Even those who have started adopting and those who want to reduce CO22 emissions will disappear in the depreciation of some EVs in the first year of 50 percent.
Automakers are also feeling the heat. In a press release, Ford said it will expand choice for customers as it “adjusts its pure electric vehicle rollout to deliver a capital-efficient, profitable electric vehicle business.” He also noted that Chinese automakers have “advantageous cost structures, including vertical integration, low-cost engineering, multi-energy advanced battery technology and digital experiences.”
By halting its three-row SUV and delaying a next-generation pickup truck, Ford is hoping to stem losses stemming from its previously ambitious EV plans, which went so far as to say that in Europe its upcoming vehicles pave the way for “all – electric future”.
“It goes back to understanding the customer, understanding how that’s going to change over time,” Lawler said at a morning media briefing. “It’s about providing those choices that fit their duty cycles and their needs, and that gives them options between full battery electric vehicles and hybrid technologies.”
The Fords of the future must make money
As a hostage to fortune, Lawler said Ford will not launch electric cars in the future unless they can be profitable within 12 months.
“We are launching a number of electric vehicles in Europe this year,” Ford said in a statement, referring to the EU-only Ford Explorer EV and Capri, built on the same platform borrowed from rival VW’s ID.4. “We are adjusting the company’s North American vehicle roadmap to offer a range of electrification options designed to accelerate customer adoption, including lower prices and longer range.”
Ford’s statement added that “dozens of new electric vehicle choices coming to market over the next 12 months and increasing compliance requirements” are putting pressure on prices. “These dynamics underscore the need for a globally competitive cost structure while being selective across customer and product segments to deliver profitable growth and capital efficiency,” the statement explained.
Amid cost-cutting, Ford is delaying its T3 electric truck, billed as a more advanced successor to the F-150 Lightning, to the second half of 2027. It was due to go into production next year. The truck will be assembled at the BlueOval City Electric Vehicle Center in Tennessee. Ford also plans to introduce an all-new, all-electric commercial van, which is scheduled to go into production in 2026. in Ohio.
Lawler said Ford has “multiple hybrid technologies in development” and is working on other powertrain options. “We will continue to provide gas and diesel cars because there is a demand for them and that will continue,” he confirmed.
“Our focus here is to remake Ford into a high-growth, higher-margin, more-capitalized and efficient and long-lasting business,” Lawler said.
Electric cars must be profitable, he stressed. “And if they’re not profitable, based on where the customer is in the market, we’ll turn around and adjust and make those tough decisions, and that’s what we’ve done.”
Ford isn’t the only automaker in spin mode. General Motors and Honda abandoned a plan to jointly develop low-cost electric cars last year, with GM preferring to prioritize hybrids. VW of America also recently said that “a balanced approach is the best way.”
Correction: This article has been amended to reflect that Ford’s EV sales rose in the first quarter of 2024; that the T3 truck was supposed to go into production in 2025; and that Ford’s previously announced all-electric future plans were linked to the EU.
