Ford has written off $1.9bn as it cancelled plans for an all-electric large SUV in the US, opting to produce a hybrid version instead in the latest sign of western carmakers struggling to make profitable electric cars.
The US carmaker said on Wednesday that it would not be able to reach a profit on the electric SUV within a year, its measure of whether a new car is viable, citing the stiff competition from Chinese manufacturers. It will initially write off the cost of $400m (£300m) in tooling for the vehicle, plus another $1.5bn (£1.15bn) in extra costs in the future.
Ford also said it would delay the successor to its F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck until 2027, after initially targeting a launch next year.
The Ford boss, Jim Farley, said the decision to produce fewer electric cars in favour of hybrids “gives our customers maximum choice and plays to our strengths”.
how does producing fewer options result in more choice, let alone “maximum” choice?
i feel like corporations are just throwing around “customer choice” as a justification for literally everything they do, regardless of how much “choice” is actually involved–same bullshit as tax-funded vouchers for private jesus schools
short term profit that will result in long term market loss.
They are maximising choice by creating a new lowest rung on the ladder of choices. Now you can buy something good, or buy a Ford!
Same as always.
We will produce only one of this item, giving our customers infinite choices, which again means unlimited profits!
They are the customer of future “too big to fail” government bailouts, and they are choosing to get more free money.
socialize losses, privatize profit
I swear I lmao when I first heard they were getting rid of so many cars. It was so obvious they were cutting their own throat.
Isn’t Ford the company that got its start by telling customers that they could get their model t in any color they want, as long as it’s black?
Perhaps this is simply part of Ford’s DNA and they don’t know how to make it stop?
You know what blows my mind? Ford actually made an inexpensive small truck, and they couldn’t keep them in stock. It flew off the shelves so fast pre-orders were taking almost a year to produce.
They turn around and then make an almost 6 figure electric version of the f150, then wonder why they didn’t sell.
Make an affordable electric vehicle, and you won’t have a single problem selling them. It’s not this fucking hard! Imagining how far the oil industry is up the asses of car manufacturers is a real scary thought.
They turn around and then make an almost 6 figure electric version of the f150, then wonder why they didn’t sell.
I remember when they first revealed the price as around $40k. At that price, there was a lot of demand. I don’t know if they underestimated expenses or they got greedy with the covid pump in prices, but it’s obvious that price is one of the biggest factors affecting demand. Ultimately, EVs should be cheaper to produce than internal combustion vehicles because there are far fewer parts involved.
A barebones (“work truck”?) electric Maverick would be wonderful.
💯💯 Just a basic electric poverty spec truck with roll up windows, and a dot matrix radio 260 miles of range, and 150kW charging We don’t need all this smart crap just own the fact that you’re old hat
The smart crap is pennies on the dollar compared to rest of it.
And yet that is the shit that breaks and takes down there whole truck
Honestly its wild to hear how intergrated some infotainment systems and critical systems are.
Higher profit margin. They’d rather sell 1 truck at a $50,000 profit than 50,000 trucks with a $2000/ea profit.
Maybe stop making giant, fucking monstrosities of vehicles and focus on humanely-sized ones. I’d love to buy a Ford EV (my Fusion Hybrid has been a dream), but I do not want some grotesquely oversized monster truck or SUV (or their butt ugly crossover designs).
Every time I see one of those ridiculous bus-sized SUVs, I think of that scene from Borat where he asks the lady about it, she says it’s so her baby has room, and he’s like “must be huge baby!”
Time for this image again:
SoDo you have the plug in version of the fusion or the regular hybrid? The 20mi electric only range isn’t great, but the extra oomph on the electric motor is really nice in the city.Regular. I kick myself every day for not buying the Energi (the plug-in version). At the time, I didn’t have anywhere to charge it. A year later, I bought a house where I could charge it easily.
The 20 mile range would cover all of my daily driving (though it’s advertised as closer to 30 or 35 i thought)
35mpg on gas, 20mi electric range. On the electric only, it’s more like 16-25 depending on weather/temp, with my high score of 30mi driving like a Granny in a 25mph zone.
I tried to get my mom to buy the energi version when she was looking at the CMAX(crossover fusion), she wanted more trunk space and got the regular hybrid. 3 years later I ended up buying the energi version (used) for a third of the price she paid new.
I get 45-55 in the hybrid (mostly city / suburbs) and about 42 highway/combined (during winter it’s more like 36 mpg regardless). Does the extra battery weight reduce overall MPG that much? I don’t drive like an old man, lol, but I do make heavy use of regen braking.
I’ve been looking to either trade in for or just buy an Energi model, but the closest I can find them is about 250 miles away. Sadly, haven’t seen any closer than that since I bought this one.
Oh God no, 35mpg is just how the epa rates them. I usually get high 40s low 50s highway and 60ish in the city when the energi battery is empty. The only negative is lost trunk space, and even with the battery hump I can still fit my ebike in the back with the seats folded down.
When I bought it, I got lucky and found a low mileage one just off lease in my town. They even had a non energi with similar mileage, but it was only $500 cheaper. You might try carvana, they’ll ship the car to a location near you, for a fee of course.
I absolutely love my fusion hybrid. Hoping it lasts 20 years
My 2015 Energi with 90K miles only has ~12 miles worth of range left in the PHEV battery at full charge.
Does that one have lithium or NiMH for its traction battery? I can’t remember what model year they switched. I’m thinking 2014 but I could be off.
Nope they’re all NMC lithium chemistry afaik
Pretty sure it’s not NiMH.
Unfortunately, you aren’t the US car market. Oversized trucks and cross-over SUVs sell. The top 3 vehicles in 2023 were:
- Ford F-150
- Chevy Silverado
- Dodge Ram
The rest of the list is littered with trucks and cross-over SUVs. Though a couple Tesla vehicles make the list and do quite respectably (The Model Y is at #5). It’s no surprise that US manufacturers are targeting large vehicles. That’s what US consumers want. And sure, there are lots of arguments to be made against land-yachts. But, it made sense that Ford targeted large vehicles for EV sales. If they can get people to accept the F-150 Lightning, that could really move the needle on EV sales and help them scale up. Expecting customers to both buy-in to a newer technology and make radical changes in their buying habits, is a recipe for failure. Though, it also seems that Ford is managing to fail despite chasing consumer trends.
“My arm cannot reach the high shelf, so I will cut it off.”
If they can’t produce EVs profitably, Tesla and BYD will. They’re destroying their future in the name of short term profits.
Hyundai now sells more EVs than Ford (both in the US).
GM, Rivian, BMW and Volkswagen are the next competitors.
I’ll assume Hyundai are producing EVs profitably. All the others most certainly aren’t. All the incumbents and most of the startups are facing huge challenges in that regard.
BMW seems to do pretty well and is now selling ~20% EVs:
Once considered a laggard, the German luxury carmaker is one of only a few established automakers that has been able to compete effectively against Tesla. - source: nytimes
Tesla can barely produce a functional vehicle…
How do you get through a billion dollars before realising the product is not viable?
Easy.
Announce new models to rule the world
Pat self on back and give bonuses to all executives
Cancel project
Pat self on back for saving billions more and give even more bonuses to executives for being amazing.
Oh no, no profit within a year. That’s like forever in corporate land.
Somebody will need to be held accountable.
That’s ridiculous. The Ioniq 5 is a hit seller and just got picked as Car and Driver car of the year, so there’s definitely demand for an SUV EV.
Ford has written off $1.9bn as it cancelled plans for simpler version in the US, opting to produce a version with both an ICE and batteries instead
It makes no sense
Same company that decided to stop making cars and only make trucks a few years ago. Their leadership has no idea how to do anything except sell oversized gas guzzlers to morons.
Guess I won’t be buying a Ford. If they won’t produce the cars I want I have to go elsewhere. Keeping my 1999 on the road is getting expensive, but I see no other option. (though my ebike covers about 90% of my needs, that last 10% isn’t much so cheap is important)
Yeah so if you drive a 99 I’m pretty sure it’s not an issue with the cars manufacturers are producing right now.
Well it is 25 xears old an has many age related issues. It could ose a replacemenc but the options are lacking so I’m rapairing it
That’s okay, car companies like Honda and Subaru already have one. Nobody needs a Ford.
‘written off’
So they get a tax break for it?
I mean, is a expense and no revenue, you only pay taxes when you make money
Ahh. I thought there might be some sort of incentive like how Warner bros axed a fully finished movie because they could use the write off
Even that was only worth doing because of special tax rules for when companies are sold.
The fact that it’s even remotely worth it is criminal (imo)
Fuck Ford.
Did someone say stock buybacks?
Currently large electric vehicles make 0 sense
Make all passenger cars electric and work trucks ICE till the battery tech becomes suitable. Require licence to buy/drive big fuck you trucks and fine anyone who isn’t using one for work.
Car and Driver picked the Ioniq 5 N as car of the year. It’s an SUV EV with 624hp. The non-N model is a hit seller.
3,578lbs curb weight of a Tuscon
4,414 ioniq 5.Max towing capacity. Tuscon 2000lbs. Ioniq 5 1500lbs.
Not to mention the wear that 1000lbs extra causes.
Just because something is popular doesn’t mean it makes sense.
Tic tic challenges, extremely popular, do they make sense to do?The specsheet comparison is definitely the thing that tells you all you need to know about something…
It’s just simple physics, or did you fail that class?
I’m not gonna explain why the things you said make you sound like an idiot. I’m just telling you it does. And that we’re all over here laughing at you.
No, it’s not. Tire Particulate Pollution
You now want everyone to drive around cars that have the equivalent weight of a 5 person family extra?
Seriously use your brain m8
Ah the famous made up stuff that had nothing to do with anything. Like the other car doesn’t also have tires?
Or that weight is the primary contributor to tires degrading.
Idiocy
citing the stiff competition from Chinese manufacturers.
Sounds like a sore loser answer haha
