Ford Motor Co. paid $199,950 -- $55,000 more than the sticker price -- to buy one of the first sport utility vehicles made by Tesla Motors Inc. so it could test and examine the electric SUV.
Ford bought the 64th Model X -- a white Founders Series version -- last month. Spied recently in the Detroit area with Michigan manufacturers’ plates, it originally belonged to a California coin dealer who bought it as part of Tesla’s customer-referral promotion.
Automakers
often buy cars made by competitors for road testing and for
“tear-downs” to reveal components and materials and how they’re put
together. But it’s unusual to pay such a high price -- almost $212,000
after Michigan sales tax and title -- for such an early model.
“Wow, I hope that investment pays off in some good
intelligence,” Michelle Krebs, senior analyst for researcher
Autotrader.com, said of the premium Ford paid. “If you’re going to be
one of the early buyers, you’re probably going to pay well over list.
But that’s significant.”
Krebs suspects other major automakers, such as General
Motors Co. and Toyota Motor Corp., are also among early buyers of the
Model X. Automakers are looking for ways to make highly profitable SUVs
more fuel efficient as they race to meet a federal mandate to average
54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. Ford is investing $4.5 billion in
electrified vehicles and will add 13 electric cars and hybrids by 2020.
Future SUVs
“We’re going to definitely see more electrification and
light-weighting,” Krebs said. “Those are the things I suspect Ford would
be taking special note of as they develop their sport utilities of the
future.”
Mark Fields
Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
Krebs
said she hopes Chief Executive Officer Mark Fields and Executive
Chairman Bill Ford -- as well as the automaker’s top engineers and
designers -- get some seat time in the Model X.
“Everybody should be exposed to one of your hottest competitors,” Krebs said.
One Ford executive spotted driving the company’s white Model
X was David Woodhouse, chief designer of the automaker’s Lincoln luxury
line, according to a person who saw him. Woodhouse oversaw the creation
of the Lincoln Navigator concept SUV that debuted at the New York Auto
Show last month. Like the Model X, the Navigator concept featured
gull-wing doors, though Ford said that feature won’t be on the
production version of the SUV. Ford declined to confirm who is driving
the car.
Tesla’s
first Model Xs are limited-edition Founders Series -- fewer than 100
of them were made -- that typically go to board members and close
friends of the company like Google co-founder Sergey Brin. Those are
followed by the Signature Series models, which require a $40,000 deposit
from customers and start at $132,000. According to vehicle registration
documents obtained by Bloomberg, the window-sticker price on the
all-wheel-drive Model X P90D that Ford purchased is $144,950, including
the $10,000 Ludicrous Speed Upgrade that boasts a 0-to-60 miles per hour
time of 3.2 seconds.
Original Owner
The original owner of the Model X that was ultimately
purchased by Ford was Wayne Skiles, 71, who owns and operates the
Carousel Coin & Jewelry Exchange in San Bernardino, California.
Skiles owns a Model S sedan and participated in Tesla’s Model S referral
program. Customers who referred at least 10 friends to purchase a Model
S were able to buy a Model X Founders Series for a base price of
$116,700.
Ford’s Tesla Model X
Source: Joel R. Szirtes
“I
sold 11 Model Ss. So I got a Founders Model X and immediately flipped
it for a profit,” said Skiles in a phone interview. “The car never came
to California. I flew to Chicago, took physical delivery of the Model X,
and immediately drove it to a dealer in Chicago and sold it.”
Ford bought the vehicle from Corporate Auto of Auburn Hills, Michigan, according to the documents.
“It is a common industry practice among many automakers to
buy production vehicles for testing as soon as they are released,” said
Ford in a statement. “Sometimes, this means automakers pay more than
sticker price to acquire them as quickly as possible.”
Quality Concerns
Tesla officially launched the Model X at a splashy event in
late September, years after the vehicle’s early 2012 unveiling. The
company announced that it delivered 2,400 of the SUVs in the first
quarter as it continues to ramp up production. But early models are not
without flaws: Several customers have reported issues with sensors on
the “falcon-wing” doors that open vertically. Consumer Reports on
Tuesday published a report about
quality problems on early models. Tesla shares slipped 2.6 percent
on Tuesday before rebounding 2.3 percent Wednesday to $253.09 at 1:48
p.m. New York time.
“We are committed to making the world’s most reliable cars,”
said Tesla in a statement Tuesday. “While we have seen some issues with
early Model X builds, the issues are not widespread, and we are working
closely with each owner to respond quickly and proactively to address
any problems. We will continue to do so until each customer is fully
satisfied. This commitment is one of the reasons why 98 percent of our
customers say they will buy another Tesla as their next car.”
Watch Next: Tesla Doubles Down With the Model 3
Tesla Doubles Down With the Model 3
Earlier
this month, Tesla issued a recall on 2,700 Model Xs made before March
26 to repair the third-row seats after strength tests done by the
automaker found a potential defect. Tesla has advised customers not to
let anyone sit in those seats while the car is in use.
Musk has said that the Model X’s unique features were
difficult to engineer and relied heavily on parts suppliers. Tesla said
this month that Model X deliveries missed first-quarter expectations
because of parts shortages stemming from “Tesla’s hubris in adding far
too much new technology” to the Model X.
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