The Ford Mustang Mach-E GT SUV on display at the Los Angeles Auto Show in Los Angeles, California on November 17, 2021.
(Photo : FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
Ford chief executive Jim Farley has made no secret of his admiration for Tesla, saying that his company is openly following the lead of the world's leading electric carmaker when it comes to developing its EV business. Ford has done just that with the Mustang Mach-E, taking a page from its rival's playbook with the way it is applying updates to the electric crossover, helping them cut costs in the process.
According to a recently published article by Bloomberg, Farley shared with analysts that Ford does not plan to wait for traditional model year changes to apply its updates to the Mach-E. Instead of doing that, Ford will make changes to the Mach-E on the fly, be it through hardware reengineering or via software updates.
Farley said Ford is reaping the rewards of its new strategy, with the production costs of the electric SUV that is built in Mexico now way cheaper than before. During the automaker's Q4 2021 conference call, Farley told investors that they are not going to wait for next year and that they are going to reengineer the Mach-E now and use that expertise for the F-150 Lightning.
'On the fly' updates are now the norm for Ford
Farley added that Ford would operate this way going forward, a huge departure from its practices before, as well as those of their other rival carmakers. This method is not totally alien, though, with Tesla handling its car business this way for years now. Tesla has been the undisputed leader in the auto industry when it comes to over-the-air software updates, and Elon Musk's company often makes engineering changes with the hardware on the fly as well.
Farley said they had learned so much about the lack of integration in their engineering operations as they compared their engineering on the Mustang Mach-E to others that are best-in-class. He added that they are finding many profit opportunities with the company able to take out so much cost from the Mach-E with this new strategy.
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Ford slashed $1,000 in costs for the Mustang Mach-E
New details have emerged regarding the cost reduction Ford has enjoyed in building the Mach-E. Darren Palmer, Ford's general manager of battery-electric vehicles, told Auto News that the automaker has already reduced $1,000 in costs for the Mustang Mach-E.
Ford has saved money by reducing the number of pieces in the electric vehicle's frunk from nine to just two while still retaining the plastic drain that many Mach-E customers love. Ford also cut production costs for the Mach-E by adding heated seats to the popular California Route 1 edition.
Ford looked at connected-vehicle data and noticed that owners of Mach-E models with heated seats used this feature often. Ford also recognized that many Mach-E owners were calling for heated seats to be more readily available.
Palmer said that Ford standardized the heated seats for the Mach-E, with the company getting a better price because of the higher volume. Ford also saved money by reducing the number of motors used in the cooling system of the Mach-E from four down to two and eliminating one-third of the hoses that it uses.
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