After announcing that it would be launching its new Model e Certified program for dealers, Ford faced a decent amount of backlash from those same entities, which were concerned about the costs of signing up to sell EVs, as well as the legal ramifications of such a decision. Regardless, the deadline to opt in or out has passed in the U.S. after the automaker extended it by a couple of months, and not only did most of those dealers opt in, but the majority also chose the top tier Model e Certified Elite program, and many are discovering that the costs associated with the program are lower than expected. Ford dealers in Canada are also struggling to come to terms with this new program as that country aims to ban non zero-emissions vehicle sales by 2035, which has prompted The Blue Oval to extend the deadline for that decision as well, according to Automotive News Canada.
The 440 Ford dealers currently in operation in Canada previously had until December 16th to decide whether they wanted to opt in or opt out of the Model e Certified program, but that deadline has since been extended to December 30th. Dealers were informed of this change back on December 8th, but Ford Canada confirmed the dates to Automotive News Canada just this week.
Dealers can choose to continue to sell ICE vehicles only if they please, or they can opt into either the Model e Certified or Model e Certified Elite program, which are set to begin on January 1st, 2024 in Canada. Dealers that choose not to opt into either EV program will get a second chance to do so in 2027.
Currently, Model e Certified Ford dealers in Canada are expected to have to invest around $560,000 to make necessary changes including the installation of fast chargers, while Model e Certified Elite dealers could spend as much as $1.3 million. However, as U.S. dealers have found, actual costs are typically coming in much lower – as little as $350,000 for the top-tier Elite program, in some cases.
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
Why would Canadians with their cold weather and long distances want EVs? But note the collusion here, everyone. Canada’s totalitarian government announces an end to the sale of ICE vehicles and Ford is standing ready to “extend” the due date for EV dealerships. If Canada continues on its path, then what choice do the dealerships have? They have the eco-fascist choice of “my way or the highway.”
Oh those communist canucks they are so unfair to want to move off Big Oil.
I love the Ford bully approach to electrification, “our way or the highway”. We are 7-10 years away from EV’s being equal to ICE vehicles for range and charging. We are also that far out for infrastructure and battery recycling, but don’t let science and facts get in the way of good old “woke politics”. How about Ford focuses in on delivering a vehicle that doesn’t have options deleted due to supply chain issues or vehicles delivered with 3-4 recalls in the first year of ownership. I wont even start down the discussion of how and where battery materials are sourced and mined from the ground using slave labor. Too many facts in one comment can be overwhelming to Liberals.
Our old friend Bob joining with more FUD.
Facts and science show that battery manufacture and recycling is scalable and will be competitive at scale.
10 years, Big Oil’s last great rhetorical hope as it disingenuously moves through its 4 stages of grief: Denial, Doubt (FUD), Delay, and finally Acceptance.
The limits of FUD being reached and disproven by real world results and now we are seeing the ramp up of the “but only in 10 years” rhetoric.
As For Ford being a bully? Dealers exist to serve the OEM, not the other way around. A weak OEM is no good to anyone.
Ford has spoken to these problems of the past and is addressing and aligning its operations and products for the future.
In some markets, there are too many dealer points to have adequate sales and service income to remain viable.
Those dealers on that ragged edge are more likely to engage in tactics and behaviors that will degrade customer satisfaction and the Ford brand.
Many of these behaviors and practices are long known but there has been no practical opportunity to do this.
Now there is.
GM has already gone through this with Cadillac and there is a recent article in the Detroit Free Press on how this is being applied to Buick outlets now too.
So Ford is not alone or breaking new ground here. It’s just doing the smart and necessary thing without waiting for future circumstances to dictate a hectic chaotic reactive response to accomplish the same.
The entities with incumbent interests (before breaking from the pack, Ford was exactly this) may not like or may actively lobby, sue or troll to protect said interests but Ford is proactively doing the responsible practical thing near the front of the pack instead of at the dangerous back of the pack.