Ford ends Model e dealership program and opened EV sales for all dealers

Ford is ending the Model e electric vehicle (EV) dealership program which required dealers to invest up to $1 million to sell EVs.

Announced in September 2022, the EV-certified program came during high EV demand, low supplies, and wider-than-expected sales. However, things didn’t go as planned for all EV makers including Ford.

The growth is still there but the pace is not satisfactory. This scenario led to expansion delays and reduced investment in this field. The company has also pulled back a new model launch.

Marin Gjaja, Chief Operating Officer of Ford’s Model E EV business said the growth has slowed. Gjaja mentioned that the Model e-Dealership Program is now ending for good. The program registered around half of Ford’s 2,800 dealers in the U.S.

In place of sunsetting this program, Ford will open sales and services for all of its dealers in the US to grow sales for electric cars and trucks. The decision will allow dealers to cover 90% of Americans who live within 20 miles of range for Ford electric vehicles.

Ford F-150 Lightning

The company offers Mustang Mach-E SUV, F-150 Lightning truck, and E-Transit commercial vans through dealers. It also plans to deploy EV inventory to dealers over the coming weeks and months. Still, dealers will be required to install two Level 2 charging stations by March 31, 2025, to sell EVs and provide training to employees.

However, these investments may not be as much as they would under an EV-certified program which was between $500,000 to $1.2 million. At an average, the dealers participating in the EV-Certified program invested around $600,000 on average.

(source – CNBC)