mobile-menu-icon
Ford Authority

European Ford EV Plan Deemed ‘Too Ambitious’ By Executive

Back in early 2021, Ford announced that that by mid-2026, 100 percent of the automaker’s passenger vehicle range in Europe would be zero-emissions capable, all-electric, or plug-in hybrid, and that it would be completely all-electric by 2030. This was an ambitious plan at the time, but in recent months, as the automaker began dialing back its electrification plans amid waning demand, it seemed as if this plan would also fall victim. That happened this past May, as Ford Europe threw its EV timeline out of the proverbial window, and now, at least one executive has admitted that it was too ambitious to begin with.

“I don’t think we can go all in on anything until our customers decide they’re all in, and that’s progressing at different rates around the world,” Marin Gjaja, chief operating officer of Ford Model e, told Autocar in a recent interview. “I think customers have voted, and they told us that was too ambitious, is what I would say – and I think everyone in the industry has found that out the hard way. I would also say reality has a way of making you adjust your plans. We don’t see that going all-electric by 2030 is a good choice for our business or, especially, for our customers.”

“We’re all in from the standpoint of we’re going to compete aggressively, whether it’s a pure ICE, whether it’s a pure battery-electric vehicle, or hybrids in between, because what we’re seeing is customers want that freedom of choice to pick the right powertrain and the right vehicle for their use case,” Gjaja added.

As for Ford’s future plans in Europe, those remain in a bit of a flux at the moment. The automaker plans to continue to sell gas and hybrid vehicles there for the foreseeable future, or at least, as long as customers are buying them. Ford CEO Jim Farley recently poured a bit of cold water on the European Union’s 2035 zero-emissions mandate as well – calling it unrealistic for certain consumers – though the automaker still plans on expanding its EV lineup there, albeit with smaller, more affordable models.

We’ll have more on Ford’s future EV plans soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for continuous Ford news coverage.

Brett's lost track of all the Fords he's owned over the years and how much he's spent modifying them, but his current money pits include an S550 Mustang and 13th gen F-150.

Subscribe to Ford Authority

For around-the-clock Ford news coverage

We'll send you one email per day with the latest Ford updates. It's totally free.

Comment

  1. Let’s hope the folks at Ford and around the auto industry remember who gave them all this poor advice and stop listening to and paying them.

    Reply

Leave a comment

Cancel