It was quite a shock at the time. In September of 2022, Ford CEO Jim Farley delivered an ultimatum to its dealers — invest in the equipment and training needed to sell electric cars successfully or get shut out. No EVs for you! It was a bold move by Ford, one which may have partially been designed to wake its dealers up to the fact that the world of automobiles was changing and they had better change with it or get wiped out by the coming tidal wave of electric cars.
In addition to the requirement for charging equipment, Ford also demanded its dealers invest in new tools and training for its service departments so they would be ready to support the needs of the customers who bought electric cars from them. That equipment and training meant another big chunk of money the dealers had to come up with. The dealers balked and some sued Ford.
The previous rigorous buy-in program was based on optimistic EV sales forecasts that dealers would make back their investments as the popularity of electric cars increased. But a lot has changed in the US EV market since the fall of 2022, and growth in the segment hasn’t played out as Ford initially expected, Gjaja said. EV sales have slowed in the past year. They are still on the rise but at a slower rate than the boom in growth that happened between 2020 and 2022.