Earlier this year, Ford announced that it was pivoting its focus away from larger, pricier all-electric vehicles and toward smaller, cheaper models as demand for EVs, in general, has been lagging behind expected levels amid pricing disparities. Shortly thereafter, the automaker also announced that it was pushing back the planned production start dates of both the three-row Ford Explorer EV and the next-generation Ford F-150 EV as it works to develop cheaper Ford EVs. However, it seems as if large Ford EVs won’t be very prevalent at all in The Blue Oval’s future lineup, as CFO John Lawler revealed during the 2024 Bank of America Automotive Summit.
“So we’re working towards that future. Now, of course we’re going to have some large EVs as well, but they’re going to be very limited in the scope and the number of top hats that we have,” Lawler said. “So we’re thinking about it in that way. One of the things about the segmentation that’s different, clearly, is everybody gets to see exactly where we are on EVs.”
The quest to offer an array of cheaper Ford EVs began roughly two years ago when a skunkworks team spearheaded by a former Tesla executive started developing a low-cost platform that’s set to underpin a handful of future models. The first – a crossover – is slated to arrive in 2026 with a $25k price tag, but it won’t be the only vehicle underpinned by that new platform.
Rather, it’s also expected to be joined by a small pickup and even a dedicated ride-share model, though Ford hasn’t yet revealed a timeline for either of those offerings. Regardless, this shift in strategy stems from concerns over cheap Chinese EVs both in that country and the possibility that they’ll eventually make it to the U.S. market, and in fact, that’s precisely what motivated Ford CEO Jim Farley to change proverbial gears in the first place.
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Comments
AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA……….
How about sedans? Hatchbacks? Station wagons?
How about making Lincoln competitive again?