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"Prepare for a brutal future" Farley Tells Dealers


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20 minutes ago, HotRunrGuy said:

The breakdown is in the Edmunds link posted above, but there must be some additional required maintenance in years 4 & 5 to jump-up vs the first 3 years.

 

HRG

Edmunds cost to own F150.JPG

 

I looked at the Edmunds chart when it was first posted, and I too have trouble with some of the ownership estimates listed especially related to maintenance expenses. Taxes & Fees vary widely depending on the customer's location, Financing is only applicable to customers that finance, and I question including the depreciation estimates. Perhaps the chart would be more credible if it included only direct ownership and operating expenses.  

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13 hours ago, HotRunrGuy said:

The breakdown is in the Edmunds link posted above, but there must be some additional required maintenance in years 4 & 5 to jump-up vs the first 3 years.

 

HRG

Edmunds cost to own F150.JPG

That’s not a breakdown of what the costs actually are for.  Just how much Edmunds allocated for each year.  As you said there must be something in year 4 and 5.  The question is what.  I saw that table and discarded it because it didn’t answer my question.  The maintenance checklist from Ford doesn’t provide a cost, but it does list the required items at each interval.  There isn’t much that needs to be done, at least compared to the recent past.  The lightning would be able to skip the oil changes, air filter and spark plugs.  

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9 hours ago, slemke said:

That’s not a breakdown of what the costs actually are for.  Just how much Edmunds allocated for each year.  As you said there must be something in year 4 and 5.  The question is what.  I saw that table and discarded it because it didn’t answer my question.  The maintenance checklist from Ford doesn’t provide a cost, but it does list the required items at each interval.  There isn’t much that needs to be done, at least compared to the recent past.  The lightning would be able to skip the oil changes, air filter and spark plugs.  


Spark plugs are 100k so outside 5 years.  I forgot the air filter.

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On 6/5/2022 at 3:29 PM, Footballfan said:

Bad idea to piss off your dealership network.  A lot of people like to see and touch their vehicle before they by it.  A dealer helps answer the questions the customer has and is the ambassador for the company.  

every time I buy a new car I end up telling the salesman what I want nd why and he just looks dumbfounded...

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40 minutes ago, fuzzymoomoo said:

They normally try to sell me into something else

 

15 hours ago, tarheels23 said:

every time I buy a new car I end up telling the salesman what I want nd why and he just looks dumbfounded...

 

The experiences that tarheels23 and fuzzymoomoo described are indicative of the low quality sales personnel that's the norm at franchised new car dealerships. I've found it worth the time and effort to research who the good salespeople are in your metro area and where they work, and contact them directly. The salesman my wife and I worked with at Autonation Ford Fort Worth for our Ranger and Mustang Mach-E orders is among the few good ones. He has lots of experience doing retail sold orders.

 

Poor work environments at many if not most dealership new car sales departments result in the vicious cycle shown below. 

Productivity%20chart%20Rikess_6.png

Edited by rperez817
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19 hours ago, tarheels23 said:

every time I buy a new car I end up telling the salesman what I want nd why and he just looks dumbfounded...

 

lol I remember a few years ago when I bought my first MKZ I tried out the Fusion Energi too at a separate Ford dealership and the salesman knew NOTHING about the car I kept telling him the things I would want like cooled seats and such and he would look at me and say "I will have to see if that's an option on this vehicle". 

 

The lack of trunk turned me off and I ultimately ended up with a lightly used CPO MKZ Hybrid which had everything I wanted minus a sunroof but worked out for me way better.

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20 minutes ago, Andrew L said:

 

lol I remember a few years ago when I bought my first MKZ I tried out the Fusion Energi too at a separate Ford dealership and the salesman knew NOTHING about the car I kept telling him the things I would want like cooled seats and such and he would look at me and say "I will have to see if that's an option on this vehicle". 

 

The lack of trunk turned me off and I ultimately ended up with a lightly used CPO MKZ Hybrid which had everything I wanted minus a sunroof but worked out for me way better.


I had a similar experience at a dealer when I was just starting to shop around the most recent time I leased a new car. I went to a dealer and asked about the Powerboost F-150 and they had no idea what I was talking about. I was stunned by that. I ended up going back to the dealer I usually go to. 

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1 hour ago, fuzzymoomoo said:


I had a similar experience at a dealer when I was just starting to shop around the most recent time I leased a new car. I went to a dealer and asked about the Powerboost F-150 and they had no idea what I was talking about. I was stunned by that. I ended up going back to the dealer I usually go to. 


it is truly amazing to me how people don’t know the product they’re trying to sell, and I guess it comes from turnover?

 

I guess I can’t say much since I recently completely switched fields myself and am learning a lot on the fly, but I’m also not involved in the sales portion of the business that’s dealing directly with customers all the time.

 

With cars, most people come in knowing nothing about the vehicle and being dependent on the salesperson.  Us enthusiasts are a fraction of those purchasing cars, so I guess if sales guy knows a “2” on a 1-10 scale, I guess thats more than the 0 or 1 of most people.

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I am hearing a rumor that at some point Ford dealers will be forced to choose between being a 'Ford Model e' or a 'Ford Blue' dealer.  They will not be allowed to sell both product lines.  If true it sounds like Ford really does want to split into 2 separate organizations as I would think it very likely that a 'Ford Model e' dealer would operate under a very different franchise agreement.  No word on how 'Ford Pro' would fit into this.

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4 hours ago, 7Mary3 said:

I am hearing a rumor that at some point Ford dealers will be forced to choose between being a 'Ford Model e' or a 'Ford Blue' dealer.  They will not be allowed to sell both product lines.  If true it sounds like Ford really does want to split into 2 separate organizations as I would think it very likely that a 'Ford Model e' dealer would operate under a very different franchise agreement.  No word on how 'Ford Pro' would fit into this.

 

Old news at this point, not rumor. 

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7 hours ago, 7Mary3 said:

I am hearing a rumor that at some point Ford dealers will be forced to choose between being a 'Ford Model e' or a 'Ford Blue' dealer.  They will not be allowed to sell both product lines.  If true it sounds like Ford really does want to split into 2 separate organizations as I would think it very likely that a 'Ford Model e' dealer would operate under a very different franchise agreement.  No word on how 'Ford Pro' would fit into this.


I didn’t hear that dealers had to choose one or the other,just that they had to opt in for EV.  I dont think Pro is changing.

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No offense to dealers, but like some other folks above I went to the dealer with a printed "spec sheet" I printed from my online order. I had actually sent that order directly to my dealer through the website's option - they couldn't even get that right.

So, we took my build sheet and line by line put the truck I wanted together and then I moved onto financing and the dealership ordered my truck... In the future, I think dealerships should end up being technical vehicle experts - not sales. I would have much preferred to click "buy now" online and not even show up at the dealer.

I get that some people want to touch and feel their cars before they buy them - it's not something I need, at least not in an F-150. Perhaps when it's time to buy my full electric "family" car when my van is due to be replaced in 5 years I'll want to see what my options are, but again - I'll probably do all my research online before I make a call anyway.

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Good article from Motor Trend yesterday about a presentation that TrueCar's CEO did on the topic of buying new and used cars completely online. Cars Are the Last Holdout of the Exploding Online Purchasing Trend—But That's About to Change (motortrend.com)

 

The auto industry is behind the rest of the world when it comes to online purchases, even though buyers consume everything else digitally, TrueCar President and CEO Mike Darrow said during a presentation at the Automotive Press Association in Detroit.

But that will change—and fast. In 2019, a mere 1 percent of auto sales, new and used, were conducted digitally. It grew to 10 percent in 2020, spurred by COVID shutdowns and lockdowns. By 2025, 40 percent of auto purchases in the U.S., about 23 million new and used vehicles, will be conducted completely online, Darrow says, and surveys show 62 percent of people say they would buy online if they could.

It shouldn't be that hard. The IRS reported that 71 million people filed their U.S. income tax online this year with no help—that's gotta be harder than buying a car online, Darrow says.

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44 minutes ago, fuzzymoomoo said:

Once again, it's not a lack of desire, it's dealer franchise laws

 

That's correct fuzzymoomoo. TrueCar Plus is being pitched to franchised new car dealers, with the tagline "Sell more cars in less time. It's a done deal, delivered". TrueCar is selling to dealers not only lead generation services (TrueCar's original business), but also the digital platform necessary for customers to conduct their new or used car purchase/lease transaction entirely online. TrueCar Plus

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1 hour ago, rperez817 said:

Good article from Motor Trend yesterday about a presentation that TrueCar's CEO did on the topic of buying new and used cars completely online. Cars Are the Last Holdout of the Exploding Online Purchasing Trend—But That's About to Change (motortrend.com)

 

Quote from the article how Jim Farley's digital sales strategy for Ford BEV compares and competes with TrueCar+.

 

The TrueCar CEO fully expects automakers to develop their own in-house digital sales process that will compete with TrueCar. The difference: Ford will sell to those who already know they want a Ford; TrueCar will offer cross-shopping across multiple brands for the consumer looking at a wider field.

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1 hour ago, 7Mary3 said:

BTW, whhat is the story with not allowing customers leasing Mach e and Lightnings to purchase the vehicles at the end of lease?

 


Easier to maintain residuals as well as stop people from buying the lease out and flipping the vehicle for a profit. 

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24 minutes ago, jasonj80 said:

Easier to maintain residuals as well as stop people from buying the lease out and flipping the vehicle for a profit. 

 

1 hour ago, ice-capades said:

In my opinion, one word. Control. 

 

I agree with you jasonj80 and ice-capades. In an interview with Car and Driver, a Ford spokesman spun it as a way to better "manage battery recycling and materials", but as you pointed out I think there's much more than that. Ford Won't Let You Buy Your Leased EV When the Contract Ends (caranddriver.com)

 

The Ford spokesperson told C/D, "Ford's battery strategy includes recycling and localizing battery production, and Ford Credit's plan for EV leasing enables customers to replace their vehicles with the newest model at lease end while keeping the vehicle in the Ford network longer so Ford can better manage battery recycling and materials."

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