Phoebe Wall Howard|Detroit Free Press
As soon as CEO Jim Farley said the words, they hit the Twittersphere:
"We are sold out for a couple years now," he said.
Farley, onstage fora CERAWeek energy conference discussion streamed live March 10 from Texas and sponsored by S&P Global, was talking abouthis roadmap to transform the 118-year-old companyinto an electric vehicle leader.
The moderator asked:How are things going with the Mustang Mach-E?
Farley didn't skip a beat.
"It’s totally sold out. We’re just completely overwhelmed. I mean, we have the chip supply thing, that makes it worse. But we’re completely oversubscribed," he said. "Actually, in all of our electric vehicles, we are sold out for a couple years now. So we’re very fortunate that we made that choice to go into those passion products."See AlsoWhy Ford 'Should Have Done Much Better' In 2022 - The AutopianStrategizing for the Electrification Era: How the Ford Story is Unfolding
So, is Ford really sold out of its electric vehicles?
Let's slow down a minute and look at the whole situation.
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Why Ford is seeing quick adoptionto electric vehicles
The semiconductor chip shortage has crippled the auto industry and other manufacturing sectors. Ford evenannounced in recent days a plan to start shipping Ford Explorer SUVs withoutthe chips that allow for heat and air-conditioning control in the rear seating area.
But the overall situation remains fluid and complicated: Electrifying the names of vehicles already established as part of Americana –the iconic Mustangand the bestselling F-Series –delivers new technology inside analready-loved vehicle.
Also, while the Dearborn automaker takes pride in pivoting to all-electric, the gasoline-powered F-Seriesremains a multibillion dollar franchise.
At the energy conference, Farleyhad explained howFordset itself up for EV success and why demand was so overwhelming now.
"We were lucky. We got to watch from a distance what happened at Tesla and the first generation of leaders like BMW and GM. They went first, and Nissan, and Tesla won and the generic products didn’t," Farley said.
"What we learned from that as a management team, which was actually not popular in the company, was that early adopters of zero emission wanted the good stuff," he said. "They don’t want generic homogeneoussmall cars that are unremarkable. They want great vehicles. They want aspirational vehicles ...And so we said let’s electrify the icons."
That's why Ford built theMustang Mach-E and Mach-E GT, as well as the upcoming F-150 Lightning, which is scheduled to begin delivery soon.
The automaker has been so overwhelmed by demand for its award-winning Mach-E that it has had to stop taking orders for the 2022 model because many are sold out.
Mach-E available to order, but act fast
Customers cannot order the Mach-E Premium or Mach-E California Route 1 rightnow.However, they can still order the least expensive base model Mach-E Select and the more expensiveMach-E GT andMach-E Performance Edition, confirmed Ford spokesman Said Deep.
If a consumer wants one of these remaining few 2022 models, that window will close in coming weeks andthey should be ordered immediately, he said.
Those neworderswould take an estimated five months to be delivered, Deep said.
Whenthe 2023 Mach-E order bank opens, deliveries are scheduled to begin as soon as late 2022. While Ford expects 2022 Mach-Esto be delivered to customers before the new model year begins shipping, global supply chain and semiconductor chip issues could continue to disrupt the delivery schedules, Deep said.
Analysts have saidthat Ford and other automakers can present hopeful forecasts but too many global problems are at play to be certain. Everyone seems to be doing their best to manage customer expectations.
"We’re keeping retail ordering open for other popular models like GT, GT Performance Edition and Select. Customers may work with their dealers to buy a Mach-E from stock. With unprecedented demand for these models, we are building existing customer orders for Premium and California Route 1 models," Deep said.
The price of the Mach-E base model has increased $1,000 from the 2021 model year to the 2022 model year, from $42,895 to $43,895, Ford confirmed.
The Mach-E Premium starts at $49,100 andCalifornia Route 1starts at $52,775, Ford confirmed. The company said the most popular version is the Premium, while the California Route 1 offers the best range at 314 miles.
For the F-150 Lightning, Ford capped reservations at200,000 and customers arein the process of converting $100 reservations to official orders. The base price starts around$40,000.
Electric F-150s delivered this summer
The company began converting Lightning reservations to ordersin January, with delivery of the pickups scheduled for mid-2022. Because of the huge response,Ford said it would begin working down its reservation list and invitingpeople via email to see if they want to convert to an order;if so, the process will begin. If people decline, the next name on the list gets invited to purchase.A reservation allowsa customerto beinvited to place anorderasproduction becomes available.
The number of customers invited variesby wave and there is nosetnumberof waves in the invitation process, Ford said. The number of waves will beadjustedthroughout the process based on available commodities and customerorderrates.
Invitations will begin for the 2022 Lightning model year until it's fulfilled and then continue into 2023 and so on. Ford saw nearly70% of the reservation holders for the Ford Bronco convert to buyers,Deep told the Free Press.
In January, Ford announced it would nearly double production capacity to 150,000 Lightning pickupsper year at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearbornto meet "soaring customer demand," Deep said. "Customer deliveries of the new electric truck begin this spring. Within 24 months, Ford will have the global capacity to produce 600,000 battery electric vehicles annually with plans to move toward annual production of more than 2 million EVs by 2026."
Customers have until March 31 to convert current Lightning reservations to an order and all pickups being built are made-to-order. No new reservationsare being accepted for the 2022 model year but the 2023 model year orders open again this summer. The key is getting on a list with a dealer because some buyers may back out, Deep said.
This Mustang Mach-E didn't make it for Christmas
Janie Begeman, a retired nurse from the Grand Rapids bedroom community ofAda, has been wondering about the arrival her family's Rapid Red Metallic 2022Mach-E Premium since placing an order in July.
"I’m not trying to get anybody in trouble," she said. "We went in around the first of July, last summer, and put our order in. They told us it would take about six months, to expect it around Christmastime."
So the family ordered a charging station kit from the dealer, called an electrician to get it installed, and waited. And waited.
Ford saidthat customer emails reflect real time updates as the company gets them, and delays are frustrating everybody but simply can't be avoided with the constant disruption of car parts.
Chip delays create uncertainty
Everything depends on supply chain management and how quickly the companies can ramp up production. What is considered sold out today may not actually be sold out tomorrow.
It all just requires patience and fortitude, analysts said.
"This is not a problem only at Ford. Some executives are going to tell you the truth that almost all vehicles are hard to find while many people are trying to hide that fact. Nearly all popular models are in short supply," said Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions. "The vehicle shortage is across the industry. It just so happens that one of their most sought after models is the electric model they offer. A similar situation will arise when the Lightning becomes available in a few months."
Contact Phoebe Wall Howard at 313-618-1034 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @phoebesaid. Read more on Ford and sign up for our autos newsletter.
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