According to European Automotive News, Ford is reconsidering its plans to sell only pure electric vehicles in Europe in 2030 after EV sales in the region failed to grow as expected.
As part of its CO2 reduction strategy, the EU plans to allow only zero-emission cars to be sold after 2035. In 2021, Ford announced a target to sell only pure electric passenger cars in Europe after 2030, which is more ambitious than the EU's plan.
However, Ford has now said it can continue to sell internal combustion engine vehicles after 2030 if consumers want it. Martin Sander, head of Ford's European passenger car business, said, "If we have strong market demand, such as plug-in hybrids, we will offer them. "
According to Sander, demand for electric vehicles [in the European market] is not as good as Ford initially expected, and there is a clear trajectory for electrification, "and we need to find ways to go fully electric".
Ford has completed a $2 billion investment to retrofit its plant in Cologne, Germany, to produce all-electric vehicles based on the Volkswagen Group's MEB platform. The company will start mass production of the Explorer all-electric compact SUV in Cologne in June, and will launch a second model based on the MEB platform in June.
Later this year, Ford will also launch an all-electric version of the Puma Gen-E, which will be produced in Craiova, Romania. In addition, the company has already started selling an electric version of the Transit Custom in Turkey.
To focus on electric vehicles and the highly profitable light commercial vehicle business, Ford is reducing the number of its internal combustion engine vehicle offerings. The company stopped production of the Fiesta compact car at its Cologne plant last year and will stop production of the Focus sedan at its Saarlouis plant in 2025, while the production of the Mondeo midsize sedan and Galaxy/S-Max minivan has been stopped at its Valencia plant in Spain.
However, Ford is considering producing a passenger car model with multiple powertrains at its Valencia plant. Currently, the Kuga compact SUV produced at the company's Valencia plant is available in three power versions: plug-in hybrid, hybrid and internal combustion engine.
In the United Kingdom, Ford's largest European market, where the government has introduced zero-emission vehicle rules to boost sales of electric vehicles and requires automakers' share of electric vehicles to grow annually from 24% in 2024, Ford is looking for ways to avoid paying hefty fines.
Sander said Ford would limit sales of internal combustion engine vehicles in the UK rather than push sales of electric vehicles to meet the requirement. "We don't pay fines. We will not sell electric vehicles at a significant loss for compliance. The only option is to sell the internal combustion engine vehicles we ship to the UK elsewhere. "
