Ford: going all-electric in Europe by 2030 was "too ambitious"

Ford’s electric vehicle boss says the company’s plan to go all-electric by 2030 in Europe was “too ambitious”, and the firm will continue to offer a range of hybrids in light of wavering EV uptake.

Marin Gjaja, chief operating officer of Ford’s Model E electrification division, has told Autocar that the company is no longer planning to stop selling combustion cars in Europe within the next six years, as it said it would in 2021, because of the “uncertainty” around EV demand and legislation.

“I don't think we can go all in on anything until our customers decide they're all in, and that's progressing at different rates around the world,” he said. 

He cited wavering customer adoption of EVs – fuelled by high battery costs and the removal of government incentives – as the primary reason for the renewed focus on hybrid powertrains, which are currently offered in the Puma, Focus and Kuga. 

Asked if the company was rethinking its 2030 EV ambitions, Gjaja said: “I think customers have voted, and they told us that was too ambitious, is what I would say - and I think everyone in the industry has found that out the hard way. I would also say reality has a way of making you adjust your plans.”

"We don't see that going all-electric by 2030 is a good choice for our business or, especially, for our customers,” he added. 

Irrespective of its plans to continue offering ICE models in some form after 2030, Ford will only be able to sell electric cars in the UK from that point, given the new Labour government’s plan to reinstate the 2030 ban on new combustion-engined car sales. 

Ford recently revealed the new Capri as its third electric passenger car for Europe, following the Mustang Mach-E and Explorer, and will introduce electric versions of the Puma and Tourneo Courier next year. Come mid-2025, the Focus will join the Fiesta in retirement, leaving the Tourneo, Mustang, Puma and Kuga as the brand’s only combustion cars on sale.

But Gjaja said maintaining a flexible powertrain offering is crucial, and a new ‘multi-energy’ platform currently in development for European cars will be vital in ensuring Ford maintains its footing in Europe’s mainstream car market. 

The company has not fully outlined the future of its Valencia factory beyond the end of production of the current-generation Kuga, but has revised its plans to build EVs there in favour of models that could be powered – at least in part – by combustion engines. 

Gjaja said: “We're all in from the standpoint of we're going to compete aggressively, whether it's a pure ICE, whether it's a pure battery-electric vehicle, or hybrids in between, because what we're seeing is customers want that freedom of choice to pick the right powertrain and the right vehicle for their use case.

“We're going to bring something to Valencia, but we haven't committed to what that's going to be. We're still working on that. I think it's going to be multi-energy. That's our current thinking, because we think it gives us the best chance of success given the European market and where we are in adoption.”

Production of the first model on this new platform – the size and shape of which remain unconfirmed – is scheduled to begin in 2027, with projected volumes of up to 300,000 units per year, according to Spain’s industry ministry. It is possible that Ford plans to put a new generation of Kuga on the line, with that car expected to end its current life cycle in around 2026.

Ford delayed a substantial investment into the Valencia plant in 2022, citing a revised economic outlook for Europe, and instead prioritised the ground-up overhaul of its ex-Fiesta factory in Cologne, Germany, to enable it to build the Explorer and Capri EVs. 

More recently, the firm has made swingeing workforce reductions at the Spanish plant, announcing 1100 job cuts last year, and in May of this year revealing plans to axe a further 1600 roles - but it has suggested it could reinstate 1000 of these roles in line with an expected boost in output from 2027.

Gjaja said solidifying an investment strategy in the context of today’s market environment is difficult because it is unclear when actual demand for electric cars will be in line with the legislative and regulatory framework around them.

“It makes it hard for all of us as manufacturers, because the investments aren't trivial," he said. "But right now, we feel like we need to be investing across those, as we wait, fundamentally for the uncertainty of how this is going to play out.”

Nonetheless, he remains confident that “it's going to end at a highly electrified fleet - maybe ultimately completely electrified if we can get the battery costs and energy density right”.

But he said: “That's a destination, and is that 10 years out or is that 30 years out? I don't think anyone's crystal ball is good enough to say."