Ford discontinues its EV dealership initiative.

Ford Motor is discontinuing a contentious dealership initiative for electric vehicles, which at first required store owners to put up to $1 million in cash in order to sell EVs.

Ford CEO Jim Farley launched the «EV-certified» initiative in September 2022, amidst strong industry enthusiasm for all-electric cars and trucks, limited supply of the vehicles, and high demand for the vehicles. But things haven’t worked out the way that was anticipated.

Ford and other manufacturers’ EV sales are increasing, but much more slowly than many had anticipated. As a result, automakers have decided to postpone or abandon plans to purchase electric cars.

“The world has changed,” Marin Gjaja, chief operating officer of Ford’s Model E electric vehicle business, said Thursday during a media briefing. “The growth has slowed down.”

According to Gjaja, the Model e Dealership Program, which employed almost half of Ford’s 2,800 U.S. dealers, is «being sunsetted» in light of the evolving market and dealer discussions. Dealer lawsuits have been filed against the corporation because of the scheme.

Rather, Ford intends to increase sales of its all-electric vehicles and trucks by opening up EV sales to all of its dealers.