In a conference at Alliance Bernstein on Wednesday, Jim Farley, CEO, Ford Motor Co has announced that the company is considering a major overhaul – ranging from slashing advertisement expenditure to a revamp of its dealers network – in a bid to compete with market rivals including Tesla.
The CEO also warned that the future standards are going to be “brutal” for the dealers and will be “very different from today”, as the US-based automaker considers reducing or eliminating unsold dealer inventories. He suggested charting out a plan for “multiple tiers of dealers”, including a specialised lot, as the company plans to launch a second generation of EVs in the next four years.
Farley also predicted a “huge price war” in the near future implying that the competition has been shifting from established OEMs like Ford to new emerging manufacturers from the Silicon Valley and China.
Ford’s market rival Tesla hasn’t relied on advertisements to promote their vehicles as the demand has either matched or exceeded the production, thanks to constant promotion by their existing owners, tech enthusiasts and the investors on different platforms.
Considering the cost advantage Tesla enjoys over their competitors given their zero expenditure on advertising, Farley has suggested that Ford should discontinue advertising their popular electric models, like the F-150 lightning, that has been sold out for the first year, as they too are capable of selling their cars directly to the customers.
“If you ever see Ford Motor Company doing a Super Bowl ad on our electric vehicle, sell the stock,” he added.
