Dealership Survey Reveals Ford “Least Trusted” Vehicle Brand

As of this year, Ford dealerships trust their brand’s direction the least of any non-luxury manufacturer, according to this survey.

Trust is a vital component in any relationship, be it personal, professional, or corporate. Take the relationship between a car dealership and its brand, for example. One may justifiably assume that a dealership invested in selling a particular brand of vehicles, has trust that the brand will produce vehicles that will sell. Well, there’s a survey specifically for this: the Kerrigan Dealer Survey. Which states, as of this year, that Ford dealerships statistically have the least faith in their brand’s future vision. Not the customers, but rather the people tasked with actually getting them in Ford seats. So let’s break down the raw data and have a look at the facts to determine what implications this may have with Ford in the long term.

The Survey Results

Kerrigan Advisors conducted their fifth annual survey this year with the issuance of the Blue Sky Report. It features data taken from over 650 anonymous responses from franchised auto dealers between June and October 2023. To summarize the raw data concerning Ford:

• 46% of surveyors expect Ford to decline in value, 60% for Lincoln.
• 58% expect negative outcomes concerning Ford’s planned changes to their dealer model.
• 48% have “no trust” and only 7% have “high trust” in Ford.

So what does this data mean? Put simply, Ford dealerships most unanimously expect a sharp decline in brand profitability due to Ford’s direction and dealer model. For the first point, Kerrigan Advisors state their belief lies with the “rising discontent within the dealer body regarding OEMs’ electric vehicle (“EV”) strategies and the overabundance of EVs on many dealers’ lots.” And as for the “dealer model,” simply put, it’s how a brand takes care of the behind-the-scenes stuff. Things like dealer supply, software updates, parts, agency model, and so on. Again, rising speculation points to a decline in customer sales pointed to EVs, something Ford’s been pushing with vehicles like the Mach E and Lightning.

What Does This Mean for Ford?

In response to this scathing report, Ford issued a press statement to Automotive News. They claimed that dealers are “important strategic partners,” and that they have “made recent beneficial changes to address dealer feedback and improve franchise value.” Whether or not such changes become reality remains to be seen. But the figures don’t lie, and plenty of Ford dealerships clearly take issue with upper management. EV’s come up quite often as a cited point of contention. And with oodles of Mach E’s remaining unsold, we can see why.

Ford’s never been a company strongly associated with the push towards electrification. And it may well be a loss of faith in the dealerships with this change in business model, essentially hopping on the EV hype train. Such vehicles certainly are insanely popular, just look at Toyota’s sales. Incidentally, they were rated as the most trustworthy brand this year by dealers. Although it’s well-known that for customers who know what they want, Ford will build a vehicle to order. Which is a luxury not afforded by all manufacturers these days, largely including Toyota. What this implies, therefore, is that dealerships have less faith that they can shift Mach E’s. The numbers say that demand simply isn’t there like it is for other major companies associated with mass-market EVs. Which doesn’t bode well for long-term dealership sales.

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M.C. Cuccio

I've been an automotive aficionado since I had baby teeth. My path was set when I first leaned on my grandfather's classic Porsche as I learned how to walk. One of my first memories was my mother sitting me behind the wheel of her Pontiac and talking me through the instrumentation and controls. Even though I was a mere three or four years old, I was instantly sold, and filled notebooks with technical drawings, sketches, and collections of manuals of all sorts of cars. I've actively tracked developments in automotive and motorsport technology for well over 20 years, and pride myself on being intimately familiar with the functions and history of a wide range of vehicles.

My primary goal as a writer and enthusiast is to equally learn and share what I've learned in a constructive and interesting way. I maintain connections with people from around the world and can read technical manuals in Italian, Japanese, and Spanish, granting me access to a wide array of resources. My primary focuses are deep-dives into historical topics, motorsport discussion, and learning about the complex mechanical elements of such vehicles. As such, my research is never perfect; as anyone into cars will attest, the more you learn about cars, the more you realize how little you actually know. Therefore, I always welcome fresh knowledge and corrections to help me better my work in the future.