FFE sales falling off....

[michael]

According to INSIDEEVS.COM, FFE sales were down to 53 in December and 85 in January, compared to a peak of 264 in August. While EV sales in general were down in January, December was a record month. This looks pretty poor especially when compared to other newcomers (BMW 670, Mercedes 240, VW 181).

I understand there are availability issues due to the change in model year, but Ford needs to treat this car seriously or it will become completely marginalized. It's a good car but nobody knows it exists. Even the dopey little Smart EV is outselling it.

 

[jmueller065]

Ford needs to treat this car seriously or it will become completely marginalized

LOL! it is already completely marginalized just read Inside EVs comments about it:

We hate to say it, but the current generation of the plug-in Focus EV as it stands, is pretty much dead when it comes to consumer acceptance.

http://insideevs.com/monthly-plug-in-sales-scorecard/

My thoughts: It will probably return to the 100 - 200 sales/month range with a few months as "production picks up" ! (yeah laugh at that). Given that the plant was down for an extended period of time, and that there are still people posting here waiting for their 2015 I think there is a bit of pent up demand.

I guess in one way I agree with you (Ford does need to do something but the longer this goes the more pessimistic I get) but another I don't want to LOL.

 

[Steve0512]

From September on of last year there were no FFE's available to be purchased in the Midwest. I was willing to drive a long way just to sit in one. But there were none to be found anywhere.

 

[Trey]

I could not find one anywhere in Nov and Dec. None of the dealers that had one nationally would trade with a GA dealer to get it sent out here so I can understand why sales were low. In fact, they could not locate that many to begin with.

 

[eaglelaker]

I will be ordering one soon. I just need to pick a color. Black, Gray or Silver. If anyone in the midwest would like to test drive one I'll put a plug in for Havill - Sporel Ford in Fort Atkinson,WI. I test drove a white one. Was very impressed.

 

[jeffand]

Their are less than 100 FFE on dealer lots in the entire country. Ford can't sell inventory that doesn't exist! This is the main reason sales are as low as they are right now.

 

[Washingtonian]

Their are less than 100 FFE on dealer lots in the entire country. Ford can't sell inventory that doesn't exist! This is the main reason sales are as low as they are right now.

I pointed this out in the comments on insideevs. I thought the editorial condemning the FFE was unfounded.

 

[jloucks]

The FFEs have always been hard to find. There were 2 in all of north Texas when I got mine. Most population centers in Texas are perfect for this car. Yet Ford just gives Texas to the Leaf. Those Leafs are everywhere here now!!

 

[michael]

Ford gives everything to the Leaf.

There are probably 20 EVs and PHEVs where I work, and the people are very technically sophisticated. Maybe half are Volt and Energi, the other half are all Leaf except for mine. It just kills me every time another Leaf shows up.

There is a Ford dealer within walking distance, and the people there are not clever enough to even have a show-and-tell in the parking lot. Ford corporate did a look-and-drive event in our parking lot and they didn't even bring an FFE, just hybrids and Energis.

 

[suprduprffev]

According to INSIDEEVS.COM, FFE sales were down to 53 in December and 85 in January, compared to a peak of 264 in August. While EV sales in general were down in January, December was a record month. This looks pretty poor especially when compared to other newcomers (BMW 670, Mercedes 240, VW 181).

I understand there are availability issues due to the change in model year, but Ford needs to treat this car seriously or it will become completely marginalized. It's a good car but nobody knows it exists. Even the dopey little Smart EV is outselling it.

I was at a dealer that could not find one in the country that was for sale in December. Sales are down because there were none available

 

[pjam3]

It is pretty much a compliance car, even though Ford and many people will never admit that. They have not sold that many FFE to begin with, so the fact they have trouble meeting the demand for 100 new cars across the country tells you all you need to know about where Ford stands on the car. If you go to any Nissan dealership across the country, they probably have 10 Leafs. BMW paid for a $4 million ad during the super bowl for their EV. GM is marketing their 200 Mile Bolt that nobody even knows will do as they claim. However, Ford does promote their new Silicon Valley office and the theory of being a "tech" company and not just an automotive company. They do promote the Energi and Plug-ins. And visit any Ford dealership across the country and they probably have 100 C-Max's and try and sell those over and over.

Who knows what is going on behind the scenes at Ford and why the pretty much treat the FFE as a compliance car, but if GM, Tesla and others have these 200 Mile EVs for around the same price as the FFE by 2017-2018, the car becomes pretty much pointless unless they improve it and market it.

 

[michael]

As I have mentioned before, while some view the term "compliance car" as an insult, I see things differently. Every compliance car is an EV on the road that would not otherwise have been. Similarly, those built on an existing platform (like FFE) have both advantages and disadvantages compared to ground-up solutions.

Also....I spoke too soon...just today a brand new FFE showed up in our parking lot. I need to find out who owns it. Maybe the two FFEs will mate, produce a litter of SmartForTwo EVs.

 

[cpwl]

It’s pretty easy to “cherry pick” a data point and then present it “out of context” and strangely enough that is what InsideEVs.com, an alleged EV proponent, has done. Given that production was halted for several months it is not surprising that sales have had a marked reduction and the reduced sales recorded are the remainder of the 2014 pre-order and dealer stock deliveries. Would Car and Driver or other of the automotive press conclude that the ICE Focus is no longer in demand because of similarly reduced late fall/early winter sales? Whilst factual ths is a short-sighted and shallow presentation to say the least.

Now that isn’t to say that Ford is not completely derelict in its failure to promote and significantly improve the FFE and in their indifference are risking it becoming completely irrelevant in the growing (if not necessarily yet maturing) BEV market. They are! As I have stated before I don’t think the FFE in its current chassis format can be improved to a reliable poor weather 120-150 mile range BEV which is probably the tipping point range for wider spread adoption of “commuter BEVs”. But I do think it can be incrementally developed and the lessons learned to date can be applied to a 200 plus mile BEV based on the Fusion/MKZ chassis for which there would be a significant market with attendant corporately acceptable profit margins (especially if it was Tesla Supercharger compatible).

Thanks and Cheers

Carl