LAS VEGAS — Ford Motor Co. executives on Friday acknowledged that the automaker has caused “pain points” for dealers and promised to adapt its transition to electric vehicles in response to their concerns.
“I know you’re not feeling great right now, and I’m here to fix it,” Elena Ford, Ford’s chief dealer engagement officer and great-great-granddaughter of founder Henry Ford, told the company’s U300 small-dealer group, according to people in the room.
After publication of this story on Friday, a spokesperson on Saturday morning clarified Ford’s comment was a general statement about multiple issues that have led to falling dealer satisfaction scores.
U300 is made up of dealers selling fewer than 300 vehicles annually. Roughly half of the company’s 3,000 U.S. dealers are in that group, officials said.
Ford CEO Jim Farley told the group that EVs are risky for the automaker and its dealers and that he had anticipated the company wouldn’t make the transition flawlessly, two people at the meeting told Automotive News. He promised to continue adjusting its EV certification program.
Farley asked for “open and honest feedback” from the group and said he will spend two weeks traveling around the country solely to visit dealers in as many markets as possible, the people said.
He said Ford bet on its retail network rather than a direct-to-consumer model like Tesla uses.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk “doesn’t like you or our model, and we will continue to support you,” Farley said, according to one attendee.
The company said it will implement a U.S.-only version of its Salute to Dealers honor specifically to recognize small dealers doing notable community service work. It also plans to reinstitute a program to ensure small dealers can satisfy customer orders even if they run out of allocation.
“We heard from them that they sometimes felt their voice wasn’t being heard,” Matt Atkenson, Ford’s U.S. field operations manager, told Automotive News. “They heard from all the way at the very highest levels of our company that we want to hear from you.”