Earlier this year, Ford Europe ditched its plan to convert its entire passenger vehicle lineup to electric vehicles by 2030, later referring to such a change as “too ambitious” as demand for its EVs tapered off. Even as places like Europe and the UK still plan to transition to zero-emissions vehicles (along with some plug-in hybrids) by 2035 or so, The Blue Oval isn’t terribly concerned, and is admittedly exploring alternatives to pure EVs while planning to continue to sell traditional ICE models and hybrids so long as consumers are buying them, which is also the case in the U.S. Recently, Ford Europe made that proclamation official, too.
“Ford’s vision for its future European business is defined by a successful and profitable passenger vehicle business, competing in select segments with iconic vehicles that are distinctively Ford,” the automaker said in a statement. “We will offer our customers a range of ICE, hybrid and fully electric vehicles, while meeting all European regulations.” Ford noted that its passenger vehicle business in Europe is suffering, leading to significant losses, while the arrival of new competitors has also been “highly disruptive” to its business in that region.
This proclamation comes amid a major revamp of Ford’s European business, one that has recently involved slashing its management team in that region, as well as announcing plans to reduce its European workforce by 4,000 employees by the end of 2027, with most of those cuts coming from Germany and the UK. The Blue Oval is also making additional changes to Ford Explorer EV and Capri production that will result in the addition of more short-time days at the Cologne Electric Vehicle Center in Germany starting in Q1 2025. As Ford Authority recently reported, the automaker had already scaled back production of both of those EV crossovers for the remainder of 2024 amid weak demand.
On top of all this, Ford also issued a call to action in Europe as it seeks government incentives to help spur fledgling EV sales. “What we lack in Europe and Germany is an unmistakable, clear policy agenda to advance e-mobility, such as public investments in charging infrastructure, meaningful incentives to help consumers make the shift to electrified vehicles, improving cost competitiveness for manufacturers, and greater flexibility in meeting CO2 compliance targets,” John Lawler, vice chairman and chief financial officer of Ford Motor Company, wrote in a letter to the German government.
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