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Ford CEO sees electric vehicle price war as EV costs decline

10 points by clouddrover 4y ago

version_five 4y ago
> Ford has plans to differentiate itself and boost profits by selling software services, including driver-assist and autonomous features that could be rented for a time period or by the mile, Farley said. I figured I'd find something like this buried in there. I expect the "price war" will really just be taking a page from the phone and airline businesses and combining vendor lock in and charges for absolutely everything to make advertised prices look way lower than what customers end up paying. Electric cars clearly have real potential, but I think the manufacturers are looking at them as a way to redesign the business from the ground up to gouge consumers. Versus the current internal combustion market with aftermarket parts and independent garages and no ongoing fees
- jamesliudotcc 4y ago
  No ongoing fees. Hmm. Just because the auto manufacturers do not capture all of them does not mean that they do not exist.
  - version_five 4y ago
    The fact that automakers don't capture them is the key and was exactly my point. Current or past generation cars are comparatively "open" with lots of repair and maintenance options, which gives owners the benefit of choice and competition. Closed business models that rely on lock-in will be able to pump more money out of the consumer while removing options from them.
    - derevaunseraun 4y ago
      > Current or past generation cars are comparatively "open" with lots of repair and maintenance options, which gives owners the benefit of choice and competition. Not necessarily. For example BMW and Mercedes will design their vehicles to make them difficult to work on, and often when a specific part breaks you need a proprietary piece from the OEM. Idk if companies like Ford and Toyota use the same tactics.
breadloaf 4y ago
Do people even want those items? I have a car with adaptive cruise control and line assist and I am not switching it on anymore, because: 1) I don't trust it. 2) I need to have hands on steering wheel, so what's the point. Also the car is able to park itself using ultrasound sensors and it is just hard pass from me, because it is taking forever and I will rather use ultrasound sensors to navigate myself around than get to parking ECU to park and after it is "done" be forced to fix it anyway.

10 points by clouddrover 4y ago

> Ford has plans to differentiate itself and boost profits by selling software services, including driver-assist and autonomous features that could be rented for a time period or by the mile, Farley said. I figured I'd find something like this buried in there. I expect the "price war" will really just be taking a page from the phone and airline businesses and combining vendor lock in and charges for absolutely everything to make advertised prices look way lower than what customers end up paying. Electric cars clearly have real potential, but I think the manufacturers are looking at them as a way to redesign the business from the ground up to gouge consumers. Versus the current internal combustion market with aftermarket parts and independent garages and no ongoing fees

jamesliudotcc 4y ago
No ongoing fees. Hmm. Just because the auto manufacturers do not capture all of them does not mean that they do not exist.
- version_five 4y ago
  The fact that automakers don't capture them is the key and was exactly my point. Current or past generation cars are comparatively "open" with lots of repair and maintenance options, which gives owners the benefit of choice and competition. Closed business models that rely on lock-in will be able to pump more money out of the consumer while removing options from them.
  - derevaunseraun 4y ago
    > Current or past generation cars are comparatively "open" with lots of repair and maintenance options, which gives owners the benefit of choice and competition. Not necessarily. For example BMW and Mercedes will design their vehicles to make them difficult to work on, and often when a specific part breaks you need a proprietary piece from the OEM. Idk if companies like Ford and Toyota use the same tactics.

breadloaf 4y ago

Do people even want those items? I have a car with adaptive cruise control and line assist and I am not switching it on anymore, because: 1) I don't trust it. 2) I need to have hands on steering wheel, so what's the point. Also the car is able to park itself using ultrasound sensors and it is just hard pass from me, because it is taking forever and I will rather use ultrasound sensors to navigate myself around than get to parking ECU to park and after it is "done" be forced to fix it anyway.