Ford Clears Up Blue Cruise Subscription Pricing, It Ain’t Good…
Ford has been hella coy about the price for their Blue Cruise Level 2 hands-free driving feature. When I bought my 2021 Mustang Mach-E, the hardware was optional (shown above), and Ford pinkie-promised that it would be $200/year to re-up the Blue Cruise. The ability to opt-out of the hardware went away with the 2022 models, and Ford went silent on how much they were going to ask those folks to pony up for the subscription. Ford still hasn’t officially answered that question on their website. It’s not on the 2023 car configurator, where they indicate that new cars get a free 90 day trial or can spend $2,100 on a 3 year pre-pay. As it turns out, they officially, not officially, responded to the pitchforks and torches at the Mach-E Forums yesterday afternoon. It’s going to be $800/year 🤯.
I don’t think making the hardware standard is a problem per se, there are economies of scale advantages to reducing the complexity in builds, and at least the 2022 buyers got 3 years of Blue Cruise included to put the hooks in, and soften the cost of the hardware they paid for. Any 2023 built after May 2nd only gets 90 days though, and that kind of sucks considering there is $1,900 of not optional hardware in the car that they paid for, and can’t use without paying $800/year.
So it doesn’t go unsaid, I have no problem with the idea that features like Blue Cruise should be subscriptions. There are marginal costs associated with these kinds of services. It is totally reasonable for Ford to mark them up and pass it to their customers. The same can be said for really any feature that has ongoing software or data costs. Something like a heated seat, isn’t one of those things, carmakers that want to charge for that, are shooting themselves in the foot to save money on shoe leather…
To me, $200/year (~$17/month) seems reasonable. Even if someone doesn’t see enough value in it to sign up personally, I suspect that most of them can understand that maps aren’t free, data isn’t free, software service and support isn’t free, etc. and leave the pitchfork at home. $800/year on the other hand… Oh boy… WTF Ford?
I like Blue Cruise. While it has its faults, I think it’s great that my car has it, and would pay the $200, but there is no chance, none, zero, that I will pay $800/year for it. That’s insane. It wouldn’t surprise me if in six months, after a 0.1% conversion rate, Ford eats some humble pie on this one.
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The abrupt shift in Ford’s Blue Cruise subscription pricing, from an initial promise of $200/year to $800/year, is concerning. While I understand the need for subscription-based services, the new pricing seems excessive. Finding a fair balance between cutting-edge technology and affordability is crucial for consumer adoption. Thanks for shedding light on this issue.
I couldn’t agree more with your sentiments on the sudden shift in Ford’s Blue Cruise subscription pricing. It’s quite a shock to see it go from the promised $200/year to a hefty $800/year.