It appears that Ford is rolling the dice when it comes to inventory counts after signing its deal with Tesla to adopt their North American Charging Standard (NACS).
According to data reviewed by S&P Global Mobility, Ford has tripled its Mustang Mach-E inventory to over 11,000 vehicles. The move comes as Ford has only moved around 3,000 vehicles per month in 2023.
Although Ford had already confirmed they would be ramping up production, the jump in inventory did surprise many. The S&P Global Mobility note had this to say on the increase:
[Ford could be] maximizing the marketing impact of its shared-charger arrangement with Tesla. This could be a sign that Ford is truly entering the EV sales and share race. (via Autoblog)
It is unclear if the Tesla deal directly impacted the inventory count, but experts believe Ford is optimistic the deal will boost demand. Only time will tell, but interestingly it does not appear that the F-150 Lightning received a similar boost in inventory.
Charging was a concern for many prospective buyers, and access to one of the largest charging networks in the world may be enough to push a maybe to a yes.
However, Ford is not alone in partnering with Tesla, so the initial boost may be less than expected, with Rivian and GM also announcing partnerships with Tesla in the last few weeks.
