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Ford's Farley will challenge dealers to cut EV cost to customers by $2,000

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co Chief Executive Jim Farley will go to Las Vegas next week to roll the dice on a strategy to convince dealers to cut as much as $2,000 from the cost of delivering an electric vehicle to a customer. Ford has told dealers that one key topic for the meetings will be a discussion of new agreements that would govern how dealers sell Ford's expanding lineup of electric vehicles. Farley told analysts in July that Ford needs to cut $2,000 a vehicle out of selling and distribution costs to be competitive with Tesla Inc and other electric vehicle startups that sell directly to consumers without franchised dealers. About a third of those savings could come from what Farley called a "low inventory model," where customers order a vehicle and Ford ships it to the customer, rather than stocking vehicles on dealer lots for weeks or months. "We think that's about -- worth maybe $600, $700 in our system," Farley told analysts. Tesla can also adjust prices rapidly on its website, and keep most of the gain from a price increase. Ford declined to comment other than to say “we are excited to meet next week with our North America dealers to grow and win together.” Dealers said they expect Ford to outline minimum investments for charging stations and other equipment to support electric vehicle customers. A key question will be how quickly dealers will be required to install chargers, which dealers said can cost as much as $500,000. "The manufacturers so far have let us scale into it and I think Ford will hopefully do the same thing. You just can't say, 'Listen, we're going to sell 2 million electric cars five years from now and we expect you to put in five superchargers,'" said Rhett Ricart, owner of Ricart Ford, a large dealership in Columbus, Ohio. Tesla's success at selling electric vehicles without franchised dealers is putting pressure on all established automakers to overhaul their retail networks. A shift by Ford to a Tesla-style build to order system could come with caps on the profit margins dealers can earn on a new vehicle sale, some dealers said. "I see dealer margins still being very competitive, but they are going to shift," Farley said in July. Ford intends to put more emphasis on selling products and services after the initial vehicle sale, he said. Dealers said state franchise laws could give dealers leverage to resist efforts by Ford to set fixed prices or fixed fees for delivering electric vehicles.

Ford Focus was best-selling nameplate in 2012

Last August, Ford made a few waves by claiming that the Ford Focus was, at that point, the top-selling car in the world. The automaker failed to account for variations of the Toyota Corolla wearing a different name (such as the Auris and Matrix), however. With official data from Polk coming in now, Ford is able to say that the Focus was, in fact, the best-selling nameplate in the world last year.
Using new-car registrations (which doesn't factor in fleet sales), the Polk data shows that a total of more than one million Focus models around the world. Strong sales in the US and China have led to a 16 percent increase in year-over-year Focus sales from 2011 that helped to create even more of a gap between it and the second-best global seller, the Corolla.
Ford also had the Fiesta and F-Series listed in the top 10 for worldwide nameplates, but what's even more impressive is the fact that the F-Series is only sold in North America. Scroll down to see the list (compiled by Ford using Polk data) of the top global sellers last year and a press release from Ford.

Ford Focus refresh shots leak ahead of Geneva

In case you haven't been paying attention, Ford has been gradually redesigning its lineup to sport a familiar face. The Aston Martin-inspired grille shape debuted on the Fusion and was soon applied to the Fiesta. Even the front end of the new Mustang takes its cues from the same, and we're sure other models will soon be made-over to fall in line. The next on the docket? The Focus.
Set to be unveiled in little over a week at the Geneva Motor Show, the revised Focus has leaked out a tad early, revealing a mild facelift that bears that same trapezoidal grille with horizontal slats. Along with the new grille, the headlights, lower fascia and hood appear to have been reshaped. Around back there appears to be a new rear bumper and taillights, but otherwise the shape remains largely the same as the current model.
Expect the updates to be applied to all bodystyles offered around the world, including the hatchback, wagon and sedan. The engine lineup is expected to carry over largely unchanged, though the plug-in hybrid powertrain from the C-Max Energi could port over to the revised Focus. Plus Ford seems to have taken the opportunity to spruce things up in the cabin some. Check it out in the image gallery above and watch this space for the official announcement as we pack our bags for Switzerland.