Ford Scores With US Dealers Aggressively Opting For EV

• CEO Jim Farley said that nearly 65% of Ford Motor Co (NYSE: F) dealers have agreed to sell electric vehicles as it aggressively chases its EV ambitions.

• About 1,920 of Ford's nearly 3,000 dealers in the U.S. agreed to sell EVs, CNBC reports citing Farley.

• He said roughly 80% of those dealers chose higher levels of investment for EVs.

• Ford dealers could become "EV-certified" under one of two programs with expected investments of $500,000 or $1.2 million. With upfront costs of $900,000, dealers in the higher tier received "elite" certification with access to more EVs.

• Unlike rival General Motors Co (NYSE: GM), Ford enables dealers to opt out of selling EVs and continue selling the company's cars.

• Dealers who opted out of EV investment may go ahead when Ford reopens the certification process in 2027.

• Farley found it necessary for the automaker and its dealers to cut costs, boost profits, and deliver more consistent customer sales experiences.

• Farley reiterated that a direct-sales model would likely be thousands of dollars cheaper for the automaker than the auto industry's traditional franchised system.

• Ford will likely release many other EVs globally to invest tens of billions of dollars in the technologies by 2026.

• Ford reported a 7.8% decline in U.S. sales for November to 146,364 units. Retail sales fell 15.8%.

• However, Ford EV sales jumped 102.6% Y/Y to 6,255 vehicles.

• The result has made Ford America's second best-selling brand and manufacturer of electric vehicles behind Tesla, Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA).

• Price Action: F shares traded higher by 0.22% at $13.41 in the premarket on the last check Tuesday.

• Photo Via Company

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