Ford Motor Co. Thursday said it would delay plans for new electric pickup three-row electric utility vehicles as demand for electric vehicles slow and hybrid sales surge.
By the end of the decade, Ford expects to offer hybrid versions of its entire Ford Blue lineup in North America. Hybrid sales shot up 42% in the first quarter of 2024 to 38,421 units sold and accounted for almost 7.5% of all cars sold by Ford during that period. The automaker sold 19,660 Maverick hybrid trucks last quarter, up 77% year-over-year.
Ford has previously said it would double down on hybrid vehicles as a hedge against Americans’ reluctance to go all-in on EVs. The company said Wednesday it expects hybrid sales to increase as more hybrid F-150 pickups are shipped to dealers.
The Detroit automaker said it is delaying the start of production at its under-construction Blue Oval City plant in Tennessee from late 2025 to 2026.
Ford will also delay production of its planned three-row EVs at the Oakville Assembly Plant in Ontario, Canada, to 2027 from 2025. In a statement, Ford said the delay will allow the company to take advantage of “emerging battery technology.” However, Ford said the overhaul of the formerly gas vehicle assembly plant into an EV-focused facility will begin in the second quarter as planned.
Tooling installation at the company’s Ohio Assembly Plant is set to begin in 2025. The facility will build a new commercial EV that Ford has previously said would come “mid-decade.”
“As the No. 2 EV brand in the U.S. for the past two years, we are committed to scaling a profitable EV business, using capital wisely and bringing to market the right gas, hybrid and fully electric vehicles at the right time,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a statement.
Although Ford’s EV sales climbed 86% to 20,223 units last quarter, the technology accounted for less than 4% of all deliveries in that period. The Mustang Mach-E crossover made up almost half of all EVs sold, largely due to new incentives of up to $8,100 that provided a much-needed boost.
As the EV market becomes more crowded and sales growth begins to slow, several automakers are furthering their hybrid plans.
General Motors said first-quarter EV sales were down 20% year-over-year. CEO Mary Barra has said that GM plans to sell between 200,000 and 300,000 EVs in North America this year but would “build to demand.” In the short-term, the company will focus and rely on hybrid vehicles — namely the Chevy Corvette E-Ray.
Toyota Motor, which pioneered hybrid vehicles in the 1990s, on Tuesday said it delivered almost 178,00 electrified vehicles, including plug-in hybrid vehicles. The Japanese automaker said hybrids accounted for 36% of total sales.