🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
Ford Motor Company continued its push on Monday to sell only electric vehicles (EVs) in Europe by 2035. It teased three new electric passenger vehicles and four new electric commercial vehicles for the continent, and says it plans to sell 600,000 EVs by 2026.
"I am delighted to see the pace of change in Europe – challenging our entire industry to build better, cleaner and more digital vehicles. Ford is all-in and moving fast to meet the demand in Europe and around the globe," said Jim Farley, Ford president and CEO in a press release.
"This is why we have created Ford Model E – allowing us to move at the speed of a start-up to build electric vehicles that delight and offer connected services unique to Ford and that are built with Ford-grade engineering and safety."
The three new passenger vehicles will include the Ford Puma, which is its top-selling passenger vehicle in Europe, a medium-sized crossover, and a sport crossover. One could be an electrified Kuga, which is sold as the Escape in the U.S. Ford has also made statements about
The first volume vehicle out of the Ford Cologne Electrification Center will be the medium-sized, five-passenger crossover. It will use the Volkswagen ID.4's (and the ID. Buzz van) EV-specific platform, but the darkened teaser shot doesn't show much. The sport crossover has less body mass and wears a different front-end treatment.
The Ford Puma is a small crossover and is currently offered in Europe with a selection of three- and four-cylinder engines, as well as a mild hybrid setup. The new electric version, like the current one, will be produced in Craiova, Romania. Ford says that plant will have "a significant role in the company's electric and commercial vehicle growth plans in Europe." The Puma EV will go on sale in 2024.
Today announcement builds on this month's news of Ford splitting its business up into electric and traditional-powered branches, with the electric arm falling under the Ford Model E heading. Ford's goal is to sell more than 2 million EVs globally by 2026.
On the commercial side, Ford's Transit range will grow to five electric vehicles. The E-Transit, coming next quarter to Europe, will be joined by the Tourneo Custom multipurpose vehicle, Transit Custom one-ton van, and the smaller Tourneo Courier and Transit Courier.
To produce batteries for all these EVs, Ford, SK On Co., Ltd. and Koc Holding have signed a memo of understanding (the precursors to a legal deal) to create a new battery factory in Turkey (one of the largest in the region). It will make nickel NMC cells with production scheduled to start in the middle of the decade. Production, according to Ford, will be between 30 and 45 gigawatt hours.
"From an expectation standpoint, this makes sense since the EU has a more aggressive timeline for zero emission adoption," Tony Salerno, managing director, Automotive Analytics & Advisory at J.D. Power told Newsweek.
"And sharing the VW platform is a quick way to get product in market until Ford can further assess global/market trends and have 'make or buy' decisions on future platforms. It also buys Ford some time in development of more advanced tech for the U.S. market."
Salerno notes that between the Puma, crossovers and commercial vehicles, the lineup looks satisfy many kinds of customers across the market.
"This would imply that Ford is either confident that it can profitably compete in each segment with EVs or that they are hedging as to see what segments make sense for them from an EV standpoint," said Salerno.
"Product announcements are just the beginning, execution (product competitiveness, marketing, consumer experience, etc.) will be the key to success."
About the writer
Jake Lingeman is a Newsweek Autos managing editor based in Detroit. His focus is reporting on the auto industry. He has covered ... Read more