Though Ford remains committed to electrification in general, the automaker has also scaled back its plans in that area following slower than expected growth in consumer demand for EVs. As it waits for consumers to warm up to EVs, Ford plans to offer a diverse array of powertrain choices for the foreseeable future, but interestingly enough, its dealer network isn’t quite as enthusiastic about selling all-electric vehicles, according to a new study.
The study – which was conducted by CDK Global – polled 250 automotive dealerships across all 50 U.S. states, with 49 percent of those entities saying that they aren’t excited at all to sell EVs. As one might imagine, these results varied greatly by region, however. In fact, 46 percent of dealers located in the EV-friendly Pacific region of the U.S. said that their sales staff are moderately or very excited to sell EVs, compared to just 25 percent in Mountain states, and a mere 12 percent in the East South Central region.
According to CDK, many dealers also voiced concerns about selling EVs in more rural areas, where owning an electric vehicle isn’t quite as convenient due to a lack of charging infrastructure, extreme temperature swings, mountainous terrain, and long distances between communities. On top of that, just 14 percent of sales staff polled for this study admitted that they’re “extremely trained” in the area of selling EVs, with most – 34 percent – saying they are merely “moderately trained.”
As Ford Authority previously reported, Ford ultimately decided to scrap its controversial Model e Certification program – which was slated to require dealers to make big investments and complete special training for the right to sell EVs. After its initial announcement, the program saw quite a few dealers decide to drop out after initially opting in, and many of those same sellers admit that the entire concept led to some some trust issues with the automaker.
We’ll have more studies like this to share soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for continuous Ford news coverage.
