Ford takes $19.5bn hit amid electric vehicle retreat as Trump policies bite | Ford

Ford stated on Monday it can take a $19.5bn writedown and is killing a number of electric-vehicle fashions, in probably the most dramatic instance but of the auto business’s retreat from battery-powered fashions in response to the Trump administration’s insurance policies and weakening EV demand.Ford, based mostly in Dearborn, Michigan, stated it can cease making the F-150 Lightning in its electrical car type, however will pivot to producing an extended-range electrical mannequin, a model of a hybrid car known as an Erev, which makes use of a gas-powered generator to recharge the battery.The corporate can also be scrapping a next-generation electrical truck, codenamed the T3, in addition to deliberate electrical business vans.As a substitute, Ford stated it can pivot laborious into fuel and hybrid fashions, and finally rent 1000’s of employees, despite the fact that there will probably be some layoffs at a collectively owned Tennessee battery plant within the close to time period. The corporate expects its world mixture of hybrids, extended-range EVs and pure EVs to achieve 50% by 2030, from 17% at the moment.Ford will unfold out the writedown, taken primarily within the fourth quarter and persevering with by way of subsequent yr and into 2027, the corporate stated. About $8.5bn is said to cancelling deliberate EV fashions. Round $6bn is tied to the dissolution of a battery three way partnership with South Korea’s SK On, and $5bn on what Ford known as “program-related bills”.Ford’s shift displays the auto business’s response to waning demand for battery-powered fashions, after automobile corporations plowed tons of of billions of {dollars} into EV investments early this decade. The outlook for electrics dimmed considerably this yr as Donald Trump’s insurance policies yanked federal assist for EVs and eased tailpipe-emissions guidelines, which may encourage carmakers to promote extra gas-powered automobiles.US gross sales of electrical automobiles fell about 40% in November, following the September 30 expiration of a $7,500 client tax credit score, which had been in place for greater than 15 years to stoke demand. The Trump administration additionally included within the large tax and spending invoice that handed in July a freeze on fines that automakers pay for violating fuel-economy rules.“Quite than spending billions extra on massive EVs that now don’t have any path to profitability, we’re allocating that cash into higher-returning areas,” stated Andrew Frick, head of Ford’s fuel and electric-vehicle operations.The F-150 Lightning rolled off meeting traces beginning in 2022 with a lot fanfare Comic Jimmy Fallon wrote a tune in regards to the truck. Ford elevated manufacturing of the mannequin to fulfill an inflow of 200,000 orders, however gross sales haven’t stored tempo.The corporate bought 25,583 Lightnings by way of November of this yr, a ten% lower from the prior-year interval.The successor to the F-150 Lightning, the T3 truck, was speculated to be constructed ground-up for manufacturing at a brand new complicated in Tennessee, and be a core a part of Ford’s second-generation EV lineup. Ford is now changing manufacturing of the EV pickup with new gas-powered vans beginning in 2029 on the Tennessee manufacturing facility.Ford successfully killed everything of its introduced second-generation of EV fashions with Monday’s announcement.For its future EV lineup, the corporate is shifting focus to extra inexpensive EV fashions, conceived by a so-called skunkworks workforce in California. The primary mannequin from that workforce is slated to be priced at about $30,000 and go on sale in 2027. This midsize EV truck is being constructed at Ford’s Louisville plant.