningful in this car except an antiquated heat pump that doesn’t make much difference in what I have read so far. Still no faster charging in 2026 models

GM has already provided several great updates to all there vehicles in last 24 months. Tesla is light years ahead in tech.

5 years of this model and we can’t even get a simple pre-condition button or Tesla routing update in nav.

I bet on the wrong horse, Will be moving on from this car before resale plunges even faster .

This makes no sense at all. You bet on the wrong horse? You complain about Ford not making enough updates to the Mach E, so you’ll be “moving on before resale plunges even faster”? Even if Ford had made those updates, none were coming to your existing car. So if you wanted the updates, you’d be selling your existing car anyway. And thus subject to “plunging resale.” What point are you trying to make?

The longer you keep your existing car, the less depreciation matters. Because you’re maxing your value out of your purchase. And when you’re ready, you buy a new car. And you buy whatever be meets your needs at the time. And why does that matter if the next car is called a Mach E? Or even a Ford?

How is any of this betting on the wrong horse? How are you in any way invested in the Ford or Mach E ecosystem? Are you worried the floor mats won’t be transferable??

 

[SonicBlue]

It’s not 2021 any longer. This is a marathon. Ford had the opportunity to enter the race at the start. It intentionally and deliberately passed on it. Instead, they entered at the 5K mark and bailed at the 10K mark on the uphill. It’s a well earned DNF.

What does any of your racing metaphor even mean? Rephrase in terms of short-and long-term profitability. Because that’s all that matters, and all that should matter, to Ford.

 

[SonicBlue]

I don’t think there’s anything I don’t like about my MME, but I still think their point is correct.

Ford is really making a bad decision here and it’s going to affect their reputation with EVs. This is even going to push current owners away from choosing another Ford as their next EV. I mean why go with a brand that is taking steps back rather than going all in? Why would anyone buy an EV from a manufacturer that cannot stand behind its EVs?

You’re either all in or you’re out in this climate.

Again, I’m just completely confuzzled by this attitude. Seems to be permeating half the commenters here. People are taking this like some kind of personal betrayal. It’s a car, people. It’s a brand. Get a grip!! You buy the best thing for your needs and wants available in the market at the time. Period. End stop. Maybe it will be another Mach E. Maybe another Ford. Maybe not. What do you care??? What have you lost??? I do not understand the mindset!

I would totally understand if you bought a car and the manufacturer went belly up with no maintenance or parts soon thereafter. Like what happened with Fisker or whatever. But that hasn’t happened here! You’ve lost nothing! Are you sad about bragging rights with the Tesla-stans?

Sponsored