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Ford announced that the base model of their new all electric truck will be called the “Pro”. They are planning on targeting commercial customers and businesses with a pitch that includes 40% less maintenance cost over the first 8 years of ownership and a very competitive price tag that they are advertising as “under $40,000” before shipping. With shipping I am expecting this base model vehicle to be around the $42,000 mark.
On a quick side note, I do not like this advertising as it is very misleading because you can not purchase the vehicle without paying the shipping price from the factory and that fee has gotten up to almost $2,000 dollars. This practice just muddies the waters and is meant to confuse and mislead consumers. Also going out 8 years on the price comparison of maintenance will not be relevant information for most businesses that replace their vehicles on average every 3-6 years.
I am very interested to see how Ford’s Lightning Pro model will be adopted into the commercial and fleet vehicle world. I see a lot of upside in the ability to run power tools and electronics remotely but am very skeptical of how electric vehicles will perform when loaded down or towing.
Ford CEO Jim Farley rolled out plans this week to develop two new all electric platforms. One will be used for the second generation of lightning pickups and larger SUVs while the other is planned for cars and crossovers. Ford plans on having 12 models use these 2 platforms and hopes that this will decrease the complexity of production and also bring down parts cost as they will have the same parts like batteries and motors used by multiple models.
Auto sales are up again this month. Most experts agree that the number will be over 16 million vehicles sold in the US in May. As sales again far outpace production the inventory problem at dealerships is getting to desperate levels. With current trends, the inventory levels will be greatly affecting the ability to reach sales goals over the next several months.
Auto Forecast Solutions report that GM has dropped vehicle output to the tune of over 278,000 vehicles this year. This is the result of the microchip shortage, Covid, and supply chain management issues at these companies. GM and other companies are using a strategy that they call “build shy” which means they produce vehicles as far as they can without the parts that they are missing, park them somewhere and wait for parts to arrive. GM has parked several thousand vehicles and is now even using a bedrock quarry in Troy Missouri to store vehicles to await microchips. I foresee major issues with this strategy. At the dealerships we call this lot rot and it is when a vehicle sits idle too long and begins to develop issues. Some of these issues are paint issues from bird droppings, dust and sun. Also rodents of all kinds love making nests with the engine compartment insulation and wiring.
The federal government is stepping in to try and help with 52 billion dollars in funding for the next 5 years. This money is marked for domestic chip production and research and is expected to add 7-10 new chip factories in the US.
GM teams up with Lockheed Martin to develop a new moon buggy for NASA. GM was involved in the development of the chassis and tires of the original lunar rover that was used in the Apollo 15-18 missions. The old rover did not travel more than 5 miles from the landing site and the new model will be capable of traveling much further and faster.
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