On February 13, 2023, Ford CEO Jim Farley announced a $3.5 billion investment in a new electric vehicle battery factory in the state to produce lithium iron phosphate batteries at the automaker’s battery laboratory in the suburbs of Detroit.
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Detroit – Ford is delaying production of new all-electric large SUVs and pickup trucks as the company shifts to offering hybrid options across its entire North American lineup by 2030.
detroit automaker Thursday said It will continue to invest in electric vehicles but delay production of three-row SUVs at Canadian plants until 2025 to 2027 to allow the market to mature. Deliveries of pickup trucks will be pushed back to 2026 from the end of 2025.
The shift in plans for electric vehicles is the latest for Ford and the entire auto industry, as adoption of EVs has been slower than many expected and production costs remain high.
Ford said last year it would delay or cancel $12 billion in spending on new electric vehicles due to changing market conditions and challenges in making and selling cars profitably. It’s unclear whether the new delays are part of those plans.
“As the second-largest electric vehicle brand in the United States for the past two years, we are committed to growing our profitable electric vehicle business, using capital wisely and bringing the right gasoline, hybrid and all-electric vehicles to market at the right time,” Ford said. .” CEO Jim Farley said in a statement Thursday.
The three-row SUV is part of an approximately $1.3 billion investment in Ford’s Oakville, Ontario, Canada assembly plant to transform into a new electric vehicle center. This would have been the first time Ford has completely transformed a North American factory that makes gasoline-powered vehicles into one that makes electric vehicles.
“The additional time will allow the consumer market for three-row electric vehicles to further develop and allow Ford to take advantage of emerging battery technologies with the goal of delivering greater durability and better value to customers,” the company said. in one version.
Ford said it will continue to focus its electric vehicle business on new factories, such as its The “Blue Oval City” campus in Tennessee is not converting existing engine-driven vehicle production facilities to all-electric models.
“Our groundbreaking next-generation electric vehicle will be completely new and fully software-enabled, with an ever-improving digital experience and a host of potential services,” Farley said.
The automaker said the massive factory in Tennessee, part of an $11.4 billion investment announced in 2021, will begin production of Ford’s next-generation all-electric truck, codenamed “T3,” in 2026 instead of 2025.
Ford said it is continuing to build battery plants in Michigan, Tennessee and Kentucky.
In the first quarter of 2024, Ford’s electric vehicle sales increased by 86% compared with the same period last year. The automaker’s sales of hybrid vehicles rose 42% from the same period last year, while Ford’s sales of traditional internal combustion engine vehicles rose 2.6%.
Ford’s “Model e” electric vehicle business will suffer a loss of US$4.7 billion in 2023, including a loss of US$1.57 billion in the fourth quarter. In February, the automaker said it expected the unit to lose $5 billion to $5.5 billion by 2024.
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