Since announcing that it would be offering Ford dealers a choice to either opt in to one of two levels of EV certification – Model e Certified or Model e Certified Elite – or continue selling ICE vehicles only, FoMoCo has faced its fair share of backlash from dealers, dealer associations, and lawmakers alike. Regardless, after extending the deadline for Ford dealers to make that decision, last Friday’s cut off date came and went without another extension, and it seems as if the majority of those dealers chose to enroll in one of the two programs, after all.
On Friday, we closed our first enrollment period for the voluntary Model e EV Dealer Program. As of today, 1,920 @Ford Dealers (65% of the network) have enrolled and joined Ford on its EV journey, which is focused on elevating the customer experience for #EV customers.
— Jim Farley (@jimfarley98) December 5, 2022
Ford CEO Jim Farley revealed via Twitter that a grand total of 1,920 U.S. dealers – or around 65 percent of the 3,000 or so total – opted into one of the two Model e programs. That’s a significant number given the fact that many dealers remain at odds over this program, with some even going so far as to file lawsuits and question its legality – in both the U.S. and Canada.
Aside from requiring dealers to sell EVs at fixed prices and placing limits on allocations and advertising for the lower Model e Certified tier, most of the controversy surrounding this new program centers around its required investment of between $500,000 and $1.2 million – or perhaps even more for dealers that also sell Lincoln vehicles. Regardless, things are moving forward as of now, and dealers that didn’t sign up for one of the two EV certification programs will get a second chance to do so in the future.
We’ll have more on the Model e Certified program soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for continuous Ford news coverage.
Comments
“Selling at a fixed price” – how well did that work for the now defunct company named Saturn? Once the current price gouging by some dealers is over and production returns to some normal, people will be ready to go back to haggling. Fixed price may work if Ford sets a reasonable sticker price and stop all the backroom payments to the dealers. Will fixed price mean the end to rebates and so-called incentives?
I prefer for the price competition to be at the corporate level rather than the dealer level. I like not having to go to every dealership to see who will try to screw you the least when buying a car. Seems to be working for Tesla.
So much this.
As long as Ford has crosstown and foreign rivals its pricing will be kept well in check. Last I looked there’s lots of competition in the auto biz.
Don’t want Ford dealers racing to the bottom competing against each other; that just alienated customers.
LoL Saturn? Saturn died because its cars got boring and stale (because GM was too poor to invest everywhere) and became like some of the GM overlap brands which haggled some of which who also went out of business (e.g. Pontiac).
This is for the math challenged chronic EV haters:
Definition of “most” as used in this headline:
Adjective: Greatest in quantity, extent, or degree; the majority of
In this case there are two parts – those dealers who wish to be in business in the future and those who plan to retire. The first group – 65%, is factually, and journalistically, Most of them.