Tag: Ford

Big Auto’s Bitter Pill: The Electric Boom Has Hit the Wall

A growing industry consensus that the rapid, widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) – once projected as an imminent revolution – has stalled significantly, prompting major automakers to take massive financial hits and scale back ambitious plans.

A growing industry consensus that the rapid, widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) – once projected as an imminent revolution – has stalled significantly, prompting major automakers to take massive financial hits and scale back ambitious plans.

In the past year, global carmakers have written off more than $60 billion from their balance sheets related to EV over-investments.

Ford: Around $19.5 billion in restructuring and pullbacks (with EV models like the F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E seeing sales reverse in 2025).

Stellantis (Vauxhall/Opel owner): €22 billion.

General Motors: Around $6-7.6 billion.

Others like Volkswagen, Honda, and Volvo also taking multi-billion hits.

Ford’s CEO Jim Farley is quoted as saying, “I think the customer has spoken. That’s the punchline,” after the company reported a $5 billion loss in its EV division for 2025.

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Even auto giants know it: the electric car boom is out of charge

World’s biggest manufacturers write off billions as they retreat from an EV boom that never was

“I think the customer has spoken. That’s the punchline,” said Jim Farley, the chief executive of Ford. The Telegraph has the story.

The American boss was speaking last week as his company unveiled a $5bn (£3.7bn) annual loss, barely two months after it had booked a shock $19.5bn write-down.

The cause?

An aggressive bet on electric vehicles (EVs) that backfired spectacularly.

In 2025, sales of the Mustang Mach-E crossover and the F-150 Lightning pickup truck – once hailed by Farley as the “truck of the future” – went into reverse.

Worse, the electric Model-E division has booked losses of more than $13bn since 2023.

Now it has consigned the F-150 to the dustbin and has scrapped much of its future EV plans, with the company set to put a greater emphasis on hybrids.

Ford isn’t the only automotive giant counting the costs of a failed bet on electric.

In the past year, the world’s biggest carmakers have written off more than $60bn from their balance sheets as they retreat from an EV boom that never was.

The figure includes a €22bn (£19bn) charge reported by Vauxhall owner Stellantis, along with a $7.6bn hit to General Motors, €5.1bn at Volkswagen Group, $4.5bn at Honda and $1.2bn at Volvo, among others.

“Most of the Western carmakers are now facing big issues,” says Felipe Muñoz, of Car Industry Analysis.

Broadly speaking, EV sales are growing. But a rapid shift to electric that both carmakers and politicians had hoped for has failed to materialise. “Many drivers are still not comfortable making the shift,” says Muñoz.

At the same time, net zero regulations are beginning to bite in the UK and Europe – with companies facing fines if they cannot meet increasingly stretching targets – just as low-price competitors from China have arrived to undercut them.

Many of those Chinese manufacturers are themselves trying to outrun a crisis, as sales at home grind to a halt.

All across the world, a grim reality for carmakers is setting in: drivers simply don’t want EVs in the volume they hoped.

Read the full story here.

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In late 2025 and early 2026, major legacy automakers announced massive write-downs totaling around $55-65 billion globally (estimates vary slightly by source, with some broader analyses reaching higher when including ongoing losses). These reflect scaled-back EV investments, canceled models, impaired platforms/factories, supplier contract settlements, and strategic resets.

Key Examples of Major Write-downs (Late 2025–Early 2026). Here’s a breakdown of the biggest hits reported:

AutomakerWritedown/Charge AmountTiming/DetailsKey Reasons/Impacts
Stellantis (Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, Fiat, Peugeot)~$26 billion (€22.2 billion)Announced February 6, 2026; largest single charge, tied to “business reset” in H2 2025Overestimated EV pace; realignment to gas/hybrids; includes €14.7B in product/platform impairments + €6.5B restructuring (cash over 4 years). Led to net loss of €19-21B in H2 2025; suspended 2026 dividend; shares plunged 20-30%.
Ford$19.5 billionAnnounced December 2025; covers canceled models (e.g., F-150 Lightning changes) and asset disposalsPivot to hybrids/extended-range; Model e division lost $4.8B in 2025 (ongoing losses expected $4-4.5B in 2026); total EV losses since 2022 exceed $16B; break-even pushed to 2029.
General Motors (GM)$7-7.6 billionAnnounced January 2026 (part of $7.1-8.8B in charges)Reduced EV capacity; canceled programs (e.g., BrightDrop vans); supplier settlements; more charges expected in 2026.
Others (e.g., Volkswagen, Honda, Volvo, Porsche)$3-6B+ each (contributing to total)Scattered announcements (e.g., VW ~$3.5-6B linked to Porsche/EV overhaul)Excess capacity, delayed models, job cuts; broader industry tally pushes to $55-65B+.

These are mostly non-cash (impairments reduce asset values on the balance sheet without immediate cash outflow), but portions involve real cash (e.g., supplier payouts, restructuring). They hit reported earnings hard, often leading to quarterly/full-year net losses.

Financial Health:

  • Balance Sheet Strain: Writedowns erode equity/book value and can trigger credit downgrades (e.g., Stellantis downgraded in February 2026 due to lower projected margins and cash flow recovery delays).
  • Profitability Hit: Massive one-time losses drag down net income (e.g., Stellantis expects low single-digit margins in 2026; Ford’s adjusted EBIT fell sharply).
  • Cash Flow & Liquidity: Some cash outflows (e.g., Stellantis’ €6.5B+ over years) require bond issuances or dividend cuts to preserve liquidity.
  • Stock Market Reaction: Shares often drop sharply on announcements (Stellantis -20-30%; broader sector pressure), though some rebound if investors view the reset as clearing the deck (e.g., GM stock surged post-charge due to strong cash generation elsewhere).

Strategic Shifts:

  • Pivot from “all-in” EVs to hybrids, plug-in hybrids, or extended-range models as bridges.
  • Delayed/canceled pure-EV projects, reduced production capacity, job cuts, and supplier impacts.
  • Focus on profitable segments (e.g., trucks/SUVs in U.S., where demand remains strong).
  • Acknowledgment that consumer adoption is slower than projected—echoing comments like Ford CEO Jim Farley’s “the customer has spoken.”

Industry-Wide Ramifications:

  • Signals over-investment in EVs during the hype phase (2021-2024), driven by policy incentives and forecasts.
  • Contributes to the “EV boom out of charge” narrative: slower global growth in key markets (U.S. dips, China cools post-subsidies).
  • Doesn’t kill electrification—many companies still commit long-term (e.g., Ford targets 2029 break-even)—but forces realism, cost-cutting, and hybrid emphasis.
  • Suppliers and battery partners face ripple effects (canceled contracts, reduced orders).

In short, these write-downs aren’t the end of EVs but a painful correction after mismatched expectations vs. reality.

U.S. Automakers Pull Back from Electric Vehicles

The U.S. automotive market is experiencing a significant shift as companies like Ford, GM, and Stellantis adjust their strategies in response to changing consumer demands and regulatory environments. With electric vehicle (EV) sales slowing down, these manufacturers are scaling back EV production and redirecting investments toward hybrids and gas vehicles

A lineup of various Ford vehicles, including trucks and SUVs, displayed against a red backdrop.

The U.S. automotive market is experiencing a significant shift as companies like Ford, GM, and Stellantis adjust their strategies in response to changing consumer demands and regulatory environments. With electric vehicle (EV) sales slowing down, these manufacturers are scaling back EV production and redirecting investments toward hybrids and gas vehicles.

From Institute For Energy Research- IER

General Motors (GM) and Ford Motor are cutting billions in fixed costs, including laying off thousands of workers, and Chrysler parent Stellantis is taking even more drastic measures to reduce spending. According to Reuters, Ford Motor is taking a $19.5 billion write-down and is removing several electric-vehicle (EV) models from its line-up, as the auto industry retreats from battery-powered models in response to weakened EV demand and the Trump administration’s policies. GM and Stellantis have already shifted more of their production to combustion engine vehicles, also taking financial hits. GM wrote down $1.6 billion in EV assets and indicated that more write-downs are expected. Due to the push for electric vehicles by Western governments, automakers overestimated their demand and are now making a detour to correct the costly error.

Sales of new electric vehicles in the United States, especially more expensive models, have slowed since the beginning of 2024. The Trump administration rolled back financial incentives for consumers to buy electric vehicles in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act by removing tax credits at the end of the fiscal year, further depressing sales. The administration is also modifying automobile efficiency standards from those approved by the Biden administration to eliminate the requirement forcing EV purchases.

Companies Will Continue with EV Production at a Reduced Level

According to Reuters, Ford will switch production at a new factory in Tennessee to gas-powered pickup truck models from electric models, cancel an electric commercial van model, remake the F-150 Lightning vehicle into a hybrid from a pure electric vehicle; and convert its Kentucky EV-battery factory into a battery-storage business for utilities, wind- and solar-power developers, and data centers that train artificial intelligence. It is also planning to build a medium electric truck with a $30,000 price target by 2027 to be competitive with Chinese automakers. That was the first in a line of low-cost electric vehicles. CBS News reports that, by 2030, Ford expects about half its global volume to consist of hybrids, extended-range vehicles, and electric vehicles, up from 17% this year. Hybrids are believed to be more affordable and practical to consumers who are wary of pure electric vehicles due to their high sticker prices, worries over battery range, and access to charging stations.

Western vehicle makers are aware of the competitive threat posed by Chinese EV automakers, whose models are popular at home and abroad. U.S. automakers see Americans want smaller, affordable EV models like those made by Chinese automakers and sold outside the United States. Currently, Chinese vehicles are banned from U.S. markets because of tariffs. Ford’s changes are expected to put it on a better footing to compete with Chinese automakers.

Besides the $19.5 billion write-down Ford is taking, its EV losses since 2023 have totaled $13 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal, making its total EV junket at least a $32.5 billion mistake. American automobile buyers were charged more for their gas and diesel vehicle purchases to help pay for the misguidance of automakers producing electric vehicles, with overall vehicle prices hitting new heights. Many Americans felt vehicles were becoming unaffordable.

Via Electrek, GM is halting production of its electric vehicles due to slower EV industry growth and customer demand. Production of the Cadillac Lyriq and larger Vistiq, both of which are built at a Spring Hill, Tennessee facility, will be reduced during the first five months of 2026. GM plans to suspend one of its two shifts at the facility, resulting in layoffs for workers on the second shift. GM is also delaying the start of a second shift at its Fairfax assembly plant outside of Kansas City “indefinitely,” where the new Chevy Bolt EV was scheduled to enter production this year. GM also plans to slow production of the GMC Hummer EV and Cadillac Escalade IQ at its Factory Zero plant in Detroit.

Automakers Turn to Producing Energy Storage Batteries

According to the Wall Street Journal, automakers and battery manufacturers are repurposing electric-vehicle battery plants to serve the fast-growing data-center and utility markets, as slowing EV demand pushes companies to seek alternative revenue streams. General Motors, South Korean conglomerate LG, and Chrysler parent Stellantis have shifted toward producing batteries for energy-storage systems to help offset the downturn in electric-vehicle sales.

Tesla has already built a sizable business in the segment, generating billions of dollars in sales from energy-storage batteries. Revenue from its energy-generation and storage division, which also includes solar panels, rose 67% last year to $4 billion, partially cushioning a $6 billion decline in EV revenue.

GM is also exploring a partnership to supply energy-storage batteries to Redwood Materials, a battery-recycling startup. Under the proposed arrangement, GM would provide Redwood with a mix of new and used batteries for large-scale storage projects. Meanwhile, a Chinese-owned battery manufacturer that had planned to supply Mercedes-Benz is now considering pivoting to energy-storage products in an effort to revive a stalled factory project in Kentucky.

U.S. electricity demand is growing again due to demand from artificial intelligence data centers, manufacturing, and increased electrification, which was pushed by the Biden administration and continues to be pushed in blue states. These factors make energy storage a growing business.

Europe Waters Down Its Ban on New Gas-Powered Vehicles

As reported by the BBC, the European Union has watered down its ban on new gas-powered vehicles, easing rules approved two years ago that required all new vehicles sold from 2035 onward to have zero carbon emissions, which would have effectively barred the sale of hybrid vehicles as well as traditional internal combustion engines. Instead, it is using a strict emissions cap that leaves room for gas and hybrid models. Instead of a 100% tailpipe carbon dioxide reduction target in 2035, it has a 90% fleet reduction. The change still forces automakers to sell mostly zero-emission vehicles, but it opens a path for a small number of plug-in hybrids and highly efficient combustion cars, particularly those that can run on certified carbon dioxide-neutral e-fuels or advanced biofuels.

Analysis

The so-called EV revolution is beginning to stall as automakers repurpose their EV production capacity in favor of gas-powered vehicles and batteries for energy storage. Slowing EV sales and the removal of subsidies and mandates by the Trump administration and congressional Republicans have signaled to these manufacturers that their efforts are better served by meeting consumer demand rather than government incentives. Even in Europe, politicians are starting to realize that forcing automakers to sell only EVs would raise prices and force consumers to drive cars that can’t travel as far.

For inquiries, please contact wrampe@ierdc.org.

The EV bubble, or what’s left of it, popped this week

After carmakers invested billions into EV designs, and the EU and UK vowed to ban internal combustion engines, it’s all come undone. Donald Trump pulled the pin on subsidies for EVs and eased the strict emissions rules that punished petrol and diesel cars. US sales of electric cars promptly fell 40% in November. Ford’s fell by nearly 60%.

An electric vehicle parked at a charging station, surrounded by eerie, zombie-like figures with a dark background.

From CFACT

By Joanne Nova

A white Ford C-Max Energi hybrid vehicle displayed at an auto show, showcasing environmental features with green leaf graphics.

After carmakers invested billions into EV designs, and the EU and UK vowed to ban internal combustion engines, it’s all come undone. Donald Trump pulled the pin on subsidies for EVs and eased the strict emissions rules that punished petrol and diesel cars. US sales of electric cars promptly fell 40% in November. Ford’s fell by nearly 60%.

In response, Ford has killed off several electric cars and will swallow a bitter pill of a $19.5 billion US dollar write down. That’s a lot of cars it will have to sell to make that money back. Gone is the fully electric F-150, the next generation electric truck, and any plan to make electric commercial vans. Instead, Ford says it will shift into gas and hybrid models.

General Motors laid off 3,300 workers at EV plants in the US.

On the other side of the Pacific, shares of Korean battery makers “slumped across the board” this week after the news.

The day after the Ford announcement the European Commission let the world know it would wind back the total ban on internal combustion engines which was supposed to come into effect in 2035. Theoretically they’re only dropping the 100% ban to a 90% one. But the ideology has cracked, largely due to the uproar from European car makers who were not selling enough EV’s to make it work.

There are already calls to drop the 90% rule. It will mean that only the rich will be able to afford the few new petrol and diesel cars available for sale. Presumably the unwashed masses will just keep driving their old cars,.

Ford Learns a Brutal EV Lesson

The car maker takes a $19.5 billion write-down on its electric-vehicle business.

The Wall Street Journal

Not long ago, auto makers were touting electric cars as the future. Well, now they are slamming the brakes hard on that future as market reality has hit them like a 16-wheeler. See Ford Motor’s stunning announcement Monday that it will take a $19.5 billion charge on its electric-vehicle business.

“Instead of plowing billions into the future knowing these large EVs will never make money, we are pivoting,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said as he explained the company’s plan to boost its lineup of gas-powered cars and hybrids. Ford will also scrap its all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup, which has been a favorite of the EV-loving press.

Ford has lost $13 billion on its EV business since 2023, with bigger losses expected in years to come. Last year Ford lost about $50,000 for each EV sold. The truth is that the business case for EVs has always rested largely on government subsidies and mandates. Now that this combination of government favoritism and coercion is mostly going away, most car makers have much less reason to make EVs.

The same week as CSIRO decided 90% renewable was near enough, the EU did a similar thing:

EU drops 2035 combustion engine ban as global EV shift faces reset

By Philip Blenkinsop, Reuters

STRASBOURG, Dec 16 (Reuters) – The European Commission unveiled a plan on Tuesday to drop the EU’s effective ban on new combustion-engine cars from 2035 after pressure from the region’s auto sector, marking the bloc’s biggest retreat from its green policies in recent years.

Dominic Phinn, head of transport at non-profit group Climate Group, countered that the measures were a “tragic win” for the traditional industry over electric cars. “The watering down of the petrol and diesel-engine phase-out flies in the face of leading companies across Europe, who are investing billions in electric fleets and desperately need the stability it provides,” he said.

Under Tuesday’s proposal, EU targets would shift to a 90% cut in CO2 emissions from 2021 levels, instead of current rules that all new cars and vans from 2035 have zero emissions.

The lesson, yet again, is that in trying to artificially make EV’s cheaper, Big Government has made all cars more expensive. Ford and everyone else will have to make up those losses somehow. And in trying to reduce emissions, the bureaucrats have almost certainly increased them. By denying  the poor a chance to own a new car, they’re undoubtedly kept older, higher emission cars on the road. Not that emissions matter — the point is that whatever it was that the geniuses with the magic wand wanted, the free market would have done it better.

This article originally appeared at JoNova

Ford takes $20bn hit to reverse course on electric cars

The US car giant cut back electric vehicle (EV) production, including the production of large battery-powered pickup trucks, because of a slump in demand from drivers.

A lineup of Ford vehicles, including trucks and SUVs, displayed against a red backdrop.

Detroit carmaker will plough more into building petrol-fuelled trucks and vans

Ford will take a $19.5bn (£14.5bn) hit as it tore up plans to invest significant sums into electric cars.

The US car giant cut back electric vehicle (EV) production, including the production of large battery-powered pickup trucks, because of a slump in demand from drivers. The Telagraph has the story.

Ford said “lower than expected” uptake of EVs had resulted in billions in losses.

Instead, the Detroit carmaker will plough more into building conventional trucks and vans and cheaper EVs, as well as launching a new battery energy storage business.

The $19.5bn writedown, announced to Wall Street on Monday, is one of the largest financial hits suffered by a carmaker to date as bets on EVs turn sour in the face of plummeting demand.

Ford’s writedown includes $6bn to close a joint venture with South Korean company SK Group. The duo had planned to build a massive battery factory in Kentucky to propel Ford’s EV vision, but the plan has now been scrapped.

Jim Farley, Ford’s chief executive, said: “This is a customer-driven shift to create a stronger, more resilient and more profitable Ford.

“The operating reality has changed and we are redeploying capital into higher-return growth opportunities”

The move comes amid a major regulatory shift after Donald Trump, the US president, weakened rules on carmakers to cut emissions.

Mr Trump has also ended $7,500 tax credits for drivers who buy EVs, suppressing demand across the US.

Read the full story here.

High-mileage electric car usage is working out almost twice as expensive as petrol

What’s promised isn’t always what you get with electric cars – my 11,000 miles in Ford Mustang Mach-E proved it’s far from an EV panacea

What’s promised isn’t always what you get with electric cars – my 11,000 miles in Ford Mustang Mach-E proved it’s far from an EV panacea

Perhaps autumn half-term week was not the best time for driving long distances in an EV on largely unplanned routes, but then family life is like that, full of the unexpected, joyful and sometimes sad.

The first thing I learnt during 11,000 miles in the Mach-E was that it isn’t a “proper” Mustang. Secondly, if you regularly cover high mileage in an EV, you need to travel when everyone else isn’t to avoid queuing at chargers.

Fortunately, now that my three-month eschewal of fossil fuels is over, I’m able to use my Honda Civic Type R for long personal journeys, although the Ford is still pressed into service when work calls. The Telegraph has the story.

Recently, a family illness was a force majeure and the Civic was being serviced so the Ford was the only transport. Unfortunately, no amount of planning could avoid bank-holiday travel and the armada of electric vehicles needing to charge.

It looked as though Gridserve hadn’t done much planning, either. Of its 24 high-current chargers at Exeter services, eight were out of service. It was chaos.

“I’m glad my boss will be doing this next week so he can see what it’s like,” said Gridserve’s Matt Sidwell, who was doing sterling work trying to instil order to the rambunctious queuing system. With no space to stack cars, no signposting and people constantly trying to push in, he was fighting a losing battle.

“The thing that drives me crazy is the people who stay on the charger to get a 100 per cent charge,” he said. “It’s virtually impossible to achieve and takes so long because the charger is only trickling current in at that point.”

I looked enviously at the rows of Tesla-only chargers, most of them unoccupied.

It took 45 minutes for a charger to become vacant. I plugged in the Ford, unwrapped a bacon sandwich and wondered why Colmans no longer sells mustard in tubes.

There was a sharp tap at the window. “The chargers are rated at 175kWh,” said an elderly motorist who’d emerged from a Nissan Leaf and was peering at the charger display. “You’re only getting 80.”

I didn’t tell him I’ve rarely seen more than 80 and even then, not for long, although the Ford’s DC fast charging is rated at 150kWh.

I just wish Ed Miliband, the energy security minister, was there so I could stuff my bacon sandwich where the sun doesn’t shine, but he was packing his swimmers for the COP conference in Baku.

With the Mustang averaging 2.8 miles per kWh on motorways, it has an effective range of 250 to 270 miles (from the 91kWh lithium-ion battery) against a claim of 372 miles (although, to be fair, Ford advertises the Mach-E with a “motorway range” of 306 miles).

To eke out the range I travel everywhere with the heater off, which currently demands a substantial coat, hat and gloves. I’m writing to Santa for thick socks this Christmas.

As any long-distance EV user will tell you, speed, hills and lower temperatures are the chief enemy of battery range. I recently learnt from Moni Islam, Audi’s chief aerodynamicist, that in the official Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure, 40 per cent of the battery usage is occupied by aerodynamic drag – but if, like me, you only do long motorway journeys, that figure rises to nearer to 60 per cent.

Like any experienced EV user, I’m well acquainted with the rapid falling of predicted range against actual journey distance. For example, when I started with a 95 per cent charge, which had a predicted range of 269 miles, the Exeter Gridserve chargers seemed easily within range. The Ford showed an 85-mile excess over the distance calculated by Waze.

Yet, an hour and a half into the journey, the excess had dropped to 48 miles and, after three hours, I crawled into the services with less than 12 per cent charge.

My poorly mother proved to be in rather better health than the UK charging system on that day. She was interested in the Ford parked outside.

“So, how much does it cost to run?” she asked, ever the mathematician.

I grabbed some paper.

While I once had to pay a whopping £1.12 per kWh at a Shell Recharge station, in general fast charging averages at between 85 and 90p per kWh. On a long motorway journey, the Ford averages between 2.6 and 2.8 miles per kWh, which is by no means unexceptional in large battery SUVs I’ve tested. Using the more generous figures in both cases, the Ford is costing at least 30p per mile for the electricity alone.

“And what about your Honda?” she continued. My scrap of paper was getting crowded, but at similar speeds my Civic Type R will return about 34 miles per gallon, which means that the fuel cost per mile is about 16p. She gave me a hard stare.

“Is it worth it?”

Read the full story here.

Ford to cut 800 UK jobs as electric car sales flag

In addition to the cuts in the UK, Ford will be shedding 2,900 jobs in Germany and another 300 in the rest of Europe.

From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

By Paul Homewood

Ford won’t be the last.

Ford has announced it will cut 800 jobs in the UK over the next three years.

The move is part of a major restructuring programme, which will see 4,000 posts closed across Europe as a whole.

The company said it had to act because of difficult trading conditions, including intense competition and weak demand for electric vehicles.

However, the cuts will not affect its manufacturing sites in Dagenham and Halewood, or its logistics base in Southampton. Ford said it hoped to make the majority of job cuts through voluntary redundancy.

“Making this announcement isn’t something that anybody wants to do, and I appreciate it will have a very significant impact on our employees,” said Lisa Brankin, managing director of Ford of Britain and Ireland.

“It’s not the news anyone wants to hear at any time. So our aim is to try to deliver this through voluntary redundancy.”

Ford has 5,300 employees in the UK.

The restructuring plan will remove 15% of its workforce. The majority of them are expected to be administrative or product development roles.

This is the second round of cuts to hit Ford’s operations in Britain in less than two years. In March 2023 it said 1,300 jobs were to go, a fifth of its workforce, most of them at the Dunton site.

The latest announcement comes at a time when car manufacturers across Europe are struggling.

Among the issues they face are high energy costs, weaker than expected demand for electric cars and growing competition from Chinese manufacturers.

Many of the continent’s biggest names, including Volkswagen, Mercedes Benz and BMW have seen their profits tumble this year.

Volkswagen is even contemplating the closure of factories in Germany, a step that would be unprecedented.

“The automotive industry is going through a period of massive disruption at the moment,” explained Ms Brankin.

“We’ve got unprecedented competition, regulation and lots of economic headwinds”

Those pressures are hitting Ford at a difficult time. The carmaker is attempting to move away from its past as a mass-manufacturer of cheap “runabouts”, and position itself as more upmarket brand, focused on electric cars. Last year, it stopped making the Fiesta after nearly five decades.

In addition to the cuts in the UK, Ford will be shedding 2,900 jobs in Germany and another 300 in the rest of Europe.

Meanwhile in Britain, the government is coming under intense pressure from the car industry over rules designed to force them to build more electric vehicles. The issue is due to be discussed at a meeting between industry and ministers on Wednesday afternoon.

Under the so-called Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate, which came into force this year, at least 22% of cars sold must be classed as zero emission. If manufacturers fail to hit their quotas, they could face fines of up to £15,000 per car.

A number of carmakers are already struggling to meet their targets, although there are flexible mechanisms built into the rules which should allow them to avoid fines for the moment.

But the quota is due to rise to 28% next year, and to 33% in 2026 – being ramped up each year after that to hit 80% by 2030.

Manufacturers insist this is happening too fast. Although sales of new EVs are rising – with one in five cars sold in October being battery powered, they say this is misleading.

They claim demand for electric cars simply isn’t high enough yet, forcing them to offer unsustainable discounts in an effort to meet their targets.

Some are calling for the government to water down the quotas, in order to give them more time.

Others say it needs to offer greater taxpayer-funded incentives for electric cars, and to do more to reassure car buyers that enough charging infrastructure will be built.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20626dy9d6o

All three of the problems identified – EVs, energy prices and competition from China – can be directly laid at successive governments’ doors.

As was obvious from the beginning, there never was enough demand for EVs for the mandated targets to be achieved. Manufacturers have been forced into offering unaffordable discounts for EVs, and are now cutting back on ICE cars, so as to artificially increase the ratio of EVs. Even then, some will still not meet ZEV targets, and carrying the deficit forward is a mug’s game.

And it was equally obvious that banning the sale of petrol/diesel cars would open the door to cheap Chinese EVs. All we were doing was throwing away the technological advantages that UK and European manufacturers had built up over the years.

Energy prices, of course, speak for themselves.

Unless the EV madness is abandoned and electricity prices reduced to competitive levels, both the UK and European car industries will be much smaller in ten years’ time.

Growing Electric Car Sales Slump In Germany… Ford Cuts Back Production In Cologne Plant

Germany’s Blackout News reports on the ongoing sales slump for in e-cars and how the Ford plant in Cologne is putting its employees on reduced work times (Kurzarbeit). 

From NoTrickZone

By P Gosselin 

Germany’s Blackout News reports on the ongoing sales slump for in e-cars and how the Ford plant in Cologne is putting its employees on reduced work times (Kurzarbeit). 

AI generated symbol image (Chat GPT)

Currently there’s a “growing crisis in the e-car market” and the production of the Explorer and Capri electric models at the Cologne, Germany plant “have come to a standstill for a total of three weeks.” The reduced work hours are expected to continue until Christmas – all in response to “rapidly deteriorating market conditions for electric vehicles”, says a Ford spokeswoman.

Failed Green Economy

Sales of electric cars and industrial production in general across Germany have been taking a huge hit due in large part to failed green policies from inept governments over the past 2 decades, which have driven energy prices up and sent consumer confidence plummeting.

Blackout News cites an internal letter from the company that underscores “the explosive nature of the situation” that is “forcing Ford to significantly reduce its weekly production capacity.”

According to the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, “market demand has fallen”, forcing Ford Germany to adjust its production accordingly.

Blackout News describes a bleak future of “economic uncertainty, rising interest rates and a hesitant customer base. At the same time, the German government is forcing car manufacturers to produce more electric cars to meet climate targets, yet most consumers are refusing to buy them.

Entire article here at Blackout News.

If Ford can’t crack electric cars, no one can

It had the history, the manufacturing muscle, the capital, and the brand to make it work. When Ford announced plans to create an all-electric SUV, it looked like the moment the major auto manufacturers could finally bring battery-powered cars into the mass market. Until today. The American company has abandoned its plans to build the new electric car, and announced a $1.9 billion write-off on the project citing cost pressures.

From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

By Paul Homewood

Matthew Lynn in the Spectator:

It had the history, the manufacturing muscle, the capital, and the brand to make it work. When Ford announced plans to create an all-electric SUV, it looked like the moment the major auto manufacturers could finally bring battery-powered cars into the mass market. Until today. The American company has abandoned its plans to build the new electric car, and announced a $1.9 billion write-off on the project citing cost pressures. The trouble is, if the company that more or less invented the mass production of cars a century ago can’t make electric vehicles (EV) work, then it is very hard to believe that any of the Western manufacturers can.

If Ford is now scaling back, it is hard to see how anyone can compete

This is the latest blow to the struggling EV industry. Despite the billions of euros, dollars and pounds thrown at it in subsidies and tax breaks by governments, and despite targets to replace all the petrol-powered cars on European and American roads over the next decade, sales have stalled, costs have risen, and the manufacturers are struggling.

The likes of Volkswagen and Renault have already scaled back their plans. And now even Ford is throwing in the towel. The company also announced today that it is postponing the launch of its next electric pickup truck. At the same time, it would cut the share of annual capital expenditures dedicated to ‘pure’ electric vehicles from 40 per cent to 30 per cent, and write off much of the money it had already spent.

Meanwhile, the Chinese are still powering into the market. This week, Xaomi, a company best known for its smartphones, said it has comfortably beaten its targets, and now expected to sell 120,000 of its electric cars by the end of 2024 – 20,000 more than initially planned. Its rivals BYD announced last month that its sales were up by 21 per cent over the latest quarter, putting it on track to overtake Tesla; the other major Chinese players are doing just as well.

There is a significance to the Ford decision. Under its founder Henry Ford, this was the company whose the legendary Model T marked the perfection of automobile mass production a century ago, turning the car into a product that everyone could afford. It built manufacturing outposts around the world, including the UK. If Ford is now scaling back, it is hard to see how anyone can compete. The subsidies and industrial strategies have not worked.

True, if we want to hit net zero we may have to switch to battery-powered cars. But we have to accept that it will come at a huge industrial cost, handing one of the largest industries in the world to China, and all the jobs and wealth it creates with it. Ford’s decision this week has confirmed that.

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/if-ford-cant-crack-electric-cars-no-one-can

Ford’s EV Bloodbath Continues

FoMoCo lost $47,585 for each EV sold in Q2, GE Vernova calls offshore turbine blade failure a “manufacturing deviation”

Electric cars charging at a charging station. 3d rendering.

From The Robert Bryce Substack

Robert Bryce

FoMoCo lost $47,585 for each EV sold in Q2, GE Vernova calls offshore turbine blade failure a “manufacturing deviation”

Photo by author.

The losses keep coming. As I reported here in February, Ford Motor Co. lost $4.7 billion on its EV business in 2023, or about $64,731 for each EV it sold. Today, the company reported that over the first two quarters, it has lost nearly $2.5 billion on its Model e segment, meaning Ford’s EV losses are on track to total $5 billion in 2024. While the company’s per-vehicle losses declined somewhat during the second quarter, they are still stunning. Let’s take a quick drive through the results.

On July 3, the company published its second-quarter sales numbers. Its EV sales totaled 23,957 units, up 61% from the same period in 2023.

But the money numbers were published today, and they are sobering. Yes, the company sold 23,957 EVs during the quarter, but it lost $1.14 billion while doing so. Thus, Ford lost $47,585 for each EV it sold. In a press release, the company said it incurred the loss “amid ongoing industrywide pricing pressure on first-generation electric vehicles and lower wholesales. Those factors more than offset about $400 million in year-over-year cost reductions in the segment.”

In plain English, the company is saying that its cost-cutting efforts aren’t enough to make up for the price cuts it is being forced to make to attract buyers. To put that $47,585 per-EV loss in perspective, a Ford dealer in Austin currently has more than 20 Mustang Mach-E vehicles in stock selling for less than $47,000.  

A bit more background on the company’s sales helps illustrate the scale of Ford’s faltering EV business. During the second quarter, Ford sold 199,463 F-Series trucks. Further, it sold more than half a million internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). Thus, as seen above, the Dearborn-based auto giant sold 21 times more ICEVs than EVs.

The ongoing disaster in EVs has (finally) awakened Ford’s leaders from their money-losing stupor. Last Thursday, the company announced it would spend $3 billion to expand production capacity for its super-profitable F-Series line. In a July 18 press release, it said to meet “customer demand for one of its most popular and profitable vehicles,” it will add “initial capacity for 100,000 F-Series Super Duty trucks, including future multi-energy technology, at Oakville Assembly Complex in Ontario, Canada.” The press release also contains some telling words from the company’s COO, Kumar Galhotra:

This investment will benefit Ford, our employees in Canada and the U.S., and especially our customers who want and need Super Duty for their lives and livelihoods… It is fully consistent with our Ford+ plan for profitable growth, as we take steps to maximize our global manufacturing footprint, and our investments will have a fast payback. (Emphasis added.)

In other words, Ford has decided profitability matters. Rather than continue pouring money into its money-burning EV business, it will expand the production of the vehicles that keep the lights on, which means producing more F-150s and other vehicles that burn dino juice.

One final note that gives more proof that the EV craze is running out of steam: On Tuesday, General Motors CEO Mary Barra told Wall Street analysts that her company is deferring investments in EVs to ensure, as the Wall Street Journal put it, “the company doesn’t get ahead of demand.”

A broken turbine blade on a GE Vernova turbine at the Vineyard Wind project.

GE Vernova’s Wind Turbine Orders Plummet, CEO Calls Blade Failure “Manufacturing Deviation”

In the annals of corporate gobbledygook, Scott Strazik, the CEO of GE Vernova (GEV), surely deserves a prize for using the phrase “manufacturing deviation” to explain the July 13 disintegration of a turbine blade at the Vineyard Wind project in Massachusetts waters offshore Nantucket.

Yesterday, during an investor call to discuss the company’s second-quarter financials, Strazik addressed the disintegration of the turbine blade. As you may recall, that blade failure sent tons of debris into the ocean, forcing the temporary closure of beaches on Nantucket Island during the height of the summer tourist season. The turbine blade disaster also led to a suspension of construction on the 800-megawatt offshore project, which is owned by two foreign companies, Avangrid, and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, while investigators try to figure out what happened.

During the call, Strazik explained the blade was made in a factory in Canada and that “our investigation to date indicates that the affected blade experienced a manufacturing deviation.”

What, exactly, does that mean? The MV Times reported that “GE Vernova later issued an email statement that the manufacturing issue was due to ‘insufficient bonding,’ although they didn’t offer further explanation. Vernova — whose offices are in Cambridge — has not returned multiple calls to offer an explanation.”

GE Vernova’s second-quarter results revealed the slow-rolling train wreck now underway in the wind industry. While the company announced an increase in revenue and profits, it also revealed that its wind-related order book decreased “primarily due to a large Offshore Wind equipment order in the second quarter of last year that was canceled in the fourth quarter.”

The press release continued, noting that orders for new wind turbines plummeted 44%, and wind segment revenues fell 21% during the quarter. The company’s wind segment was the only one to lose money during the quarter. While the power segment made $613 million in EBITDA and the electrification segment made $129 million, the wind segment lost $117 million.

As I noted earlier this week in “Breaking Wind,” the wind industry faces lots of pain. More proof came last Friday when Level Ten Energy reported that power purchase agreement prices for new wind projects jumped by 13.5% year-on-year. Solar prices increased by about 3%.  Thus, Big Wind is not only seeing lots of turbine failures onshore and offshore and a growing backlash across America — where local governments and landowners are rejecting the encroachment of their monstrous landscape-destroying-wildlife-killing-whale-endangering-and-property-value-shredding machines — it is also losing price competitiveness in the market.

EVs should only be for consenting adults

In a 2016 interview with photographer Steven Edson, CNN asked, “What makes a car sexy?”

From CFACT

By Duggan Flanakin

In a 2016 interview with photographer Steven Edson, CNN asked, “What makes a car sexy?”

Edson replied, “It’s because a lot of the parts of those cars are, in fact, sexy.” He cited the taillights on the 1959 Cadillac Series 62, which he described as “like rare ruby earrings.”

Most of today’s cars, however, Edson lamented, are “homogenous” and offer little of interest to the photographer.

Enter Elon Musk. In 2019, the Tesla Model Y completed the company’s long-awaited “S3XY” family of models – the S3Xyest cars on the road today. That’s one major reason they sold well. Even so, Carscoops admitted that whether Tesla’s S3XY family was sexy remained up for debate.

Maybe the sex appeal of the electric vehicle is wearing off. Tesla is slashing prices, Ford cut back production of its electric pickup and cut the price of its Mustang Mach-E, and General Motors is looking at bringing back plug-in hybrids. Even the EPA is toying with extending the timetable for the total phaseout of non-electric vehicles.

CNN has scrambled to explain why, or rather, “How EVs became such a massive disappointment,” even as they assured their fragile readership that “the American market for EVs is not collapsing.”

They tell us that industry experts blame vehicle prices, lack of charging capacity, and confusing tax credit rules as the reasons for the 15 percent gap between Bloomberg’s 2023 projected sales and actual sales.

But that’s not the whole story.

Chinese automakers have major advantages in manufacturing electric vehicles, thanks to that nation’s virtual monopoly on many components of EV batteries. In 2023 alone, Chinese motorists bought 8.4 million electric vehicles, 59 percent of global EV sales.

The Chinese are also busy marketing their cheaper EVs to Europe and other nations. Jo Nova reports that China shipped 1.3 million EVs to European Union nations in the last quarter – yet many remain unsold and sitting idle in car lots even though EU nations are offering huge subsidies. EV sales fell by 11 percent across the EU by 29 percent in Germany alone.

Bad as the market has been for battery-electric passenger vehicles, the market for electric vans is even worse. The British government’s ZEV mandate demanded that 10 percent of van sales in 2023 be EVs, but actual sales accounted for less than 5 percent of the market.

Association of Fleet Professionals chair Paul Hollick explained that “some fleets just don’t have a role for these electric vans within their business. Their payload and range requirements mean there is no operational profile for which the electric van can be practically used, or there is no suitable charging infrastructure.”

Even Elon Musk is having trouble selling the once-SeXY Teslas – enough that he just laid off 6,000 employees. Tesla produced nearly 47,000 vehicles than it delivered to customers in the first quarter of 2024. And Hertz is not only not buying more Teslas but selling the ones it has.

Biden Administration EV mandates are causing auto dealers problems, as most buyers still want a gasoline- or diesel-powered vehicle. So few, by comparison, want an EV that dealers (and manufacturers) are falling short of their mandated target ratios. How long before dealers have to institute lotteries or some other scheme to determine just who is allowed to buy a new car?

And that’s not all.

British journalists have found another shocking – and odd – fact about EVs. Researchers found that drivers of electric vehicles were twice as likely to be involved in a road accident with a pedestrian than drivers of petrol or diesel vehicles over the same number of miles driven. The report suggested that the vehicle’s quiet engines were a significant factor in higher fatality rates.

On top of that, quiet engines are just not sexy.

Then there is the story that a battery fire at a lithium-ion battery storage facility in Otay Mesa, California, had continued for six days despite 40 firefighters working to bring it under control. Firefighters noted that overheated lithium-ion batteries can trigger “thermal runaway,” a chain reaction that spreads from one battery to another.

While these batteries were stacked in a storage facility, the fire brings to mind the July 2023 cargo ship fire in the North Sea that destroyed hundreds of vehicles. Even though only 25 were electric vehicles, the fire reportedly started when one of their batteries caught fire.

Electric vehicle battery fires are just not sexy.

Neither are several of the other flaws in these “perfect zero-emission vehicles.”

Then we learned that the so-called “all-electric fire truck,” like the one Bernalillo County, New Mexico, bought for $1.8 million (thanks in part to a state grant), relies on a diesel engine to pump water to put out fires and even run the truck when the huge battery dies. An all-electric fire truck cannot run for the long periods needed to extinguish some fires (including EV fires).

But perhaps the most important reason for eschewing electric vehicles is the growing threat of widespread power outages as the electric grid is stressed by the power demands of artificial intelligence, Big Tech – and EVs. Californians have recently experienced days without power, and Michael Spence notes that “If power systems fail, it’s lights out for the entire economy.”

One final note. Clean Technica actually boasted that U.S. plug-in EVs consumed more electricity than the entire nation of Uganda in 2023. The Energy Information Administration reported that it took about 7,600 gigawatt-hours of electricity to keep U.S. EVs running in 2023 – almost five times the consumption in 2018. Imagine the drain on the electric grid with even more EVs.

And the arrogant West still demands that even Ugandans buy only EVs by 2030?

Is it really sexy to force developing nations (let alone the rest of us) into committing more electricity to electric vehicles than their grid can generate?

This article originally appeared at Town Hall