This Is How Ford Brilliantly Cut Mustang Mach-E Costs

It's been over a year since the Ford Mustang Mach-E hit the market and most owners couldn't be happier. The Blue Oval's first fully electric vehicle built from the ground up is a smash hit and there's plenty more to come. Now that some time has passed since its debut, the Mach-E launch team has gotten back together to evaluate everything and how things can be improved.

Per Automotive News, Ford has decided on a strategy to consistently update the EV instead of waiting until the next model year. "We now do continuous improvement. You don't wait for a model year; you just continually drop them in," said Darren Palmer, Ford's general manager of battery-electric vehicles. For example, the launch group that consists of the purchasing, manufacturing, and engineer teams have been busy studying not only the competition but also what owners are discussing on social media.

They have now managed to shave $1,000 in production costs based on that knowledge. For example, they figured out a way to reduce the number of components in the frunk from nine to just two. How so? They benchmarked the frunk against those found in rivals. Customer input also informed them to retain the plastic drain.

"It's not about stripping the car. It's about giving them things they love, but simpler," Palmer added. Another interesting discovery involves heated seats. The team learned they could actually save money by simply adding heated seats to the California Route 1 edition. Again, Ford paid attention to what was being said on social media as well as learning via connected-vehicle data that owners who did have heated seats used them a lot.