Carmaker Ford is committing to “go all-in” on its electric passenger vehicles and to substantially grow and electrify its commercial vehicle business.
In a statement it said that mid-2026, all Ford’s passenger vehicle range in Europe will be zero-emissions capable, all-electric or plug-in hybrid, and will be completely all-electric by 2030. Similarly, Ford’s entire commercial vehicle range will be zero-emissions capable, all-electric or plug-in hybrid, by 2024, with two-thirds of Ford’s commercial vehicle sales expected to be all-electric or plug-in hybrid by 2030.
The news comes after Ford reporting, in the fourth quarter of 2020, a return to profit in Europe and announced it was investing at least $22 billion (£15.8 billion) globally in electrification through 2025, nearly twice the company’s previous EV investment plans.
“We successfully restructured Ford of Europe and returned to profitability in the fourth quarter of 2020. Now we are charging into an all-electric future in Europe with expressive new vehicles and a world-class connected customer experience,” said Stuart Rowley, president, Ford of Europe. “We expect to continue our strong momentum this year in Europe and remain on track to deliver our goal of a six percent EBIT margin as part of Ford’s plan to turnaround our global automotive operations.”
Central to Ford’s transformation of its operations in Europe over the past two years were a $1 billion (£722 million) improvement in structural costs, addressing underperforming markets, the creation of a more targeted vehicle line up within three customer-focused business groups, and partnerships to drive growth and improved levels of profitability across the business.
The company says spearheading its all-electric future is a new $1 billion investment to modernise its vehicle assembly facility in Cologne, Germany (pictured), one of its largest manufacturing centres in Europe and the home of Ford of Europe. It says the investment will transform the existing vehicle assembly operations into the Ford Cologne Electrification Center for the manufacture of electric vehicles, Ford’s first such facility in Europe.
Ford also confirmed that its first European-built, volume all-electric passenger vehicle for European customers will be produced at the facility from 2023, with the potential for a second all-electric vehicle built there under consideration.
“Our announcement today to transform our Cologne facility, the home of our operations in Germany for 90 years, is one of the most significant Ford has made in over a generation. It underlines our commitment to Europe and a modern future with electric vehicles at the heart of our strategy for growth,” Rowley said.
(Picture – Ford Europe)
