Ford Also Says UAE Residents Looking For Electrified Cars

With hybrid sales outpacing traditional ICE vehicles and EVs at the moment, The Blue Oval plans on vastly expanding its partially electrified vehicle offerings to span the entire Ford Blue lineup by 2030 in North America. This shift in consumer demand stems from a normalization in terms of interest in all-electric vehicles, coupled with the fact that hybrids typically offer superior efficiency compared to ICE models. However, the popularity of hybrids isn’t just limited to the U.S. – rather, it seems as if consumers in Saudi Arabia and the entire United Arab Emirates (UAE) are also seeking out those types of vehicles, too.

According to a recent study conducted by Ford itself, more than 55 percent of UAE residents indicated that they are considering purchasing an electrified vehicle in the next 12 months, though most said that they’re looking at hybrids, specifically. A total of 38 percent stated that they’ve at least ridden in an electrified vehicle, while 60 percent said they’ve read about them and 54 percent have driven one. Hybrids ranked as the most popular among that group, followed by plug-in hybrids and pure EVs.

While most respondents said that fuel savings are one of the primary driving factors for considering a hybrid, interestingly, 80 percent said they’d be more likely to purchase one with greater towing capacity, and 79 percent prefer an off-road capable model. Ford recently launched a pair of hybrids for the Middle East, including an electrified version of the Taurus sedan and the Ford F-150 PowerBoost.

Meanwhile, Ford has shifted its focus somewhat away from pure EVs as of late and back toward hybrids and traditional ICE models, which it plans to sell as long as consumers are buying them. Ford CEO Jim Farley recently stated that he believes that today’s hybrid customers are tomorrow’s EV buyers, as that middle ground type of vehicle could help them become more comfortable with total electrification at some point. If this indeed does happen, it would prove to be a boon for The Blue Oval as well, as Farley previously stated that the automaker’s hybrid pivot is relatively inexpensive to execute, and added that those models are also highly profitable.