Photo: Ford
Carmakers are on the run to cut costs and they use whatever tools they have to understand what they can put on the chopping board and what would cause a backlash if they take it out. Newer, connected cars, are a boon for carmakers since they are basically data-collecting computers on wheels. In the case of the Mustang Mach-E, Ford has used data collected from users to make a whopping $1,000 economy on the bill of materials.
Just like any computer, phone, or other smart devices, modern vehicles collect tons of data about driver’s behavior. This helps the carmaker understand how the car is used by different people and adjust accordingly. Ford, for instance, realized most people enjoyed the heated seats in the Mustang Mach-E, but very few use the ventilated seats. As you’d imagine, off went the ventilated seats, while the heated seats were offered as standard on more trims, which allowed Ford to actually save money through economy of scale.
Ford even went so far as to establish a task force comprising purchasing, manufacturing, and engineering teams that launched the Mach-E. The goal is to study the competition, but also social media input and connected-vehicle data and see what can be modified or eliminated to lower production costs. The team analyzed the frunk of the Mustang Mach-E and found ways to make it “less complicated”. Precisely, the number of pieces in the frunk dropped from nine to just two.
“It's not about stripping the car,” Darren Palmer, Ford's general manager of battery-electric vehicles said to Automotive News. “It's about giving them things they love, but simpler.” And Ford is not even waiting for the normal update cycle of a vehicle to implement changes. Just like Tesla, they are rolling them out as soon as they get approval in an expedited procedure.
“Those are the opportunities we're going after,” Jim Farley said. “And we are not going to wait for next year. We're not going to wait for a minor change. We are going to reengineer that vehicle now and then use that expertise for Lightning, E-Transit, and, of course, our all-electric platforms.”
Along with other cost-cutting measures, this allowed Ford to save close to $1,000, as CEO Jim Farley revealed in the Q4 2021 earnings call. Do you think this was passed down to the customers? No way, at today’s vehicle prices. “Market conditions also set the prices. At the moment, there's a huge scarcity of products, and that's also setting the prices. We evaluate those every month as to where we are,“ explains Darren Palmer.
Now that the carmakers started to see the benefits of watching customers’ behavior they will only follow this path with increased tenacity. You might think it’s OK to have all your choices behind the wheel recorded since this should improve the experience for everybody down the road. But milking the data to make more money without sharing anything with the customers is something more and more carmakers are really after.
Ford even went so far as to establish a task force comprising purchasing, manufacturing, and engineering teams that launched the Mach-E. The goal is to study the competition, but also social media input and connected-vehicle data and see what can be modified or eliminated to lower production costs. The team analyzed the frunk of the Mustang Mach-E and found ways to make it “less complicated”. Precisely, the number of pieces in the frunk dropped from nine to just two.
“It's not about stripping the car,” Darren Palmer, Ford's general manager of battery-electric vehicles said to Automotive News. “It's about giving them things they love, but simpler.” And Ford is not even waiting for the normal update cycle of a vehicle to implement changes. Just like Tesla, they are rolling them out as soon as they get approval in an expedited procedure.
“Those are the opportunities we're going after,” Jim Farley said. “And we are not going to wait for next year. We're not going to wait for a minor change. We are going to reengineer that vehicle now and then use that expertise for Lightning, E-Transit, and, of course, our all-electric platforms.”
Along with other cost-cutting measures, this allowed Ford to save close to $1,000, as CEO Jim Farley revealed in the Q4 2021 earnings call. Do you think this was passed down to the customers? No way, at today’s vehicle prices. “Market conditions also set the prices. At the moment, there's a huge scarcity of products, and that's also setting the prices. We evaluate those every month as to where we are,“ explains Darren Palmer.
Now that the carmakers started to see the benefits of watching customers’ behavior they will only follow this path with increased tenacity. You might think it’s OK to have all your choices behind the wheel recorded since this should improve the experience for everybody down the road. But milking the data to make more money without sharing anything with the customers is something more and more carmakers are really after.
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