Corey Clark’s Post

Some big changes coming (again) to Ford Motor Company's electrification strategy. A three-row electric SUV has been canned, an electric truck has been pushed back and hybrids are taking priority. The move could equate to an anticipated $1.9 billion in additional costs, but Ford says it should put it on the path to profits that have been elusive even as it became America's no. 2 EV brand. Our latest at InsideEVs: https://lnkd.in/eGBujVrw

Ford's strategic changes here are a reminder that *quarterly profitability* drives publicly traded corporations. Ford and its legacy competitors must always best-fit current business realities with investment in the future. The long term future is clear -- it's going to be BEVs -- but the specific quarter-over-quarter rate at which it arrives is not. So as more information becomes available, Ford has to constantly rejigger its plans to try to match speeds and maximize current, midterm and longterm profits (or minimize losses). The future always gets discounted to some extent, too, leading to further short-term bias, particularly when the cost of capital is high. In any case, Ford moderating its strategy and pushing the pace of electrification back by 12-18 months seems like an acknowledgement of the current state of play, especially vis-a-vis the state of our public charging network. #EVs #EVcharging #Ford #Climatetech

Whoa. As I had noted in my previous posts (Here: https://lnkd.in/gdvM2DVr and Here: https://lnkd.in/gQcQhkqC) hybrids will become the new focus. This is a massive shift from a firm that had made big bets on EV, to the point where they re-organized the firm into separate divisions (Ford Blue and Ford Model-E for "Electric"). The Model-E division lost 1.6 Billion dollars in Q4 2023 alone. This is no small announcement, and it calls into question some very big bets made in 2022 and 2023 by Ford unfortunately. The Bloomberg article yesterday on Hertz (https://lnkd.in/gJe52nbm) and their bet on EV's which caused their CEO to be removed just a few shorts weeks ago is another example of how the EV landscape is more dangerous to traverse than most realize. "Ford Motor is delaying production of an all-electric SUV and pickup truck. The automaker is instead focusing on offering hybrid options across its entire North American lineup by 2030. Ford says it will continue to invest in EVs, but the shift comes as the entire automotive industry has been rethinking plans for electric vehicles." #automotive #automotiveindustry #electricalvehicles #evehicles https://lnkd.in/gQ45ZWtM

Ford Motor Company is revamping its electric vehicle strategy, canceling and pushing back some of its projects as the company looks to get a hold on higher EV costs. The changes come as Ford sees smaller, cheaper EVs as the future, with hybrid technology reserved for powering larger vehicles. Starting off with larger EVs, Ford said it is canceling the upcoming release of a large, three-row electric SUV in favor of leveraging hybrid technology for its next-gen three-row SUVs. The updated changes to this product strategy will result in Ford taking a special non-cash charge of about $400 million for the write-down of certain product-specific manufacturing assets and could result in a further $1.5 billion charge in later quarters, the company said. Ford stock was up over 1%. “This is about us being nimble and listening to responses from our customers,” Ford vice chairman and CFO John Lawler said in a call with reporters regarding changes to its three-row SUV plans. “Hybrid tech for those customers is the best solution," Lawler added, saying the cost structure of a three-row electric SUV could not meet Ford’s requirement of profitability in the first 12 months of launch that Ford is targeting with its newest EVs. Ford also said it is “retiming” the launch of its upcoming next-gen electric truck — code-named “Project T3” — to the second half of 2027. More: https://lnkd.in/ep5-ew4r #yahoofinance #finance #cars #autoindustry #EV #business

Ford recalls hybrids over software issue putting them in limp mode: Ford is recalling nearly 9,000 hybrid vehicles to address a software issue that could cause the drivetrain to shift into neutral unexpectedly. Affected vehicles include 8,369 Maverick hybrid pickup trucks from model years 2022-2024, as well as 277 Escape crossovers from model years 2020-2022 and 81 Lincoln Corsair plug-in hybrid crossovers from... #car #cars #awesome

Ford Scraps Electric SUV, Taking a $1.5B Hit to EV Plans ⚡ Ford has announced the cancellation of its electric SUV project, leading to a significant $1.5 billion setback in its ambitious EV strategy. This move raises questions about the future direction of the company's electric vehicle initiatives. #Ford #ElectricVehicles #EVPlans #AutoIndustry #Sustainability #InnovationChallenges

This is an indication that OEMs can not yet profitably compete in the EV space with their Gen 1 platforms so it's time to shift the narrative toward (hybrids), a platform they can both profitably produce and their dealers network will sell while they sharpen their pencil on Gen 2. "Big Auto" cannot afford to risk that the consumer becomes convinced EVs are the future before they can be profitably produced ... this is a major risk for them. At the end of the day, the future of the auto industry is undeniably a convergence of both electric and autonomous (AEV) vehicle technology stacks - anyone not focused and driving toward these technologies will not be around in the long run. Maintaining the status quo will almost certainly guarantee their irrelevance in the long-term.

The EV shift just died ☠️ Not really. Everyone calm down. The 6th largest auto company is adopting the same strategy that the largest auto company (Toyota Motor Corporation) has been executing for the past decade 🙄 The writing was on the wall. The shift from bull to bear on the short term profitability of EVs continues to cement itself. In addition, headwinds from a constantly flip-flopping national government make it extremely challenging for anyone in "green" technology. Will there be continued stipends for EVs next year? Will the emissions targets get rolled back (again)? Will the charging infrastructure become streamlined enough to be useful for non-Tesla owners? Will the PNW get sunny, and when? Ford Motor Company is smart. Consumers will always want to stretch a gallon of gas. No crystal ball needed there.

After losing billions of dollars on electric vehicles in recent years, Ford now says it won't launch any EVs unless they can be profitable in the first 12 months. As Ford rolls out its next generation of EVs, it now plans to lean into market segments where it already dominates: commercial vans and pickup trucks. In highly competitive segments like SUVs, Ford will offer a wider portfolio of electric, hybrid and gasoline vehicles.

Ford Motor Company is cancelling plans for a large electric sport-utility vehicle and expects to take $1.9 billion in related special charges and write-downs as automakers continue adjusting their EV plans because of softer-than-expected demand. The automaker said it would delay plans for an electric three-row SUV by two years to a 2027 release date. On Wednesday, the company said it is scrapping the model altogether, citing tough pricing pressure as automakers resort to aggressive discounts to move their EVs. Ford instead will offer a hybrid gas-electric version of a future large, three-row SUV, a popular vehicle category that includes the brand’s Explorer and Expedition nameplates. The company also pushed back the launch of a new electric pickup truck by one year, until 2027. In addition, Ford said it would trim its capital spending on fully electric vehicles to about 30% of its budget, from 40%. “Based on where the market is and where the customer is, we will pivot and adjust and make those tough decisions,” Ford Chief Financial Officer John Lawler said. #ford #electricvehicles #automotive #sustainability #marketadjustments #hybridvehicles #suv #evplans #automotiveindustry #fordmotorcompany #capitalspending #pricingpressure #electricpickup