Ford says selling 10 Focus Electrics in three months is "on track"

spwolf · Mar 13, 2012

From the looks of things, the Ford Focus Electric has decidedly poor sales. In fact, according to numbers that Green Car Reports is reporting â€“ and Ford is not denying â€“ only 10 units have been sold since the car went on sale late last year: seven in December, three in January and none in February.

Now, we knew that widespread sales were pushed back until September, but isn't the car available in California and New York/New Jersey already? Could the $39,200 price be driving people away, even though the car qualifies for up to $10,000 in tax incentives in California ($7,500 elsewhere)? Is it a problem of supply or incredibly low demand? Do low all-electric vehicle sales imply anything about future plug-in vehicles from the Blue Oval.

We asked Ford about these numbers, and Ford's Wes Sherwood told AutoblogGreen that only select fleet customers have been able to buy the Focus EV thus far. He said:
We are on track with the Focus Electric launch. We began by selling a small number of vehicles to a few fleet customers. We are now ramping up retail production to begin selling vehicles to retail customers in New York, New Jersey and California in the first half of this year. We then will expand sales to 16 other markets later this year.

We continue to expect sales of all-electric to be small even when we ramp up retail production. This is new technology, and it takes time to take hold. Remember, initial hybrid sales were slow. We remain confident about electrified vehicles for the future and are working to make the ownership experience enjoyable. We still expect 10 to 25 percent of Ford's global sales will be attributable to electrified vehicles by 2020. This includes hybrids, plug-in hybrids and pure battery electric vehicles, with most sales coming from hybrid electric vehicles.
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Ford says selling 10 Focus Electrics in three months is "on track"

This is exactly what I was saying before... American companies like hybrids and EVs a lot better in PR's then when it comes to delivery time. Focus Electric has been PR'd to death and what happens in real life is this above.

billnchristy · Mar 14, 2012

I don't see how something that isn't really on sale can be considered to be doing poorly.

Open for fleet sales? How many fleets will fit into the Focus electric model?

Zythryn · Mar 14, 2012

To get a better idea of the sales, how many small sedans did the 'fleets', that could have bought the Ford EV, buy?
The subject line seems misleading since the EV isn't on sale to any but a select few.

ItsNotAboutTheMoney · Mar 14, 2012

Ford are committed to developing the technology, they just aren't committed to selling it yet.

bisco · Mar 14, 2012

i haven't seen any tv advertising yet, not like gm who pr's the heck out of things they haven't even built yet.

Trollbait · Mar 14, 2012

Here's Ford response to the article:
Commentary: Setting the Record Straight on Focus Electric Sales

spwolf · Mar 14, 2012

Even if the Ford Focus Electric had already gone on sale, even if sales of the car were truly this low, it is too soon to make an assumption of failure. In this age of gas price swings and economic instability, one should not call a vehicle a failure until a full year of true, full sales have been tabulated. Furthermore, when sales actually start, do not expect them to be jumping off the lots in huge numbers due its availability. The Focus Electric will only start sales in three markets unlike the five for the Nissan Leaf and seven for the Chevy Volt.
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doesnt seem too encouraging actually.

BTW, is Focus EV really serious production vehicle? I wouldnt think with that trunk which can fit two grocery bags but only if you open up inside container.

austingreen · Mar 14, 2012

spwolf said: ↑

doesnt seem too encouraging actually.

BTW, is Focus EV really serious production vehicle? I wouldnt think with that trunk which can fit two grocery bags but only if you open up inside container.
Click to expand...

Its an honest answer, definitely better than the misleading article in the OP. The focus ev when it is released to consumers is a serious production vehicle, but like the RAV4 ev, fit ev, imev, etc will not sell in high numbers. This is a foot in the door. I don't even think the small trunk will be much of a problem, but the car only has a aer of 76 miles and price higher than the leaf, it should be outsold by the the Nissan.

ItsNotAboutTheMoney · Mar 14, 2012

spwolf said: ↑

doesnt seem too encouraging actually.

BTW, is Focus EV really serious production vehicle? I wouldnt think with that trunk which can fit two grocery bags but only if you open up inside container.
Click to expand...

Of course, they will be selling in CA, where the LEAF has done OK, so they don't have too much argument. Although, it seems to me that Nissan were much more sensible in having OR and WA.

austingreen · Mar 14, 2012

Google seemed to get these demo/pre-production focus
Five Reasons Why Google Gets Plug-In Cars Before You Do

ItsNotAboutTheMoney said: ↑

Of course, they will be selling in CA, where the LEAF has done OK, so they don't have too much argument. Although, it seems to me that Nissan were much more sensible in having OR and WA.
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Portland and Seattle are included on the second set of cities. I would expect that by the end of the year. Nissan sold 60% of American leafs in California last year.

Eileen82 · Mar 14, 2012

The subject line seems misleading since the EV isn't on sale to any but a select few

PriusofDoom · Mar 24, 2012

A ford dealer today tried to explain to me why a 40k focus was a good idea....

Keiichi · Mar 24, 2012

Which was?

Skoorbmax · Mar 26, 2012

Whether they're officially on sale or not they'll never move many $40,000 Focuses that can barely go a hundred miles at a time, $7500 credit or not. Ford will learn what Chevy and Nissan are learning.

billnchristy · Mar 26, 2012

They already have which is why they will have 2 plug ins as well...

dknight16 · Mar 27, 2012

It's all about Greenhouse Gas credits. Not dollars and sense.

Ford says selling 10 Focus Electrics in three months is "on track"

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Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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Ford says selling 10 Focus Electrics in three months is "on track"

spwolf Senior Member

billnchristy Active Member

Zythryn Senior Member

ItsNotAboutTheMoney EditProfOptInfoCustomUser Title

bisco cookie crumbler

Trollbait It's a D&D thing

spwolf Senior Member

austingreen Senior Member

ItsNotAboutTheMoney EditProfOptInfoCustomUser Title

austingreen Senior Member

Eileen82 New Member

PriusofDoom New Member

Keiichi Active Member

Skoorbmax Senior Member

billnchristy Active Member

dknight16 New Member

Ford Says You Can Never Own Leased EVs

Ford says fuel cell venture with Daimler will close

Ford Says a Fully Electric SUV with 300 Miles of Range + Hybrid Mustang/F-150 Are Coming by 2020

Ford says its hybrid technology is advancing faster than Toyota's

Ford Fusion 41 MPG City says EPA and can go 47 MPH on battery alone...