Ford’s electric vehicle business in the US lost $3 billion before taxes over the last two years and is forecast to lose a similar amount this year.
Ford Motors, Inc in the US has separated the EV arm of its business in reporting, with this new result posted on Thursday.
Chief financial officer John Lawler wants people to think of Ford’s EV business as a startup.
“As everyone knows, EV startups lose money while they invest in capability, develop knowledge, build (sales) volume and gain (market) share,” he said.
The electric vehicle unit, called ‘Ford model e’ will be profitable before taxes by 2026, officials said.
In Australia, the Ford Ranger ute has been Australia’s top-selling car for a while now, with sales up 42% this January. That’s not an EV, but demand for EV utes in the country is sky-high, so it comes as no surprise that brands like Roev are scrambling to get more EV utes into the country.
Globally, Ford intends to invest more than US$50 billion in electric vehicles through to 2026, a spokesperson told SmartCompany via email.
“The work to bring electrified vehicles to Australia is well underway – we’ll be bringing in at least five electrified vehicles by the end of 2024,” the spokesperson said.
The only fully electric car in currently listed in Ford Australia’s range is the E-Transit and E-Transit custom (pictured above), an EV take on the iconic Transit van, which it says will be available this April. It also offers the PHEV (plugin hybrid electric vehicle) Ford Escape.
In the US, the E-Transit is one of three EV products offered, along with the F-150 Lightning pickup and the Mustang Mach E SUV.
To compare financial performance, Ford Blue, the petrol and hybrid passenger car range, expects to make $7 billion pre-tax profit this year and Ford Pro, its commercial vehicle unit, is expected to profit $6 billion.
Lawler told US media that the Ford model e is working on its second, and even third-generation EV ranges, with a focus on innovation, and redesigning to boost efficiency and simplifying manufacturing to make the most of common parts.
With the restructuring of financial reporting to separate out EVs, Lawler assured investors the company is changing the way it does business, not simply doing an accounting exercise, ABC News (US) reports.
“After 120 years, we’ve essentially re-founded Ford,” he said. “We’re embracing technology and competitive disruption in our industry, fundamentally changing how we’re thinking, how we’re making decisions, and how we’re running the company.”
In the email to SmartCompany, the Ford spokesperson said customers are pleased with the E-Transit so far, and that “these models are going to help small, medium and large businesses to electrify.”
Ben Ice is special features editor of SmartCompany.
