Ford is taking an aggressive approach to its electric vehicle strategy in Europe, announcing that all of its passenger vehicles will be electric or hybrid by mid-2026. All of its vehicles will be fully electric by 2030, meaning Ford will have one of the most aggressive EV roadmaps of any European automaker. On the commercial side, the company plans to have plug-in hybrid (PHEV) or fully electric vehicles in two-thirds of its lineup by 2030.
As part of this process, Ford will invest $1 billion in its assembly plant in Cologne, Germany, allowing it to begin producing an electric model in two years. This is part of the company’s recent announcement of a global investment of $29 billion in electric and autonomous vehicles by 2025. “We are committed to making Europe’s future electric,” said Ford of Europe president Stuart Rowley.
Ford's commitment to EVs leaves just five years for a review into electric and PHEV vehicles. Volkswagen, meanwhile, has pledged to produce 1.5 million electric vehicles by 2025, while Mercedes-Benz announced plans to build six electric cars within the next two years.
Ford leads all its competitors in commercial sales, but it has fallen behind Toyota (in 9th place) in passenger vehicle sales in Europe. And while the company is investing in its Cologne, it has cut costs elsewhere in Europe, having sold plants and eliminated more than 10,000 jobs. On the strength of those cuts and commercial sales, Ford managed to turn a profit in Europe in the third quarter.
All of this cost-cutting is clearly paying off, and Ford called the investment in Cologne “the most significant Ford has made in many years.” The company will share additional details, hopefully about new vehicles, in the coming months.
Information source: engadget.com
