Ford CEO Jim Farley said they may shift EV sales to fixed prices, and move the sale process completely online.
At an IBM conference, Farley described a potential future where Ford dealerships would serve as customer service centers, to pick up online orders, or perform repair of existing vehicles, rather than hold stock and try to perform in-person sales. He also envisioned buyers having the option of home delivery. He described a future sales experience completely devoid of haggling with sales people.
Throwing barbs at competitors, Farley said, “We got to go to non-negotiated price. I believe some Mach-E and Lightning customers would love to have a Mustang for the weekend. Maybe they want a Super Duty. I can do that. They can’t.”
The company has plans to become the top EV carmaker in the world this year, hoping to beat out other companies, such as Tesla, BMW, Nissan, and Kia. Starting in 2023, they have announced the Bolt EV will be the cheapest EV on the market, and it will have almost 2/3rds more range than the nearest competitor, Nissan’s Leaf.
Ford is looking to have the capacity to build 600,000 EVs by 2023, however than number is considerably shy of Tesla’s 936,000 deliveries from last year.
Regardless, Farley says he sees the prices of EV’s dropping to an average of $25,000 as the cost of batteries, the technology, and assembly get cheaper.