![]() ![]() Potential customers with reservations made in 2021 may convert orders after receiving an invitation to do so.įord is working down the list, much like a trendy restaurant confirms its list of diner reservations. The company opened the order bank on Thursday. When Ford announced plans to ramp up production to meet overwhelming demand, stock climbed. The popular truck is scheduled to start delivery with orders placed now expected to roll into 2023. ![]() More: Ford to build new plants in Tennessee, Kentucky in $11 billion investment in electric vehicles More: F-150 Lightning reservations are so huge Ford had to stop taking them Various factors may go into the decision, including timeline considerations, Ford has said. He said he worried that if he talked to a reporter that he might be automatically eliminated from the Lightning list of an estimated 200,000 people who put down a $100 refundable reservation.įord just began working its way through the reservation list in waves, converting orders for those who want to purchase the pickup and eliminating those from the list who may have changed their minds. Meanwhile, potential customers such as Chase are confused and distressed. "This will drive more people into the arms of EV startups that sell direct to consumers and who don't use franchised dealers." Toyota has 220K miles And they won't forget who took advantage of them," he said. Their customers will take a bath when it comes time to sell these cars in a few years. "They're creating a bubble in residual prices that will burst when inventory returns to normal. "Car dealers who are taking advantage of tight inventory to raise prices by thousands of dollars are shooting themselves in the foot," said John McElroy, host of "Autoline After Hours" podcast and webcast. This kind of thing is not unusual for automakers throughout the U.S., global and domestic, because of supply chain disruption and vehicle production shortages.īut for Ford, specifically, this latest dealer behavior is being watched closely, especially since the leading electric vehicle competitor - Tesla - doesn't use a dealership model. "When a new, hot product comes out, it is common for dealers to jack up prices, despite automakers urging them not to, and there are customers willing to pay those prices, especially in this market," Michelle Krebs, executive analyst at Cox Automotive, told the Free Press. While Ford is in the spotlight with its high-profile launch of its all-electric pickup, scheduled for the spring, industry observers say price spikes are happening with all automakers. The action from Frick on Friday was not triggered by any one dealer memo but, rather, a collection of markup situations observed by company executives on social media, a Ford spokesperson confirmed to the Free Press on Monday. "This behavior is not allowable."įord may respond to the behavior by withholding inventory, he warned. "These actions are perceived as threatening customers by withholding their opportunity to convert reservations to orders," Frick wrote. 7.Įxamples of these negative interactions include demanding that customers on the reservation list for the 2022 model year Lightning make additional deposits or payments, his letter said. "It has come to our attention that a limited number of dealerships are interacting with customers in a manner that is negatively impacting customer satisfaction and damaging to the Ford Motor Company brand and Dealer Body reputation," Frick wrote Jan. and Canada sales, sent a memo to dealers that warned against alienating potential customers. Four days after Chase read his email, Andrew Frick, Ford vice president of U.S. ![]()
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