Longtime GM rival Ford has announced that it’s nullifying its controversial Model E program, which was first announced in 2022. It was a certification program for dealers that granted them inventory and service capabilities of the Blue Oval’s EVs, including the F-150 Lightning pickup, Mustang Mach-E crossover, and E-Transit van. Dealers without the certification were prohibited from selling or servicing the aforementioned EVs. GM never considered implementing such a program.
Although the Model E program will sunset on July 1, 2024, Ford will still require dealers who want to sell EVs to invest in training its staff through the virtual Ford University and set a minimal amount to spend on Level 2 charging stations.
“At this point, we’re basically saying we want to lower the bar to let people get in,” Marin Gjaja, COO of Ford Model E, said in a statement to Automotive News. “We’ll probably have to continue to evolve from here, but we wanted to get everyone in because what we’re seeing is a market that is evolving, and the customer needs support. We’d rather have more dealers in helping us with that. Before, we tried to create focus because we were supply-constrained. But we aren’t anymore.”
Virginia Automobile Dealers Association CEO Don Hall had his own choice words for Ford. “They ought to be embarrassed with what they’ve done,” Hall said. “I feel bad for the dealers who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to be in compliance only to have cars sitting in the lot.”
North Carolina Automobile Dealers Association’s CEO John Policastro, one of a few dealer association leaders who formally challenged Ford’s Model E program with legal action, is cautiously optimistic that canceling the program is a step in the right direction. “I’m really hoping this will show Ford and other manufacturers that the best way to roll out these kinds of programs is to really connect with their dealers ahead of time and really get a full sense of the pulse of the dealer body,” Policastro said.
One could interpret Ford’s about-face as a response to the slower-than-expected EV sales growth. Overall, both dealerships and consumers have been more resistant to EV adoption than manufacturers expected, and Ford’s solution is to make EVs more widely available through its expansive American dealer network. Time will tell whether the wider availability of Ford EVs will yield significantly more sales.
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Comments
Ford and Farley are starting to say and do the right things. However, it will take time to follow through and see the results of these changes in the auto industry.
gm and Barra seem to be doing so and changing course to a lesser degree.
Unfortunately, I think Carlos Tavares at Stellantis has given Dodge/ Chrysler/ Ram a death sentence.
Stellantis has the best hybrid van on the market. However unless they follow that same strategy Dodge will not fare well.
On the contrary. Stellantis’ flexible platforms that allow for electric, hybrid, and gas vehicles off the same platform is a stroke of genius. Imagine how many more Hummers gm could sell if it had a platform that was that flexible.
The flexible platforms are great, but killing off all V8s will cause them to lose too many customers. I can see the inline 6 working for Jeep’s customers though.
They aren’t really all that flexible. They are the worst EV platforms in existence, but are decent ICE platforms. Stella’s plan for a long time has been “pay lip service and maybe they’ll go away.” It’s largely worked. They are about the only OEM that doesn’t have a dedicated EV in production, and are trying to run out the clock because they don’t have Ford’s level of disposable cash. Inamy ways it’s worked and they are in a better position than Toyota and VW.
Well considering that the BT1 platform under the Hummer will also be used on the BrightDrop Zevo, Silverado EV, Sierra EV, Escalade IQ and Tahoe/Yukon/Suburban EV, I’d say that it’s plenty flexible to take advantage of economies of scale. All the components of the drivetrain and platform are designed to work together to optimize performance and minimize production cost. They’re also designed to work on the BET3 platform so GM ended up with a suite of compatible components for all their EVs while needing only two platforms total.
One of the reasons the Bolt was killed off before having a replacement was because it was more expensive to build than some Ultium cars. Part of that expense is because the whole drivetrain was adapted to an ICE platform.
That’s all EVs though, right? That the problem. Most people in the US don’t want an EV yet and almost half the people that do own an EV have said in recent surveys that they want to go back to ICE. Having an ICE/EV flexible or even plus hybrid platform flexibility right now would be great. Dodge only blew it bc of their customer base and the V8, but it’s a HUGE mistake in their particular case.
No GM is doing the right thing not splitting their financials into ICE and EV like Ford did. Ford talked big, but hasn’t opened their own battery plant yet and have 3rd parties build their motors and battery cells
Mmmmm, so EV’s still aren’t selling?
The program did seem rather onerous. For example, excessive number of charging stations. A dealership only needs enough charging stations to test vehicles coming in for repairs, and to charge the inventory on their lot when sold. A dealership isn’t a filling station.
Exactly like how many gas pumps do they have…1 or 2 and they only take 3 mins for a fill up
Often they probably have no gas pumps, and will just go to a nearby station.
But you raise a point on time. I remember waiting for my truck to be filled up by the dealer going to a station. That wasn’t exactly pleasant to wait–seemingly they waited for the paperwork to be complete. With an EV they’d probably have to start during the paperwork.
We usually plug them in as a last step of a PDI. Making sure the vehicle can take a full charge is part of the PDI, and it also means that it’s only a short top-up at delivery.
We have the only DC fast in our town and within 15 minutes surrounding (Chevy dealer). You should see how busy it is all week long. All sorts of make and model EVs will be parked out there all the time.
Its not the worst idea for a dealership to set up a couple chargers as they might be the only place around that has them.
Well I guess at least it’s being used, but what do the people there do while charging? I can see some appeal to getting more dealership visitors, but you don’t want lookee-lous (sp?) pawing over vehicles they have zero interest in buying.
Ha ha ha !!!!! A lot of us saw this coming a long time ago. And told you so.
GO AHEAD >>> CLOSE FORD FOR EVER LIKE PACKARD WAS ONE DAY TOO
Think it’s the Dealers who are abandoning Ford….
I recall Cadillac implementing a program similar.
That if a dealer did not participate, they would loose the line. I believe it was a 250k investment.
Difference is the Lyriq is the 3rd best Cadillac sold behind the Escalade and XT5. And I imagine in 2nd place this quarter.
My dealer said he would abandon Ford and sell another brand entirely. Most of our dealers here in the mountains of north Georgia rely on their service departments to survive.
Newer cars in general require less maintenance, so their plan isn’t a good one. I would be worried to take my car to a place that needs service to be their bread and butter for profits
Where we live the ford dealership and Chevrolet dealership never has more than 20-40 new vehicles on their lot. Usually cheaper models are only available. I have to order a new vehicle to get High Country or Lariat trim.
You want to go to a dealer that understands the importance of service. Dealers that make their money off of sales tend to have lousy service departments, and you’ll be going back there a lot.
Having good Service is the only good plan. All vehicles from all manufacturers eventually need Service. And there is nothing worse than taking a vehicle to a Service Department that cannot fix anything, especially when the vehicle is under warranty.
The dealer that gets all my Sales is the dealer that provides excellent Service. The dealers that only care about Sales, with Service Departments that cannot fix anything, I don’t ever set foot on their lots. And it’s pretty easy to tell whether a dealer is Service or Sales based with minutes of entering a dealership. Sales based, the sales people swarm you, are pushy, often rude, and do everything possible to keep you from leaving. When I encounter this I just knowingly smile, turn around, walk out, and go somewhere else. The dealers that simply greet you, direct you to the vehicles you are interested in seeing, and say “Feel free to look around. I’ll be inside if you have any questions”, these dealers most likely have a good Service Department.
All dealerships realize their highest profit margins from their service departments. I’ve been in the business 35 years and that has never changed.
As a GM dealer, I can attest I have more charging stations than the gas station across the street has gas pumps. If I live to be 250 years old I will never see an ROI. I should have 2 -3 50KW chargers rather than the mismatch of 9 that I was mandated. The four 19KW I have are so useless I’m thinking of transferring them to our home gym so we have something else to hang clothes on!
GM dealer:
I have repeatedly stated here for a few years now that dealers should never be forced to install any charging equipment other than a very small portable test fast charger for the service bay to test a fast charging facility on an EV.
A dealer MAY decide to install one or two very low cost medium speed level 2 chargers for use as a profit center to refill rental or loaners that have been returned empty. Gasoline loaners are charged a premium for lack of fuel and it should be a similar policy for all vehicles..
The fact that Jim Farley insisted on duplicate FORD and LINCOLN chargers, and plenty of them shows that JF is just goofy and apparently has never had to successfully run a small business.
I’m okay with a couple of 50KW chargers however GM’s plan was for us to become consumer charging stations which will never happen. The fact is the fastest 50KW stations today will quickly be low-level. FYI I’m in for more than $1 million in unnecessary electrical upgrades.
Yeah David.
As I say when they did the Volt program most dealerships that were small installed ONE 3 kw (200 volts at 15 amp) charger. Since installed on an existing wall most electricians would charge around $600 or less for installation. This could be uprated for the existing pipe to be 2 – 6 kw chargers to be basically used by the dealership for rental/loaner refills.
One of the larger dealership groups here had a 15 amp charger at its large store and absolutely nothing at its small more rural locations. They’d have a 110 extension cord to fill up any EV that was low.
As I say much of what the dealership needs to charge or test charge EVs could be as little as a few $1000s.
GM forcing big productions, like service rip outs and converting everything to 277Y/480 volts
And then converting almost all of it back to 120Y/208 volts to run 95% of the existing dealership is just Goofy.
I don’t even understand that thinking–wanting dealers to become consumer charging stations. To the extent that fixes the problem of not enough charging locations, that’s only a temporary problem. And what’s the likelihood that someone’s dealer will be in a more convenient location than some other charging station? Very low.
Also, as I’ve said here before, people who buy EVs that cannot charge at home or work are likely making a mistake. So GM is aiming for buyers who will likely be dissatisfied. At the expense of their dealers.
Didn’t GM have a similar demand to install equipment to service EV or lose that franchise & hundreds of dealers gave up Buick & Cadillac franchises? My local dealer gave up
Cadillac for this reason & told me so. My wife wants a XT4 & now it’s a 2 1/2 to 4 hour drive to the nearest dealer. Sad.
Yeah this is what I have been saying. Apparently Many of the dealerships are walking away from GM’s totally unreasonable demands.
I say let the dealership decide what they need for adequate sales and service and another thing: stop all the mandated remodels when the existing showrooms are just fine.
I’ve seen some of the remodels and these Corporations need to hire more competent interior decorators.
They’re talking around replacing him with Killary Clinton.. Not much of a big choice.