Ford CEO, Jim Farley, said that for their EV line of vehicles, Ford will transition to fixed-price, online-only sales. Here is the article from Road & Track. And here are the bullet points.
•EVs will be sold at a fixed price.
That means – no deals. But I guess to be fair, that also means – no pricing inconsistencies or greedy dealership markups. Basically you don’t have to haggle, so long as you pay exactly what they ask. (Side Note: It’s astounding to me how many people are totally ok with this.)
•Online purchasing only.
Order online, sight unseen… then wait. The car will eventually be delivered to your door.
Questions… Concerns???
How will this news effect Ford dealerships? Ford has been very vocal about electric vehicles being ‘the future’. And now, straight from the horse’s mouth, it seems like dealerships will have little-to-no sustainable role in Ford’s EV future. CEO Jim Farley was quoted saying that dealers can do it, but that “the standards are going to be brutal.” Doesn’t seem like much incentive there (seems a lot more like lawsuits). Will Ford be able to sell as many cars without local dealerships? How will service issues be handled? Is Ford trying harder to be Tesla than Ford? And is that the right move?
Don’t forget, Ford also pulled out of The SEMA Show.
