Major car manufacturer Ford has announced that it is rethinking its strategy when it comes to electric vehicles amid a huge investment into transitioning away from petrol and diesel.
Speaking earlier this month, Ford’s CEO said the company needed to make changes to ensure drivers have the appetite for an electric car and can rely on infrastructure.
The Detroit-based manufacturer previously confirmed plans to delay or cut $12billion (ÂŁ9.5billion) from its spending targets for all-electric vehicles.
However, Jim Farley, CEO of Ford, remained confident with the uptake of electric vehicles and how they could progress in the coming years when prices fall in line with petrol and diesel equivalents.
Ford has pledged billions of pounds to the development of electric vehicles
GETTY
The 61-year-old said there had been a “seismic” change in the past six months in relation to brands charging for electric vehicles.
He added: “One of the things we’re taking advantage of in taking some timing delays is rationalizing the level and timing of our battery capacity to match demand and actually reassessing the vertical integration that we’re relying on, and betting on new chemistries and capacities.
"EV manufacturers [are] cutting their price by 20 per cent across all major geographies, and a tremendous amount of capital is flowing and a ton of new capacity into one single segment — two-row crossovers.
“We're going to focus those large EVs on geographies and product segments where we have a dominant advantage like trucks and vans.”
Jim Farley also mentioned the development of a smaller, low-cost EV platform for the automaker that can be used across vehicles, as well as moving towards larger trucks and capitalising on what remains a thin market.
Ford’s F-Series truck achieved more than 700,000 sales in 2023 across the United States, making it the best-selling truck for the 47th consecutive year.
It was also ranked as the number one full-size, full-hybrid truck and number one full-size electric truck – giving the F-series the “2023 Truck Triple Crown”.
Ford recently announced that it would cut production of electric vehicles as demand for its F-150 Lightning pickup truck lags behind expectations.
From April 1, shifts at the Michigan Rouge Electric Vehicle Centre would be cut from three to one per day, as Farley said the brand could make use of “manufacturing flexibility”.
A total of 24,165 F-150 Lightning trucks were sold in the United States last year, a significant jump of 55 per cent.
Ford has suggested that it could produce 150,000 vehicles every year at its Michigan production plant in a huge boost to its emissions goals.
The Michigan-based manufacturer is aiming to only sell vehicles that are electric or zero emission by 2030 in Europe.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
- Drivers warned of huge car insurance price hikes as the 'best day to renew' could save Britons hundreds
- Major new fuels could make hybrids 'just as climate-friendly as electric vehicles' in huge breakthrough
- Taxi drivers issue urgent warning of 'absolutely disastrous' future if electric car grants are scrapped
The Ford Mustang Mach-E
PA
There are hopes among senior executives at Ford that they will be able to ramp up production of EVs in the near future once drivers are confident in the vehicles.