Only half of Ford dealers in the US agree to sell electric cars
Ford said Thursday that half of Ford's 1,550 dealers have opted to sell electric vehicles in 2024, compared to two-thirds who said last year they would opt to sell electric vehicles in 2023. So the number isn't just low, but it is also decreasing.
The other half of Ford dealers will only sell – and service – ICE and hybrid models.
“Electric vehicle adoption rates vary from country to country, and we believe our dealers know their market best,” Ford spokesman Martin Günsberg told the Detroit Free Press.
The poor uptake from Ford dealers also comes after Ford loosened requirements for dealers in the EV program last January, mandating fewer L2 chargers and extending installation deadlines.
Certified Ford EV dealers previously had to spend $500,000 for a single public DC fast charger, or $1 million if they wanted to be part of the Elite tier of EV dealers. The additional $500,000 was for, among other things, another fast charger and demonstration units. But the high price prompted Ford dealers to refuse.
According to Electrek, last year Buick saw a similar commitment from its dealers: half of Buick dealers chose to buy their own franchise and disengage from the chain instead of selling electric vehicles.
As a result, GM has 47% fewer Buick dealers at the end of this year than it did in January. GM's tough line against Buick dealers is in line with Buick's ambitious plan to go all-electric by 2030.
Ford said earlier this month it plans to halve its expected number of F-150 Lightning EV truck sales starting next year, with production of 1,600 F-150s per week starting in January, up from 3,200 per week , stating that it wants to adapt production to customer demand. This only confirms consumers' rejection of EV cars, despite the rich incentives granted by the Biden administration.
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This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/solo-meta-dei-concessionari-ford-negli-usa-accetta-di-vendere-auto-elettriche/ on Fri, 22 Dec 2023 17:17:34 +0000.