https://www.autonews.com/dealers/29-ford-dealers-leave-ev-program-after-changes
Nobody wants to buy Ford’s EV’s anymore.
Customer Demand has stopped with $90k price tags and high loan interest rates.
Existing F150 customers have severe range anxiety and complain about battery performance especially in colder states.
I agree. I just graduated from college and started a new job. Ford did not have anything I could afford. I did not want an SUV; I would feel like my parents, yuck! So I bought a Toyota Corolla. I can't believe my dad was mad at me and told me I should buy an American car. I told him my car was built in Mississippi.
@oqg+1lFgpGZZ is right. The car sales experience always sucks, and depending on the brand and dealership, will suck a little more or less. However, I usually don't get a bad experience during services in Toyota and Mazda dealerships.
I was vocal when Ford got rid of sedans in NA. It didn't make any sense whatsoever to me. So Ford was transformed then from a mass market manufacturer to a luxury wannabe company. I said that dog will come back to bite us in the @ss and it has.
The company has lost its way. The vision of Henry Ford was to built simple, strong, reliable, affordable car for the masses, and that vision changed the world and made him rich. FMC doesn't do that anymore and our CEO is obsessed with Tesla.
Elon Musk's vision was to drive the world's transition to electric vehicles, and that vision impacted our world and made him even richer. Most people associate Tesla brand with BEVs and youths wish to have one to drive.
How are we supposed to replace Tesla (the main objective of Model E) when we don't even have a vision? Who in their right mind would call this "to help build a better world" a mission? Are we a construction company or a charity? Because that should be the companies having that mission statement.
How are we supposed to replace Tesla when we cannot even play catch up? We started working on EVs over 10 years later, we missed the beginnings of the EV transition, we didn't analyzed the EV market, we didn't aligned the suppliers needed... heck! We don't even have enough parts for our ICE vehicles. We are a lousy Tesla copycat.
We should go back to our roots: cheap, simple, reliable ICE vehicles. However, I doubt we ever will with those d-mbasses in the C-suite and the major du----s Bill Ford guiding the company.
For all the shade that gets thrown to dealers keep in mind that they do the company a service that frankly we are over confident to think we can replicate with online sales. I am in no which way associated with dealers however they are not all bad (don’t apply the sales experience for the overall view of what a dealership does). Look at the Tesla ownership experience, if anything fails on those vehicles (and yes they do fail), the customer experience is a disaster. The vehicle gets hauled off to some far flung service center and the customer is left with nothing. Not even someone to listen to them complain. No one complained about dealers when millions of Firestone tires had to be replaced, or when DPS6 transmission clutches had to be replaced. The idea that dealers can be replaced is laughable, if we made anvils sure, but we make complex vehicles and even with the most robust product development system, mistakes will be made. We have it worse because we do not have a robust product development system. So you really want to ki-l dealerships? Then prepare for the death of the company.
That's why they offered the EcoSport! A great "entry" vehicle.
As a generally frugal car buyer and one who prefers sedans, there's basically nothing left in the Ford portfolio for me. That's before considering all the recalls and quality issues.
Yes, I totally agree with the smart people replying to this thread with their comments and concerns from the consumer POV. They are right with their valid points.
@qli+1lFgpGZZ. Not just young people/college students - I would like to have an inexpensive vehicle that gets good gas mileage and is easy to park. A Focus or Fusion would be nice, but Ford has nothing to sell me anymore. I guess I will have to look at Toyota.
Jim "potato chip bag" Hackett ki-led the car.
No feeder customers for the Ford halo. Not everyone wants an F150 or Explorer. I have a 2008 Fusion with 180K that gets 32 MPG. My 2017 Escape is a gas hog....it never stops shifting to find the perfect gear. The HDFX table ping pong. It is always looking for something but never finds it.
Yep. Ford should have kept a medium sized ICE sedan car like the C/D platform Fusion alive in their cycle plan. It’s needed for young teenagers and college kids who can’t afford a SUV along with high $3.50 a gallon gasoline prices while they are in school.
They need a cheaper but reliable and safe car for transportation to get them into the Ford brand without worrying about recharging it.