"Are You a CEO, Director, or Founder interested in a Feature Interview?"
All Interviews are 100% FREE of Charge
Ford has shifted its electric vehicle strategy again, canceling a long-pending plan for a three-row electric SUV and delaying production of its next-generation electric pickup truck.
Ford said it plans to replace its discontinued electric SUVs with hybrid models as part of a strategic shift that will initially cost about $2 billion, Chief Financial Officer John Lawler said in a conference call with reporters Tuesday morning.
Lawler said that given current pricing pressures on EVs, the cost of batteries big enough to power a three-row SUV and consumer demand, Ford won’t meet its previously planned goal of making the electric SUV profitable within a year of launch.
“These rides need to be profitable,” Lawler said, “and if they’re not profitable based on where the customers are and where the market is, we’ll pivot and adjust.”
In addition to the canceled EVs, Ford is also delaying production of its next-generation full-size electric pickup truck until late 2027. Production of that vehicle was originally scheduled to begin next year at Ford’s new EV assembly facility in Tennessee.
Lawler said the delay will give Ford more time to reduce battery costs, making future trucks more affordable.
Lawler said the new hybrid SUV family will include a variety of drive options, but declined to say whether they would include a plug-in hybrid option or when the vehicles would go on sale.
EV Growing Pains
Ford’s revised EV strategy is just the latest in a series of shifts the car company has made this year to adapt to a more practical, frugal demographic of EV buyers.
After years of development, luxury electric vehicles are beginning to hit dealerships, even as the wealthy early buyers these vehicles were aimed at are dropping out of the market.
The result is a mismatch between supply and demand for EVs that auto companies are scrambling to solve.
Ford has been focusing on hybrids as demand for them has grown, making them more appealing to today’s green car buyers looking for practical alternatives to gasoline-powered cars rather than just cars to park in the garage.
“It’s all about understanding your customer,” Lawler said. “The goal here is to be agile and pivot.”