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Ford CEO says EVs will be sold 100% online with nonnegotiable price

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Re: Ford CEO says EVs will be sold 100% online with nonnegotiable price

#81

Post by ldoughty »

kcb wrote: post #27
LeoPanthera wrote: post #11

Tesla may not be the future of EVs, but we have to thank them for dragging everyone else into the present.

> Tesla may not be the future of EVs Based on what metric? I have a hard time looking at Tesla's sales, revenue, profit, production capacity growth and not thinking they will continue to be a leader in EVs far into the future.

I agree with the OP, and:

There's no hatchback, mini, SUV, or truck models available yet... And it feels like Tesla is even further behind in these areas because they are not giving any roadmap details (that I've heard of), while other companies have offerings available now.

I hope Tesla can remain a market disruption and continue to push people to electric, but they currently are a one trick pony (which isn't a bad thing, it let them enter the space)... But as a one trick pony, I would agree they do not currently "look like THE future of EVs"

Re: Ford CEO says EVs will be sold 100% online with nonnegotiable price

#82

Post by medler »

This article takes an off-the-cuff comment from the CEO of Ford and reads too much into it IMO. He wasn’t saying dealerships are going away; he was actually saying the opposite. The point he was making was that Ford is going to adopt some of Tesla’s practices while using the dealership network to compete with them.

Here’s the quote with more context: “I believe for retail, we have to -- it's kind of like what happened between Amazon and Target. Target could have gone away, but they didn't. They bolted on an e-commerce platform and then they used their physical store to add groceries and return -- make returns really much easier than Amazon. They used their expertise as a physical retailer to their advantage, but they modernized the e-commerce piece. So it would be really easy to do business with them. It's exactly what we have to do on the retail side. We got to go to non-negotiated price. We've got to go to a 100% online, the vehicle there is no inventory goes directly to the customer, 100% remote pickup and delivery, but then we have this opportunity to use our physical presence, they outperform them. Like, I believe some Mach-E and Lightning customers would love to have a Mustang for the weekend. Maybe they want a Super Duty. I can do that, they can't do that, unless they ran a Ford.”

Source: https://seekingalpha.com/article/4515793-ford-motor-company-...

Re: Ford CEO says EVs will be sold 100% online with nonnegotiable price

#83

Post by boardwaalk »

FpUser wrote: post #45
paxys wrote: post #39

A lot has been said about the dealership model in the last few years, and the almost universal consensus is that it is an unnecessary and predatory industry and all auto makers should just sell cars directly like Tesla does. That being said, is there any counterpoint to this view? Are there any benefits that dealerships offer today over direct sales? What would we lose if we got rid of every dealership? If there is t…

They could sell used vehicles, hence provide some value

But, we already have (exclusively) used car dealerships and private car sales.

Once you break it down, dealerships not a combination of businesses that really needs to be together, IMO.

Re: Ford CEO says EVs will be sold 100% online with nonnegotiable price

#84

Post by thrill »

pishpash wrote: post #59
paxys wrote: post #39

A lot has been said about the dealership model in the last few years, and the almost universal consensus is that it is an unnecessary and predatory industry and all auto makers should just sell cars directly like Tesla does. That being said, is there any counterpoint to this view? Are there any benefits that dealerships offer today over direct sales? What would we lose if we got rid of every dealership? If there is t…

It's a big purchase, so you'd want to at least test it out in person?

Rivian, for example, offers to let you return the vehicle after delivery to your driveway for up to the first of a week or a 1000 miles.

Re: Ford CEO says EVs will be sold 100% online with nonnegotiable price

#85

Post by serf »

paxys wrote: post #39

A lot has been said about the dealership model in the last few years, and the almost universal consensus is that it is an unnecessary and predatory industry and all auto makers should just sell cars directly like Tesla does. That being said, is there any counterpoint to this view? Are there any benefits that dealerships offer today over direct sales? What would we lose if we got rid of every dealership? If there is t…

>That being said, is there any counterpoint to this view? Are there any benefits that dealerships offer today over direct sales?

the only thing I can think to say is that they are still a convenient repair facility, Tesla is fairly notorious for slow turn-around for repair.[0]

I think a nice middle-ground would be the conversion of dealerships into showrooms/receiving-centers/repair facilities -- oust the sales portion and highly regulate the repair pricing. Faster repair times while getting rid of most of the scummy parts of the car dealership experience.

[0]: https://www.teslaownersonline.com/threads/model-3-significan...

Re: Ford CEO says EVs will be sold 100% online with nonnegotiable price

#86

Post by rootusrootus »

kcb wrote: post #27
LeoPanthera wrote: post #11

Tesla may not be the future of EVs, but we have to thank them for dragging everyone else into the present.

> Tesla may not be the future of EVs Based on what metric? I have a hard time looking at Tesla's sales, revenue, profit, production capacity growth and not thinking they will continue to be a leader in EVs far into the future.

Tesla can sell you a mid-size sedan or a CUV, ignoring the relatively small niche occupied by the S and X.

Ford competes directly with the Y, and also in an entirely new segment Tesla does not compete in -- the pickup.

Chevy has the pickup coming, and already competes in the affordable compact car segment (27K MSRP for a Bolt? That's getting into 'excellent value' territory) that Tesla does not compete in. GM also has the Hummer, which is blazing an entirely new trail.

Then you have VW, Kia, Polestar, etc. Tesla has a nice head start, and a good charging network, but rivals are catching up fast and will end up outpacing what Tesla can offer. The Model S is aging, with no apparent revamp in sight, and if the Model 3 follows that same pattern then Tesla is quickly going to look outdated while the competition is one-upping each other in new designs.

There's also a fair number of people who do care about reliability, don't want a touchscreen dashboard, don't care about fart gimmicks, and want windshield wipers that just work. AP is no better than the competition, and FSD is a gimmick that appeals to a very particular kind of buyer.

I enjoyed my P3D but have no expectation I will buy another.

Re: Ford CEO says EVs will be sold 100% online with nonnegotiable price

#87

Post by jmtulloss »

lvl102 wrote: post #48

Counter: Ford dealerships actually give them a big advantage over Tesla. This is because there are close to 3,000 dealerships in the US compared to less than 200 for Tesla.

This isn’t quite fair but that was blockbuster’s counter to netflix too

Re: Ford CEO says EVs will be sold 100% online with nonnegotiable price

#88

Post by 35_candelas »

eatonphil wrote: post #26
phinnaeus wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But what percentage of those F-150 owners know there is an EV version? Or put another way, how many of them can you convert to an EV version with effective advertising?

At some point the f150 may be only electric? So maybe advertising isn't so important if people just want the model regardless of the engine.

They probably would appreciate a boost in sales if advertising can attract new customers (non truck & non Ford people). Ford might be trying to copy Tesla's strategy with marketing. However, the two companies target different populations and I feel Ford would benefit from advertising.

This article shows us how many new customers Ford is attracting: https://www.motor1.com/news/552814/ford-lighting-customer-ne...

Re: Ford CEO says EVs will be sold 100% online with nonnegotiable price

#89

Post by more_corn »

dijonman2 wrote: post #76
walrus01 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In many small to medium size towns if you find the family who owns the local ($BRANDNAME) dealership they are often among the wealthiest people in the entire county. edit: I can see from the two other comments here alongside mine that this is a common observation.

What does that have to do with anything?

Maybe instead of auto manufacturers getting all the profit it’s nice that a local middleman gets rich too?

Re: Ford CEO says EVs will be sold 100% online with nonnegotiable price

#90

Post by SnowHill9902 »

paxys wrote: post #39

A lot has been said about the dealership model in the last few years, and the almost universal consensus is that it is an unnecessary and predatory industry and all auto makers should just sell cars directly like Tesla does. That being said, is there any counterpoint to this view? Are there any benefits that dealerships offer today over direct sales? What would we lose if we got rid of every dealership? If there is t…

Try the car. Pay cash. Negotiate. Sell yours. Choose from different brands. Chat with the owner. Get serviced.
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