Ford’s electric truck is on display at the Electrify Expo DC on July 23, 2023 in Washington, DC.
Nathan Howard | Getty Images
Ford Motor Company The company is ending its controversial electric vehicle dealership program, which initially required store owners to invest more than $1 million to sell electric vehicles.
The “EV Certified” program was announced by Ford CEO Jim Farley in September 2022 amid rising demand for vehicles, tight supply and optimism across the industry for electric cars and trucks. But that optimism hasn’t panned out as expected.
EV sales are growing from Ford and other automakers, but at a much slower pace than many expected, which has led automakers to postpone or cancel future electric vehicle plans and investments.
“The world has changed,” Malin Jaja, chief operating officer of Ford’s Model E electric vehicle business, said at a press conference on Thursday. “Growth has slowed.”
Jaja said Ford’s Model e Dealer program, which included about half of its 2,800 U.S. dealers, was “ending” amid changing market conditions and ongoing discussions with dealers. The company had been sued by dealers over the program.
Instead, Ford will begin selling EVs to all of its dealerships, aiming to expand sales of all-electric cars and trucks.
“This will allow us to offer EV sales and service to more dealerships,” Jaja said. “We believe this will lead to increased sales.”
Dealers will still need to make some investments for charging, training and other EV-related costs, but it won’t be as much as the previous program, which expected investments of between $500,000 and $1.2 million.
Jaja said the original estimates were too high: Dealers who participated in the entire program invested an average of about $600,000, he said.
