buzznwood

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The whole dealer sales staff could be replaced with a website IMO, most people walking on to a car lot interested in a brand new model probably already know more about the vehicle than the sales staff that bounce around from dealership to dealership.

The mach-e is a main stream product everything you need to know and how to spec one will be on fords website, your not purchasing some exotic hyper car with a myriad of tailor made options. At some point thanks to the proliferation of information available on the internet, the days of uniformed customers waltzing onto the dealer forecourt will be consigned to history.
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theothertom

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The whole dealer sales staff could be replaced with a website IMO, most people walking on to a car lot interested in a brand new model probably already know more about the vehicle than the sales staff that bounce around from dealership to dealership.

The mach-e is a main stream product everything you need to know and how to spec one will be on fords website, your not purchasing some exotic hyper car with a myriad of tailor made options. At some point thanks to the proliferation of information available on the internet, the days of uniformed customers waltzing onto the dealer forecourt will be consigned to history.
I hear you but you're talking about rational people :). There will always be people who buy cars because they "look cool" or "the seats are plush" or a myriad of other reasons.
 

MachSpeed

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The whole dealer sales staff could be replaced with a website IMO, most people walking on to a car lot interested in a brand new model probably already know more about the vehicle than the sales staff that bounce around from dealership to dealership.
This is absolutely true every time I go to buy a car I know vastly more about the car I want than any body at the dealership.
 

silverelan

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Transport Evolved on YouTube had a great commentary on the dealership knowledge issue. Basically, its way too early to take dealers to task on the Mach-E and some perspective is warranted.
 

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When I completed web based reservation and placed my deposit I was surprised to find my local dealer in Cambridge, England was not a participating dealer. I had to pick a dealer and opted for a group in North Cambridgeshire called T C Harrison. I know of the group and understood them to have a good reputation.

Yesterday I called the dealer for the first time. They knew what I was talking about at the front desk and I was instantly connected with the Sales Manager (Dan) who knew exactly who I was and why I had called. He advised me my car is the first of four deposits placed, that he thought the car was going to be a big hit when folk wake up to the models cost and benefits. I was looking for a tax receipt for my £1,000 deposit and while he could not provide one himself (they did not take the money, Ford UK did) he was really helpful and sent me a screen shot of my order which aligned perfectly and showed the transaction.

Despite having my details they have been advised not to call deposit holders until they have more information, but I can assure you they made my call feel very welcome and encouraged me to call again if I had any questions.

So far so good and a very different experience to those featured on the video
 


MachSpeed

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Transport Evolved on YouTube had a great commentary on the dealership knowledge issue. Basically, its way too early to take dealers to task on the Mach-E and some perspective is warranted.

I agree with you but the sales people are clueless when it comes to the cars they sell. Each dealer participating should at least have two people well versed with the Mach E to provide the proper sales experience and avoid terrible mistakes.
 

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I agree with you but the sales people are clueless when it comes to the cars they sell. Each dealer participating should at least have two people well versed with the Mach E to provide the proper sales experience and avoid terrible mistakes.
Agreed. Being knowledgeable about one car is not hard whatsoever. The least the salespeople could do is properly educate themselves and try at their job. As a programmer I have to spend a good amount of time outside of work to learn more and more. I don't think the same could be said for most salespeople.
 

EyeOnMachE

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Transport Evolved on YouTube had a great commentary on the dealership knowledge issue. Basically, its way too early to take dealers to task on the Mach-E and some perspective is warranted.
If manufactures are going to play this game of attempting to out-announce/reveal their competition or make an announcement or reveal to make it look like they're staying current, then they better make sure they have dotted their I's and crossed their T's, otherwise, a half baked plan is exactly that. To go this route and not expect negative press is just plain naive. I believe most manufactures that purposely go this route realize this and treat it as a calculated risk, meaning, they feel the benefits will (hopefully) outweigh the risks.

As a consumer of any product, if a company is going put on a big fanfare reveal, they better have ALL their ducks in row. And in Ford's case, if they're're not going to inform their dealers of the proper information *before* the reveal, I don't blame the dealers but Ford. Now if Ford has made the information available, then, yes, that's the dealer's fault for not getting educated on the new product.
 

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The launch in nearly a year away, I wouldn't expect the dealers to be prepared for it now. Especially since the car is not sold by the dealers themself but Ford online. There will be trainings for the dealers from Ford for the Mach-E but until that happens, they won't be able to give a lot of answers about the car.

Also don't expect much car knowledge from the nice persons answering calls. Of course they should know what cars the brand offers, but I guess they also rely on certain trainings where the dealers update them of what is new.
 

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I thought I had some good information for my own dealership. I'm a customer, I don't work for the dealership.

But I do work for Webasto Charging Systems Inc.

Webasto sells Ford branded chargers. Level 2 and level 1 chargers for home (hard wired) and portable Turbo Dual Chargers. I even have the pricing for them.
https://www.evsolutions.com/ev-charging-ford
https://store.evsolutions.com/storefront.aspx

They (Plaza Ford) said they already have a charger installed. I was excited for them. They got theirs from the Corp Office. Yes, it's even level 1. I checked later on, and it's a J-1772. Is it branded with the Ford logo? No. But they did have a Nissan charging the other day. I said it was likely the Nissan Leaf. The guy didn't know. Heavy sigh. You also need to know what your competition is selling.

I would have thought that the dealership would have wanted to get a CCS charger. Oh well... not my zoo, not my monkeys.

One of the other sales reps was less than enthusiastic about the EV. I've said that before on the FordFlexForum. Last time I had my Flex in for service, I had mentioned that I was looking for an EV, but that it needed to be big like my Flex. Sales rep said, they don't sell. I told him, well they will NEVER sell if you don't bring them in. He said that they had a couple hybrids in and they sat and sat. I told him, I don't want a hybrid, I want a Crossover EV.
 

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Dealers I spoke to in the UK were mostly useless pre-launch (and not much better post-launch). Was the same with the UK Mustang when that launched - product knowledge of current line up is questionable, on future models it can be non-existent...

UK has ‘Ford Stores’ which are a higher level dealer authorised to sell Mustangs & ST models. You’d think enthusiasm for/basic knowledge of the upcoming models would be a prerequisite for achieving this status but evidently it’s not.
 

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Yes, this kind of problem will lose Mach-E sales. Porsche has gone all-out and is really promoting how they are going electric in the coming decade; they're sending their sales and service people to sites to see and drive the Taycan. When you announce a hot new EV like the Mach-E, you have to have everybody on board and knowledgeable, if it's going to be widely promoted in the press and if you're seeking deposits for orders. (Toyota is making a similar mistake; they also announced their RAV4 Prime PHEV at the LA Auto Show, alongside the Mach-E/Ford, but I contacted numerous Toyota dealerships in my area the following week, and nobody knew anything -- even though the RAV4 Prime will be available to buyers this coming summer. And many potential buyers of the RAV4 Prime in the USA away from the east and west coasts are complaining that their dealerships won't get any RAV4 Prime allocations. It'll be interesting to see if Ford also restricts Mach-E sales to the coasts.)
 

buzznwood

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For the higher end marques, they tend to have a semi intelligent sales forced versed in some the products they actually sale, not always but there are typically at least one or two sales staff that know something, of course half the time you walk on those lots depending on your attire you either get treated as some one interested or a peasant tire kicker :(

With the main stream manufactures the dealers appear only to be interested in pushing what ever happens to be sitting on the lot and this is going to be a real problem long term, with the first crop of purchasers your in the early adopter phase so a good portion will have already self educated themselves about the product, but if they come across a disinterested sales force then Ford will end up loosing out on sales which will become worse as time goes on.

Everyone likes certain vehicle styles, having own numerous hatchbacks and a few sedans (saloons) checkbox #1 for me is no hatch no sale, wagons (estates) are also fine but we are taking USA here so lol on finding many of choices for those.

For my daily commute I am in work very early so avoid the traffic, but coming home not so much :( which is where an electric vehicle shines, when the Bolt was announced and despite the rather dull looking design I was certainly interested, when it was finally released the Chevy dealers in my area had no such interest and asking about one gave the distinct impression that it was more hassle than it was worth to most. The awful seats in Bolt ruled that out in the end and as the model 3 is a sedan well that was not an option either.

With the mach-e it will be competing with the model Y, while I am not a fan of the interior and the vertically stretched model 3 styling of the Y, it does come with a hatch so if attempting to purchase my reserved mach-e turns into some ADM fueled mess from a dealer more interested in pointing me in the direction of other ford vehicles on the lot, of which I have no interest in vs clicking a few buttons on a website, then ford looses the sale it is a simple as that I am not getting any younger and have no intention of wasting my time with dealers.

Next year once everyone with a reservation has to start finalizing the purchase we will see if Ford has learned anything from the mistakes from other main stream marques or if it will be business as usual :(
 

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That's the problem, they have Ford employees stuck in their ways about ICE vehicles. In my opinion, get on the train or get out. If you're not promoting and knowledgeable about the new EV that will carry your company into the next century, then you need to get out. You're only hurting your brand and distancing potential customers because of old thinking bias. I love Ford and don't want to see them sink, but idiots that think EVs are still a fad or not ready are going to bring the overall image of the company down.
 

MachSpeed

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cometguy
And many potential buyers of the RAV4 Prime in the USA away from the east and west coasts are complaining that their dealerships won't get any RAV4 Prime allocations. It'll be interesting to see if Ford also restricts Mach-E sales to the coasts.)

My dealer here in West Virginia said he would be getting a Mach E he already has charging stations at the dealership.
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