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Ford F-150 Lightning trucks built at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn Michigan.
Courtesy: Ford Motor Co.
DETROIT – About 65% of Ford Motor’s dealers have agreed to sell electric vehicles as the company invests billions to expand production and sales of battery-powered cars and trucks, CEO Jim Farley said Monday.
About 1,920 of Ford’s nearly 3,000 US dealers have agreed to sell EVs, according to Farley. He said about 80% of those dealers have opted for higher investment levels for EVs.
Ford offered its dealers the option of becoming “EV-certified” under one of two programs — with an expected investment of $500,000 or $1.2 million. Dealers in the higher tier, which carry upfront costs of $900,000, receive “elite” certification and will be given more EVs.
Ford, unlike its crosstown rival General Motors, allows dealers to opt out of selling EVs and continue to sell the company’s vehicles. GM offered buyouts to Buick and Cadillac dealers unwilling to invest to sell EVs.
Dealers who decide not to invest in EVs can do so when Ford reopens the certification process in 2027.
“We think EV adoption in the US is going to take some time, so we want to give dealers a chance to come back,” Farley said at an Automotive News conference.
Ford’s plans to sell EVs have been a point of contention since the company split its all-electric vehicle business earlier this year into a separate division known as Model e. Farley said the automaker and its dealers need to lower costs, increase profits and deliver better, more consistent customer sales experiences.
Farley also reiterated Monday that a direct sales model is estimated to be thousands of dollars cheaper for the automaker than the auto industry’s traditional franchise system.
Wall Street analysts increasingly viewed direct-to-consumer sales as a benefit to optimize revenue. However, there are growing pains for Teslawhich uses a sales model, when it comes to servicing its vehicles.
Ford’s current lineup of all-electric vehicles includes the Ford F-150 Lightning pickup, Mustang Mach-E crossover and e-Transit van. The automaker is expected to roll out a litany of other EVs around the world under plans to invest tens of billions of dollars in the technologies by 2026.
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