Ford Looks to Have 100% of EV Sales Be Online

Electric vehicles are forcing automakers to change in a lot of ways. The majority of brands have changed the way they manufacture vehicles and have even had some brands looking at different ways to sell cars. Tesla set out a new path for automakers by introducing direct to customer sales that cut dealerships out of the equation. Now, it looks like Ford is looking into doing something similar for its electric cars. 

Ford To Change The Way It Sells EVs

As USA Today reports, Ford CEO Jim Farley announced the possible change during Bernstein's 38 th Annual Strategic Decisions Conference in New York. "We've got to go to nonnegotiated price. We've got to go to 100% online. There's no inventory (at dealerships), it goes directly to the customer. And 100% remote pickup and delivery," Farley said. 

The news is surprising, but given how popular online car dealerships like Vroom, Carmax, and Carvana have become, it's hardly out of the blue. With everything going with dealer markups, customers having vehicles sold from underneath them despite having an order, and the other horror stories of how dealerships are trying to make a quick buck during the chip shortage, it doesn't take a lot to understand why consumers are tired of dealing with dealerships. 

Unfortunately, for consumers that are looking for Ford to move to a similar system as Tesla, it doesn't look like that will happen soon. Farley wants to hold on to Ford's existing dealerships and pivot them to doing things differently from how they are run today. Additionally, Ford spokesperson Said Deep told Road & Track recently that Ford is looking into developing a 100% online platform for people to buy Fords, not transitioning all of its sales to a digital platform – there is a difference. When asked if Ford would be transitioning away from a dealer model to a direct-to-consumer sales model like Tesla, Deep told the outlet that the automaker's current dealer network remains crucial to the brand. 

Ford's Dealers Are Here To Stay

So, in the future, it sounds like Ford wants to have a hybrid sales model where the existing dealerships are integrated into a direct-to-consumer model. While Farley previously said that dealerships would not have any stock on hand, that's not how the automaker sees things playing out in the future. 

Tesla's direct-to-consumer model isn't perfect, and the automaker does change prices whenever it wants to, which is incredibly annoying, but it means that consumers aren't at the mercy of dealers to get a vehicle. For Ford shoppers, this means that they can look forward to egregious markups for the Ford F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E. At least for the time being.