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> This article takes an off-the-cuff comment from the CEO of Ford and reads too much into it Ford announced 3 months ago that they were forming a new corporati

> This article takes an off-the-cuff comment from the CEO of Ford and reads too much into it Ford announced 3 months ago that they were forming a new corporation, Ford Blue, whose purpose is to skirt state dealership laws in order to lawfully sell these EVs direct to consumers. So this is definitely not just a comment. https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2022/03/02/ford-ceo-jim-farley-unveils-plan-ev-model-e/6981544001/ https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2022/03/02/ford-...

TulliusCicero 4y ago
Man, I wish. Dealerships are plague.
spikels 4y ago
Was typing almost the same thing at the same time. The OEMs want to us EVs to finally dump the dealerships.
medler 4y ago
I’m skeptical that this reorg will allow Ford to sell direct to consumers, and I haven’t seen any reporting saying that it will. Notably, Ford has explicitly said they’re not doing that: “We’re not keeping dealers in the mix 'for the moment.' We are betting on dealers for the long term. I want to make that really clear. I’m not mincing words. We will have new standards and a new experience. But we learned a lot by watching Tesla." Maybe going direct is the secret plan, but I don’t see how they get there.
- devy 4y ago
  > Maybe going direct is the secret plan, but I don’t see how they get there. Yeah, the dealership and the state level dealership associations aren't going to go out of business without some good fight. Even though I personally don't like the markup to be paid at the dealerships, but they exist for some good reasons: educate the consumers, financing, DMV paperwork and most importantly service your vehicles. EVs need much less service visits but when they do - it's likely harder for DIYers to tinkle with High Voltage battery systems and/or the infotainment firmware diagnostics and updates.
  - at-fates-hands 4y ago
    >> EVs need much less service visits but when they do - it's likely harder for DIYers to tinkle with. A car handle on a Tesla that needs replacing is $1,000.
    - afiori 4y ago
      That is just the price Tesla imposes on the costumer. A decent right to repair would cover most of these kind of things https://fighttorepair.org/ https://fighttorepair.org/
    - abrugsch 4y ago
      That's a luxury/high-tech car problem, not an EV problem. The problem is that currently, EVs only exist in that segment (excepting the Dacia spring, which is a basic car with a basic EV powertrain, but it's only available in certain markets)
      - marssaxman 4y ago
        Hey, look at that - actual climate-control knobs, and an ordinary dashboard! Thank you for pointing this vehicle out.
    - WorldMaker 4y ago
      The old car saying was: if you buy from BMW you pay for BMW. Tesla wants to be the new BMW and at least in US car sales today is the new BMW.
  - babypuncher 4y ago
    >> educate the consumers Every dealership I've been to has been more interested in feeding me whatever line of crap they think will get me to buy a car, not actually educating me about the different products available. >> financing, DMV paperwork Tesla and Carvana have proven these can be taken care of without a third party dealership. In most cases, financing is provided by a bank or credit union, not the dealership itself >> and most importantly service your vehicles Unless the fix is covered by warranty, I'm not taking my car anywhere near a dealership. They charge considerably more money than my trusted mechanic. My Hyundai dealership wanted $125 just for an oil change on a 2013 Sonata. In theory, a dealership could be good for all of these things. In practice though, they suck. There is a reason most people hate car dealerships.
- throwaway0a5e 4y ago
  I think it's also worth noting that Ford has an obscene number of fleet sales compared to the brands most people here buy. Some dealers will stick around for the same reason Caterpillar dealers exist despite those products not being the kind of thing you "just go to a dealer and buy".
Thorrez 4y ago
Slightly related, Tesla built a store on tribal land to avoid state laws.
- dreamcompiler 4y ago
  Brilliant solution IMHO. It's located just outside Santa Fe which is very convenient. There's a huge number of Teslas in New Mexico that had all been bought out of state before they built this store. Now we have a place for local service for procedures that can't be done in the field.

TulliusCicero 4y ago

Man, I wish. Dealerships are plague.

spikels 4y ago

Was typing almost the same thing at the same time. The OEMs want to us EVs to finally dump the dealerships.

medler 4y ago

I’m skeptical that this reorg will allow Ford to sell direct to consumers, and I haven’t seen any reporting saying that it will. Notably, Ford has explicitly said they’re not doing that: “We’re not keeping dealers in the mix 'for the moment.' We are betting on dealers for the long term. I want to make that really clear. I’m not mincing words. We will have new standards and a new experience. But we learned a lot by watching Tesla." Maybe going direct is the secret plan, but I don’t see how they get there.

devy 4y ago
> Maybe going direct is the secret plan, but I don’t see how they get there. Yeah, the dealership and the state level dealership associations aren't going to go out of business without some good fight. Even though I personally don't like the markup to be paid at the dealerships, but they exist for some good reasons: educate the consumers, financing, DMV paperwork and most importantly service your vehicles. EVs need much less service visits but when they do - it's likely harder for DIYers to tinkle with High Voltage battery systems and/or the infotainment firmware diagnostics and updates.
- at-fates-hands 4y ago
  >> EVs need much less service visits but when they do - it's likely harder for DIYers to tinkle with. A car handle on a Tesla that needs replacing is $1,000.
  - afiori 4y ago
    That is just the price Tesla imposes on the costumer. A decent right to repair would cover most of these kind of things https://fighttorepair.org/ https://fighttorepair.org/
  - abrugsch 4y ago
    That's a luxury/high-tech car problem, not an EV problem. The problem is that currently, EVs only exist in that segment (excepting the Dacia spring, which is a basic car with a basic EV powertrain, but it's only available in certain markets)
    - marssaxman 4y ago
      Hey, look at that - actual climate-control knobs, and an ordinary dashboard! Thank you for pointing this vehicle out.
  - WorldMaker 4y ago
    The old car saying was: if you buy from BMW you pay for BMW. Tesla wants to be the new BMW and at least in US car sales today is the new BMW.
- babypuncher 4y ago
  >> educate the consumers Every dealership I've been to has been more interested in feeding me whatever line of crap they think will get me to buy a car, not actually educating me about the different products available. >> financing, DMV paperwork Tesla and Carvana have proven these can be taken care of without a third party dealership. In most cases, financing is provided by a bank or credit union, not the dealership itself >> and most importantly service your vehicles Unless the fix is covered by warranty, I'm not taking my car anywhere near a dealership. They charge considerably more money than my trusted mechanic. My Hyundai dealership wanted $125 just for an oil change on a 2013 Sonata. In theory, a dealership could be good for all of these things. In practice though, they suck. There is a reason most people hate car dealerships.
throwaway0a5e 4y ago
I think it's also worth noting that Ford has an obscene number of fleet sales compared to the brands most people here buy. Some dealers will stick around for the same reason Caterpillar dealers exist despite those products not being the kind of thing you "just go to a dealer and buy".

Thorrez 4y ago

Slightly related, Tesla built a store on tribal land to avoid state laws.

dreamcompiler 4y ago
Brilliant solution IMHO. It's located just outside Santa Fe which is very convenient. There's a huge number of Teslas in New Mexico that had all been bought out of state before they built this store. Now we have a place for local service for procedures that can't be done in the field.