Ford spent almost $200,000 to get its hands on a Tesla Model X early
It's a fairly normal occurrence for car companies to buy cars from other manufacturers for benchmarking or data collecting purposes, but this time, it seems Ford really went out of its way.
Bloomberg reports that on March 1st, Ford dropped $199,950 for a white Tesla Model X Founders Series. That's $55,000 over sticker!
The car was purchased by Ford through Corporate Auto, a car dealer in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Before Corporate Auto had the car, it was 'owned' by Wayne Skiles, a 71-year-old coin and jewelry dealer from California.
Skiles was the one that ordered the car directly from Tesla. As soon as he was able to take delivery of it, he drove it directly to a dealership and "flipped it for a profit."
According to the Model X's VIN number, it was only the 64th car to from out of Tesla's factory in Fremont, California.
Skiles was able to get an early Model X by taking advantage of Tesla's Model S referral program. He referred 11 people that each ended up buying a Model S.
Though the Model X doesn't really offer direct competition to any products that Ford Motor Company is selling right now, it surely doesn't hurt for Ford to keep tabs on other big players in the industry.
Or maybe some Ford engineer or executive just really wanted an electric SUV that could do zero to 60 miles per hour in 3.2 seconds. Sure beats an Explorer Sport.