Ford CEO Jim Farley Totally Regrets Ford F150 Lightning Pickup

[msingh]

Thank you for parsing this out in this way. I'm not sure I agree with the other posts blaming failed marketing, or the price point, the dealers or any of that. Those points may be fair and they may be factors in the demise of this product that we own and love but the CEO isn't talking about any of that here.

I agree with the other poster who thought that not dismantling a tesla product to conduct an autopsy on their processes earlier on was a massive error. The CEO all but admitted that in this statement. It seems like Ford attacked the EV problem with the legacy manufacturer mindset - the old school approach to building old-school vehicles - without considering if there was a better way to do things. It seems like they didn't consider if there could be a better way of doing things at all. They for sure rested on their laurels a bit whatever those laurels are.

The statement about the Mach-E's wiring harness seems to say it all: their strategy was inefficient, bloated and expensive without them realizing it. They then realize this is a monumental blunder that probably cuts right to the philosophical core of all of the research and development they've been doing under the old way of thinking, so that could also be why they killed the T3 project despite all the pomp and circumstance about it. To write all of that off and walk away is unthinkable, and yet they did it. They realized their "approach" had to change and they said it themselves aloud publicly. An elekrek article I read about this that uses the exact same quotes mentions that they even learned new stuff about placing things like clips and fasteners so less of them could be used overall leading to lower manufacturing costs. This is bean counting on a psychopath level.

So it makes sense they would kill the Lightning but not also killing the Mach-E makes less sense to me in this context. Whatever.

At first I was trying to be optimistic about this, thinking Ford would learn and better themselves and the future products. But in reality they've realized the floor is way lower than they ever could have imagined and now their minds have been opened to all of the possibilities and presumably unimaginable profits given the bar is now significantly lower. They've realized how much less they can still do that people will still tolerate! this isn't good, it is awful.

If the takeaway from this is that Ford is going to weaponize the cost cutting process in this way then all of this is in fact very sad distressing news for the customer. If you have gripes about the level of quality and workmanship now, just you wait! tesla is changing the auto industry and is setting new standards but it is doing this in the worst ways possible to the detriment of everyone. Crazy price points, laughable build quality, horrible customer support and a surprisingly disposable product are the new norms I guess. They for sure will not cut costs here in favour of using higher quality materials there.

Learning from them is one thing but to cut bait with what you are doing to change direction to run behind them to catch up is madness in my opinion. This is how schoolkids fail exams. Eyes on your own paper! Don't let the unprepared overconfident blabbermouth get in your head and undo all your the hard work leading up to the big day! you got this!!!

"sigh"

As one of the posters that said the lack of understanding of the Tesla was a fatal and almost unrecoverable blunder-thank you for saying it much better than I. To follow on your comment, I don't think Ford has learned anything. See their continual recalls, and lack of timely updates for software on the newest/current models. I think it is all marketing bluster, until leadership can figure out the 'easy button' which I fear is going to be to badge a BYD product with Ford emblem, and call it 'solved'.

GM did something similar back when they badged Toyota Corolla (?) I think it was as the 'Spectrum', ironically at what is now the Tesla plant. A plant that under GM leadership was literally ranked the worst, and then became the best quality plant in the US, when Toyota took over day to day management.

Unfortunately GM learned nothing from the experience, and we are back to the American brands continuing to slide.

Even Tesla in a short period of time has significantly improved their quality. I don't understand why the old school manufacturers cannot do the same. Unfortunate.

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[CD4TNF]

In 2022, when gas was $5+ in many parts of the country, new orders for EVs had waiting lists (not only new designs like the F150 Lightning, but even Tesla Model Y and Model 3 had months-long wait for an ordered car). I believe the price of gasoline has more to do with EV demand than climate change concerns.

I read a study a while back about factors in EV adoption. Gas greater than $4/gal was a statistically significant factor in getting people to get an EV.

$4/gal is a tipping point for folks to start thinking and going for it.

 

[chriserx]

I read a study a while back about factors in EV adoption. Gas greater than $4/gal was a statistically significant factor in getting people to get an EV.

$4/gal is a tipping point for folks to start thinking and going for it.

Apparently mine was $2.50 to add to the dataset.

 

[gregoryhcain]

I certainly don’t regret buying my ‘22 Lariat ER. I just returned from a slightly longer than a week vacation to one of our WorldMark timeshares here in the Pacific NW. Home charging is 0.11 while gas is now over $5. WorldMark has complimentary L1 and L2 Charging as does a nearby Indian Casino (L2). I drove 362 miles, charged 173 kWh of which 67 was from home and 105 was no fee. That made for 2 cents a mile. Figuring gas at 4.80 and my gas pickup gets 20 mpg I got the equivalent of 240 mpg by taking my Lightning and leaving my dinosaur burner home. I’m not singing the Hormuz Blues while I have a Lightning. In fact I’d say 45/47 has now become the country’s best EV salesman

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