Ford CEO Jim Farley at the automaker's battery lab in suburban Detroit, announcing a new $3.5 billion electric vehicle battery plant in the state to produce lithium iron phosphate batteries, February 13, 2023.
Michael Wayland/CNBC
Detroit – ford motor The company is delaying production of a large SUV and an all-electric pickup truck, as it shifts to offering hybrid options across its entire North American lineup by 2030.
The Detroit automaker said Thursday it will continue to invest in electric vehicles, but is delaying production of the three-row SUV at a factory in Canada until 2027 from its initial 2025 plan. It will be delayed from late 2025 to 2026.
The shift in electric vehicle plans is the latest for Ford and the entire auto industry, where adoption has been slower than many expected and production costs remain high.
Ford said last year that it would delay or cancel $12 billion in planned spending on new electric vehicles due to changing market conditions as well as challenges to building and selling the vehicles profitably. It was not immediately clear whether the new delays were part of those plans.
“As the No. 2 electric vehicle brand in the U.S. for the past two years, we are committed to expanding our profitable electric vehicle business, using capital wisely and rolling out the right gas, hybrid and all-electric vehicles at the right time.” CEO Jim Farley said Thursday in a statement.
The three-row SUV was part of a nearly $1.3 billion investment to transform Ford's Oakville assembly plant in Ontario, Canada, into a new electric vehicle hub. This was supposed to be the first time Ford had retooled a North American facility to produce all-gas vehicles into one that made electric vehicles.
“The additional time will allow the consumer market for three-row electric vehicles to continue development and enable Ford to capitalize on emerging battery technology, with the goal of providing customers with greater durability and better value,” the company said in a statement.
Ford said it will continue to focus its electric vehicle efforts on new factories such as its BlueOval City campus in Tennessee rather than transitioning existing facilities that produce powered vehicles to all-electric models.
“The next generation of electric vehicles we have achieved will be new from the ground up and fully software-enabled, with ever-improving digital experiences and many potential services,” Farley said.
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The massive facility in Tennessee, which was part of an $11.4 billion investment announced in 2021, will begin production of the next generation of Ford's all-electric truck in 2026 instead of 2025, the automaker said.
Ford said it is continuing to build battery factories in Michigan, Tennessee and Kentucky.
In the first quarter of 2024, Ford electric vehicle sales increased 86% from the previous year's lows. Sales of hybrid cars increased by 42% year-on-year, while sales of conventional Ford cars equipped with internal combustion engines increased by 2.6%.
Ford's Model E electric vehicle business lost $4.7 billion in 2023, including $1.57 billion during the fourth quarter. In February, the automaker said it expected the unit to lose between $5 billion and $5.5 billion in 2024.
