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The Ford brand will transition to exclusively online, fixed-price, delivered-to-your-door sales for EVs, CEO Jim Farley said, in a statement reported by USA Today.”We’ve got to go to non-negotiated price. We’ve got to go 100 percent online. There’s no inventory [at dealerships]; it goes directly to the customer. And 100 percent remote pick up and delivery,” he said during Bernstein’s Annual Strategic Decisions Conference, the paper reported.It’s unclear if Ford also plans to implement this sales strategy shift for its non-EV products. Farley went on to say that he sees the physical locations of dealers as a huge opportunity to push an edge over competitors, but that the current stores will have to radically evolve. Dealers can do it, he said, “but the standards are going to be brutal.”

The fixed-price model has been tried by countless new car dealerships, used-car chains, and even manufacturers like Saturn. Yet it was Tesla that showed that a successful automaker could fully rely on fixed-price sales. The EV juggernaut also pioneered an online ordering system that so-called legacy automakers have been struggling to replicate. If Ford wants to be a huge player in this and take advantage of what Farley sees as a historically significant market-share land grab, the company has to adapt to give the customers what they want. Right now, as USA Today notes, Ford estimates that it spends $2000 more than Tesla per car on distribution.The company also intends to massively scale back advertising for its EVs, another way it has to adapt. “If you ever see Ford Motor Co. doing a Super Bowl ad on our electric vehicles, sell the stock,” he said. For the full breakdown of Farley’s remarks, check out the USA Today story which explores post-sales service, the role of the Super Duty and other gas guzzlers, EV profitability, custom cars for Uber and Lyft, Chinese EVs, and “very large consolidation.”Road & Track has reached out to Ford for additional comment on Farley’s statements.

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The 2023 Polestar 2 lineup will include a limited-production BST edition 270.Along with exclusive chassis modifications and 502 pound-feet of torque, it’s available with a choice of a matte-black stripe or a full-body wrap.The ’23 Polestar 2 BST is limited to 270 copies worldwide (up to 47 in the U.S.) and is priced at $76,900.Even when equipped with the optional Performance pack, the 2023 Polestar 2 hardly gives off race-car vibes. That changes with the introduction of the limited-production BST edition 270, which is available with a single matte-black stripe and the number “2” on the hood. It doesn’t get much racier than that. Well, actually it does.

The stripe is a $1000 option, allowing BST buyers to avoid the look if it’s too over the top. What’s unavoidable is the extensive list of modifications made to this special Polestar 2 that make it a better track ‘Star—see what we did there? Compared with non-BST versions, its dual electric motors are tuned to make an extra 15 pound-feet of torque (502 total); their combined 476-hp rating remains.
More notably, the Polestar 2 BST is chock-full of chassis mods. Its ride height is almost an inch lower than stock, its suspension springs are 20 percent stiffer, and a front strut bar has been added. Likewise, the manually adjustable Öhlins dampers that are normally included with the Performance pack are said to be specially tuned for the BST, and they’re supplemented by auxiliary adjustment chambers under the hood. They’re easy to spot because they’re gold. Finally, the BST rolls on a set of Polestar 1–inspired 21-inch wheels, which are matte black to match the stripe. The rims are shod with Pirelli P Zero rubber that Polestar says was specially designed for the BST.

Polestar

Polestar

Unfortunately, this racy Polestar 2 isn’t available with the snazzy goldish-gray Jupiter paint color that’s now offered on ’23 non-BST models. Instead, the only two paint options are Thunder or Snow. There’s also a $5000 full-body Battleship Gray satin wrap that’s exclusive to the BST. Inside, every version has Charcoal WeaveTech upholstery.As its name suggests, the 2023 Polestar BST edition 270 has a limited production of 270 examples worldwide, with as many as 47 planned for U.S. consumption. Interested parties will need to contact Polestar through its website where they’ll be put in touch with a specialist for a “personalized sales process.” The BST will have a starting price of $76,900, and deliveries start near the end of this year.
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The Buick Electra-X, designed at General Motors’ Shanghai studio in China, previews the future of the brand for the lucrative China market.Buick recently revealed that its upcoming EVs will fly under the Electra banner, so this concept may also suggest the design direction for the U.S.-bound SUVs.The concept rides on the Ultium platform, as will the production EV that will arrive in the U.S. for 2025 and will share bits with the Cadillac Lyriq.Buick has become a bit of an afterthought in the United States, with sales tapering off since the late 1990s. Meanwhile, the premium American brand has become a hit over in China. Over a million Buicks were sold in China as recently as 2018 (just over 200,000 Buicks found homes stateside that year), and Buick has registered more than 10 million sales there since its arrival in 1998. Given Buick’s significance in that market, the company has now previewed its electric future for China with the Electra-X concept, which may also hint at what’s coming for the recently announced Electra sub-brand in the U.S.

Buick

The Electra-X is an SUV with sleek bodywork and a sloping roofline. The design was produced by General Motors’ team in Shanghai, and the crossover is based on the Ultium platform that also underpins GM’s Cadillac Lyriq and GMC Hummer EVs. The slim headlights sit above a wide-mouth grille with intricate triangular elements, while the rear features a trendy full-width light bar. Buick’s new logo, which does away with the circle that traditionally surrounded the tri-shield design, adorns the nose, and the concept rides on 21-inch wheels.

Buick

Buick

The interior is airy thanks to a glass roof and thin pillars, and the dashboard features hidden air vents and a 30-inch screen with up to 6K resolution. The Electra-X’s four seats are upholstered in a knit fabric made from recycled plastic bottles, and the voice control system can command nearly 50 different functions. The concept also features GM’s Super Cruise driver-assistance technology that is already found on EVs including the Hummer and gas-powered vehicles including the Escalade. There’s no word on how much of the Electra-X’s design will make it to the first U.S.-market Electra SUV. That vehicle will be unveiled for the U.S. in 2024 and will share a platform with the Lyriq, but between the Electra-X and the Wildcat concept, we are starting to get a pretty good sense of what Buick’s future will look like.
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