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Ford to lay off workers as it focuses on electric vehicles

cnn.com

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Re: Ford to lay off workers as it focuses on electric vehicles

#41

Post by mulmen »

danans wrote: post #29
NikolaNovak wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's weird. Two decades ago I had a 2004 subaru that needed nothing first years. Then We got a 2015 Toyota rav 4 and every maintenance there was some up sell. Change a filter check the brakes resurface rotors change the atf or differential oil etc. We actually got into a dispute with dealer after third consecutive $300brakes maintenance. Thought maybe that was lemon car or bad dealer but now we have a honda odyssey a…

>U wonder about Ev - do they not have brakes, Cv joints, bearings, differentials (I know there's no transmission), et cetera? They have all those, but at least for brakes, they last much longer due to regen braking.

My brakes are serviced on a time interval. Brake fluid is hydrophilic. You replace it based on age to prevent corrosion of brake components. If brakes are used less and don't get as hot I would expect EV brakes to need more preventative maintenance, not less. Pads and rotors may last longer, but fluid will be the same or worse.

Re: Ford to lay off workers as it focuses on electric vehicles

#42

Post by scop »

I was speaking with the owner of an auto shop a few months back and he made an interesting point I hadn’t heard re Ford: whereas Tesla is eating new customers, Ford and other legacy automakers are having to eat their own customers…which can lead to some serious business complexity!

Re: Ford to lay off workers as it focuses on electric vehicles

#43

Post by londons_explore »

stcroixx wrote: post #34
criddell wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how the switch to electric is going to impact Ford dealers? From what I've read they need to (re)train their mechanics and buy a bunch of new equipment and then also deal with the fact that electric vehicles require less maintenance.

In my circles, dealers would always be the absolute last resort option for having any maintenance done due to their reputation of inflating prices and doing crappy work. Not sure if EV manufacturers are attempting to force consumers to have all their work done by dealers. If so, I’ll keep waiting.

Dealers typically get a monopoly on software fixes/firmware updates.

In EV's, more and more issues will be fixed by reconfiguring/patching software.

I would guess that over time, car software will get more and more locked down - even today, real cryptography is typically used to stop you flashing new firmware onto your ECU. Those checks are only going to get tighter. There are no opensource ECU's.

Therefore, I don't see the dealer going anywhere. But they might get rid of the workshop and replace it with desks of people able to hit buttons on a computer...

Re: Ford to lay off workers as it focuses on electric vehicles

#44

Post by mulmen »

jayd16 wrote: post #28
m463 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I keep on reading that electric vehicles require less maintenance, but they still require some maintenance, and lots of things continue to break. how much maintenance does a honda ice car really require? Most of them run flawlessly for years and years, almost without opening the hood at all. I wonder how the numbers break down?

Fans, belts, radiator, oil, (ironically) battery, (oil, fuel and intake) filters are eliminated. Bulbs, tires, alignment, washer fluid, cabin filters, and brake pads remain.

Brake fluid also needs serviced. And EVs still have suspension so you'll eventually need new shocks. You also have power steering. And Air conditioning, including the condenser. (Some?) EVs also have radiators for heat management of the battery which includes a water pump.

Re: Ford to lay off workers as it focuses on electric vehicles

#45

Post by qqtt »

gobins wrote: post #33

It's interesting that while other companies are doubling down on electric vehicles, Toyota has come out and said the opposite after being one of the first companies to start.

Toyota and Honda are both pushing more into electric cars these days. The main reason they are behind is that the Japanese government pushed hard to develop fuel cell cars and gave out big incentives for companies to put fuel cell vehicles on the road. This big push is why Honda and Toyota both have fuel cell options for customers to use on the road today, but they are both pretty behind on battery electric vehicles.

Re: Ford to lay off workers as it focuses on electric vehicles

#46

Post by TedDoesntTalk »

ruffrey wrote: post #30
Mizoguchi wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dealers will slowly fade away as online car shopping becomes more common. Volvo for example is aiming at 2030 as the year they turn 100% online. It's reasonable to assume all other car makers will do the same. There's absolutely no reason to buy from a dealer in today's world, that's like when in the 80s and early 90s you needed a middleman to buy a computer.

How do you test drive a car for an online dealer? Do they drive to your home and let you take it for a spin?

A showroom can exist and not be an independently-owned dealership. In fact such showrooms could stock multiple brands, like any other brick-and-mortar store we frequent.

Re: Ford to lay off workers as it focuses on electric vehicles

#48

Post by SamuelAdams »

scop wrote: post #42

I was speaking with the owner of an auto shop a few months back and he made an interesting point I hadn’t heard re Ford: whereas Tesla is eating new customers, Ford and other legacy automakers are having to eat their own customers…which can lead to some serious business complexity!

In the business world we call this cannibalizing sales.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannibalization_(marketing)?wp...

Re: Ford to lay off workers as it focuses on electric vehicles

#49

Post by bigyikes »

gobins wrote: post #33

It's interesting that while other companies are doubling down on electric vehicles, Toyota has come out and said the opposite after being one of the first companies to start.

Electric cars becoming dominant seems like an inevitability to me, and it looks like many auto makers agree. It’s “just” a matter of battery costs, battery density, energy costs, and volume.

What does Toyota see that we’re missing?

I ask this as someone who just bought an ICE vehicle, but only because there were no electric vehicles in my market segment.

Re: Ford to lay off workers as it focuses on electric vehicles

#50

Post by cubefox »

BugsJustFindMe wrote: post #2

They're laying off workers whose skillsets are specific to making vehicles with combustion engines and hiring workers specific to making vehicles with electric motors.

The thing is: Combustion motors are amazingly complex and highly optimized beasts, while electric motors are dead simple. There isn't much to improve. So there are not many people working on electric motors.
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