In a memo to Ford dealers across America, Ford Motor Company sent a message to dealers last week to “pause their actions” when it comes to Model-e plans. Model-e is the division of Ford that electric vehicles fall under.
A memo sent to me by a Ford dealer that is not part of the Car Pro Show, says in part:
We’re now in the process of reviewing all collaborative engagement and turning it into immediate, mid-term and long-term changes where it makes sense for our customers, our Dealers and Ford. We will share more specifics after we meet with Dealer Council in June. The changes we are making are aimed at simplifying and reducing complexity.
For Dealers participating in the voluntary Model-e EV Program, we recommend Dealers pause on their action items and qualifiers relating to the Program, including charger-related investments and installation, until we complete our review. The purpose of the review is to enhance customers' access to EVs by simplifying the process for our dealers to sell and service them.
We appreciate the time and collaborative engagement of all the Dealers involved. We will have more specific details to share after we complete our work together with Dealer Council in June.
I am certainly glad my days as Dealer Council Chairman are behind me. I hope the current Dealer Council musters the nerve to say what is on their minds, moreover, I hope Ford executives listen. Some dealers I know have already sunk a fortune into EV training, charging stations, and other things, so I hope there is relief for them financially since Ford jumped the gun on electric vehicles, like all automakers did.
"We don't want them to make any decisions between now and the middle of June, when you can maybe have a more informed decision-making process based off what we work out with council in the next few weeks," Andrew Frick, president of Ford Blue, told Automotive News. "There's a lot that we'll be reviewing." I know and have a lot of respect for Mr. Frick, I worked with him years ago.
The memo came after a series of meetings with Ford executives, including CEO Jim Farley. The meetings were held in 11 different areas of the country. It is not a stretch to assume the Ford dealers had a lot of concerns about the direction Ford was headed when it comes to electric vehicles. As I said on the Car Pro Show recently, Ford lost $100,000 per EV in the first quarter of this year, and Ford says it expects to lose 5.5 billion dollars on electric vehicles this year.
On a personal note, with many friends and associates across the country in the Ford business, I hope Ford does the right thing and restores the faith of its retailers, who put everything on the line every day to represent the Blue Oval.
