Ford wants to do things differently as it expands into the EV business. It’s , of dealers asking “What can I do to get you in this car today?” Months after that news first came out, CEO Jim Farley is doubling down. In a speech today, the executive confirmed that under his new plan, dealerships would get rid of inventory entirely and become high-quality service centers for customers who purchased their vehicles online.
In a presentation at , an event that is apparently real and not an Arrested Development plot point, Farley confirmed that Ford intends to sell EVs entirely online, with no-haggle pricing. Dealer lots full of pre-ordered inventory would be gone, and today’s existing dealers would pivot to providing service for cars purchased online.
Crucially, Farley framed this move as a goal rather than a definitive plan. His words, : “We’ve got to go to non-negotiated price. We’ve got to go to 100% online. There’s no inventory ... 100% remote pickup and delivery.”
Buyers looking to get into a Lightning may have to deal with dealers for now, but future transactions may never require a single foot stepped into those hallowed halls. It seems the goal is to have dealers process the transaction initiated by the customer via the online sales portal — no more stepping onto the sales floor or entering . Farley said existing dealerships will play a role in this transition, with the company using its “physical presence” to “outperform” startups like Tesla, which have had to build physical showrooms and service locations from zero.
In , Farley also outlined his plan to eliminate Ford’s advertising spending entirely. The automaker is one of the biggest purchasers of advertising on earth, spending more than $3 billion a year on ads. But Ford didn’t buy any ads for its two new electric vehicles, the Mustang Mach-E and the F-150 Lightning, and both of those are sold out. When it comes to EVs, “I’m not convinced we need public advertising,” Farley said, .
A fully digital purchase experience may prevent buyers from putting eyes on cars and butts in seats before shelling out their hard-earned cash, but that’s a problem that people seem to care about less with every passing year. Digital sales make up , and that’s unlikely to ever return to pre-pandemic levels.