Ford Dealers Don't Trust Ford

Image: Spencer Platt (Getty Images)

Some would assume that a dealership franchise from a major automaker would have some sort of faith or trust in the brand they choose to sell. I mean, dropping millions of dollars just to sell a brand you don’t trust would be kind of crazy right? Apparently it’s not such a far fetched idea.

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Automotive News reports that a dealer survey conducted by automotive data firm Kerrigan Advisors shows that Ford dealers have very little trust in company that makes the brand they sell. Meanwhile Toyota dealers have the most trust in their brand.

From June to October 2023, 650 dealers across the country were anonymously surveyed in the fifth edition of Kerrigan’s annual dealer survey. The trust question made its debut this year, something Erin Kerrigan, the firm’s managing director told Auto News came about after the recent EV push. Ford came up as the least trusted brand according to its dealerships.

Forty-eight percent of dealers said they have no trust in Ford and Kerrigan Advisors found that outcome “consistent with the expectation of a decline in future Ford franchise profitability due to the OEM’s EV/future retailing strategy.”

Kerrigan Advisors thinks that the negative sentiment regarding Ford revealed in the findings could impact the franchise’s future blue sky values, which is the value of a dealership including goodwill.

Image: Kerrigan Advisors

Ford issued a statement to Automotive News responding to the survey, saying that its dealers are “important strategic partners and we are always listening and making adjustments. Working with our dealers, we have made recent beneficial changes to address dealer feedback and improve franchise value.” Nissan, Lincoln, Stellantis and Infiniti rounded out the top five that dealers trust the least after Ford.

Toyota’s dealers trust the brand the most, something Kerrigan says has to do with the brands strategy.

Dealers “trust that Toyota is not only going to do the right thing by producing the right vehicles for the consumer today, but it also will ensure that as the drivetrain changes and as the consumer’s way of interacting with the dealer changes, they’re going to continue to make this a win-win relationship for the OEM and the dealer,” Kerrigan said.

Kerrigan said things like “discontent ignited by EV strategies and too many EVs flooding dealership lots” and concerns about profitability related to over the air updates are driving the mistrust and skepticism for brands like Ford.