When Ford announced that it would be requiring dealers to opt in or out of its new Model e Certified program – which will soon enable those entities to sell the automaker’s all-electric vehicles – one of the biggest points of contention was The Blue Oval’s desire to have its dealers to sell EVs at fixed prices. Despite some controversy over that topic, FoMoCo ultimately stuck to its proverbial guns, though that isn’t the case in all parts of the world. In fact, Ford Australia wasn’t expected to switch to a fixed-price sales model, as Ford Authority reported last September, and it appears that won’t be changing, either.
“We have no plans to change our sales model, but we’re always exploring ways to give customers more options in their shopping experience,” a Ford Australia spokesperson told CarExpert. “For example, we opened online reservations for the Mustang Mach-E a couple of weeks ago, as a natural part of our digital evolution and a way for our customers to shop with their Authorized Ford EV Dealer 24/7.”
This is an important confirmation given the fact that CEO Jim Farley recently confirmed that the automaker will indeed move to a fixed price model for its EVs next year, a move that will be emulated in Europe as well, where the automaker plans to electrify its entire passenger vehicle lineup by 2030 or sooner.
In Australia, pushback over fixed pricing has endured for years now, with Ford Australia CEO Andrew Birkic stating way back in 2020 that he has no plans to switch to that type of sales model. Dealer pushback over this particular topic proved to be quite strong last summer as well, following the debut of the Model e Certified program, even as consumers expressed frustration over markups on some of the brand’s more popular offerings.
We’ll have more on Ford’s move to a fixed price sales model soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for ongoing Ford news coverage.
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