Ford Drops EV Credit Extension Following Moreno Complaint
Ford has followed General Motors by unwinding a program intended to claim expiring $7,500 federal EV tax credits for future customers under pressure from U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), according to the Detroit News and other sources.
Last week, Automotive News’s Lindsay VanHulle reported that Ford and GM were enlisting dealers and their respective captive finance companies to claim the credits, which would then be applied to future EV lease deals.
IRS guidance appeared to support the scheme. But Moreno, a former dealer, dismissed it as a “loophole” in a letter co-signed by Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and sent to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
“It has come to our attention that certain car companies are gaming this guidance by instructing their captive financial entities to enter into written binding agreements with dealers for electric vehicles, paying a nominal down payment, to secure the credits on vehicles that may not be leased to the end user for months,” they wrote. “Given this concerning information, we write to request your assistance to close this loophole and address the total violation of Congressional intent by these nefarious actors.”
The Detroit News’s Breana Noble says Ford will hold its current lease rates despite not claiming the credits. Earlier this week, a spokesman told Bloomberg’s David Welch that GM would join Stellantis by offsetting the loss of the credit with a roughly equivalent cash incentive for EV shoppers.
