Ford EV Crisis: “Our Gen 2 vehicles won’t launch unless we can … profit”

From Watts Up With That?

Death of the EV revolution?

Ford pulls the plug on EV strategy as losses pile up

‘Our Gen 2 vehicles won’t launch unless we can get to a profit’

Brandon Vigliarolo 
Wed 7 Feb 2024  // 18:30 UTC 

The reality of electric vehicle prices has finally caught up with the venerable US automaker Ford, which said yesterday that it’s rethinking its loss-making EV strategy.

The news came during Ford’s Q4 2023 earnings call yesterday, and included revelations that the Detroit-based biz was also reassessing its EV battery strategy, a decision that comes as no surprise in the wake of delays announced last year. 

“We delayed our second joint venture battery plant in Kentucky. We reduced the size of our new lithium iron phosphate plant in Michigan, and we did not proceed with our JV battery plant in Turkey,” Ford CFO, John Lawler, said on the call.

“We are further adjusting installed capacity to match demand, reassessing vertical integration in new battery chemistries, adjusting Gen 2 products and potentially their launch timing to ensure they meet our criteria for profitability.” 

…

“Our Gen 2 vehicles won’t launch unless we can get to a profit and a return on that capital that we’re investing there at the pricing environment that we now understand is reality,” Lawler said. “We know that we have to have this electric vehicle business stand on its own and be profitable because we know that there are competitors out there.” 

…Read more: https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/07/ford_ev_strategy/

Given the lack of consumer interest in EVs, is this actually a demand to the Biden Administration to provide more taxpayer cash, or does it represent a genuine change in corporate direction?

Does the Biden Administration have any more borrowed cash to provide?

I guess time will tell.