OK, convince is too strong, maybe just reach out to people who might be open to trying a BEV?
So much negativity out there affecting people coming in to dealerships to look at BEVs.
What Farley and Ford would give for just a bit of “clean air” to sell products….
To avoid a commodity type product, I think Ford should lean into their more iconic car based models. There's so much they could do with sedans, hatches, and sports cars. Fewer fusions and more escorts and galaxies.
Personally, I think a hatchback inspired by the escort cosworth whale tail would be incredible. Retro 80s/90s styling with AWD and 250-300 hp or more, that would be a really compelling ev imo. Definitely not a generic blob or commodity product.
The ultimate conundrum, sedans make sense for battery efficiency but we don’t like commodity looking vehicles
that compete on price, chew up resources and don’t make as much profit as a utility would…
The big question for Ford will be how to thread the needle without recreating a Camry copy, a modern Taurus
that has brilliant performance, all the virtues of a BEV but doesn’t require charging as often as a regular BEV…..
could that be some fornpm of extended range EV with say, a 30 Kw hr battery and small gas range extender?
I’ll give Farley 10/10 for effort trying to convince people but he’s right, buyers will make up their own mind
and no amount of pressure will force people into vehicles they are not comfortable owning. Saying things
is not enough, a bridge needs to be built to full Electric Vehicle ownership.
BEVs are the future but I think that Ford has a lot of room with HEV, PHEV & Super Hybrids to introduce more
buyers to the virtues of Electrified vehicles, that’s a necessary prerequisite to get a bigger migration volume
to BEVs. It can be done but I think Jim Farley needs to really get going or Ford will miss the moment.
Maybe a Ford vehicle like the BYD Shark 6 points the way, a powerful Super Hybrid with range extender?
This is from the weekly Hagerty newsletter. Apparently Farley was recently on some podcast. His comments on sedans:
“I do not like generic cars and trucks,” said Farley as he railed against “appliance-like vehicles” while defending Ford’s decision to leave the sedan market. It’s a segment that Ford hasn’t completely written off for good, and he noted that there are good reasons to keep them in mind. “The bottom line is sedans are very aero[dynamic]. In a world where batteries are expensive,” Farley noted. “A sedan or a hatch is a great silhouette for aero.”
Farley didn’t commit to any future products, but did say, “If we do one, it’s probably gonna feel, look, and smell a lot different” than current offerings. One vintage nameplate he brought up was Fiesta, mentioning that Ford could make a more premium compact car relevant in the market."
https://www.hagerty.com/media/lists/five-classic-car-nameplates-that-deserve-a-comeback/?utm_source=SFMC&utm_medium=email&utm_content=MED_UN_NA_EML_UN_UN_WeekendRoadTrip&hashed_email=5dc7f32ef3ae7ed02589eb7a9225ee577803bd2e44dd34e74133567fec781301&dtm_em=5dc7f32ef3ae7ed02589eb7a9225ee577803bd2e44dd34e74133567fec781301
I’m going out on a limb here..
If Ford was to create its own super hybrid, it could add either 2.0 EB or 2.0 turbo diesel to the Lightning and achieve a near perfect combination of fuel and electric power…it could also be a brilliant repurposing of the current Lightning once the next Gen BEV F150 arrives…
I love how technology develops to a point when manufacturers begin exploring vehicles that were rejected in the past as being inadequate or not appealing to customers. Hopefully, we get to see a new round of hybrids that make a lot of sense to buyers where maybe a full BEV is still seen as compromised..
You can be quite the wordsmith at times, but how does this describe YOUR ICE F-150? No stopping at gas stations? Frunk storage? No more oil/coolant/trans fluid changes. What, once it runs out of gas you'll just leave it where it dies?
HRG