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04.04.2024 20:22, Sergey Surabekyants
Production of Ford’s three-row electric SUV won’t begin until 2027, and the company won’t begin work on an electric pickup truck until 2026. Ford’s Model e electric vehicle unit reported a loss of $1.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023. Ford will reduce investment in electric vehicles to “better meet consumer demand”. All models in production will be offered with hybrid variants.
Image source: Ford
Production of the unnamed SUV was set to begin in 2025 at Ford’s Oakville, Ontario plant, which is currently in the process of transitioning from producing gasoline vehicles to producing electric vehicles. The company cited several reasons for the delay, including the desire to wait until the market is “ripe” for three-row electric SUVs. There are more than 100 electric vehicles in the United States, but only the Tesla Model X, Rivian R1S, Kia EV9 and some Tesla Model Y trims offer a third row of seats, despite the popularity of such cars among family customers.
Production of the electric pickup truck has been delayed until the completion of Ford’s BlueOval City campus in Tennessee, which is expected to house a paint shop and “nearly 4,000 tons of stamping equipment for Ford’s next all-new electric truck”. At the same time, Ford is working to expand its assembly plant in Avon Lake, Ohio, where it will produce a next-generation electric commercial vehicle by mid-decade.
Ford, like other global automakers, is trying to find the “ideal formula” for producing profitable electric vehicles. The electric pickup and SUV were intended to represent Ford’s second-generation electric vehicles, following the first-generation Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning and E-Transit van.
Ford CEO Jim Farley expected the second-generation electric vehicles to become profitable within the first 12 months of production, but they have not yet left the design stage. Team led by former Tesla designer Alan Clarke “develops a smaller, low-cost, profitable and flexible electric vehicle platform capable of supporting multiple vehicles at high volumes” a Ford spokesman said.
Yesterday, Ford released sales figures for the first quarter of 2024, during which 38,421 hybrid vehicles were sold, up 42% from the first quarter of 2023. Sales of electric vehicles rose to 20,223 units, up 86% year-on-year.
And the gas-guzzling Escape, Explorer, Expedition and Bronco SUVs sold 216,997 units, a result the company said “best ever”. At the same time, this result reflects the current real preferences of American consumers, and so far they are far from being in favor of electric cars.
2024-04-04 17:22:00
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