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from the It's-electric.-Boogie-woogie-woogie! dept.
Ford Motor Co. confirmed plans to build a fully electric F-Series pickup, which industry observers called an unexpected move that protects the truck franchise against Tesla and other competitors.
“We’re going to be electrifying the F-Series — battery electric and hybrid,” Jim Farley, Ford president of global markets, said Wednesday during a presentation at the Deutsche Bank Global Automotive Conference in the MGM Grand in Detroit.
In framing the company’s redesign, Farley said a move toward all-electric and hybrid would “futureproof” the billion-dollar F-Series franchise, which he called a “global juggernaut.”
[...] Creating an alternative to the combustion engine is crucial if Ford plans to protect its pickup franchise.
“Tesla is talking about coming out with an electric pickup. And look what Tesla has done in the luxury segment. They’ve clobbered just about everybody,” McElroy said. “You can’t pooh-pooh that people won't be interested in an electric pickup. Rivian Automotive is coming out with an all-electric pickup. These are the crown jewels for Ford Motor Co., the F-Series. Ford has got to react to competitive threats.”
Ford recently announced it would exit the market for cars to focus on its pickups. This announcement is another sign of the shockwaves Tesla has sent throughout the automotive industry.
[Ford is likely also keeping a watchful eye on Workhorse. --Ed.]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by richtopia on Friday January 18 2019, @12:53AM (2 children)
I cannot help but think this move is because Ford is truck-heavy in their USA lineup. CAFE is based on the manufacturer's lineup efficiency, so adding in an electric vehicle helps.
Outside gaming the system, I'm not surprised by the electric truck. Fleet vehicles often make good electric candidates with predictable drive cycles. We already saw this type of vehicle with the Ranger-EV and S10-EV.
(Score: 1) by Sulla on Friday January 18 2019, @01:13AM
Ford will also have to make up for the loss in their CAFE average from dumping the majority of their small car lines to streamline production. Their ecoboost engines appear to be able to handle the expected load and at the same time improve the gas mileage, and it appears that the 700 they shaved off by switching to aluminum made a difference as well. In general I don't have brand loyalty, but they have been making a lot of good advances the past couple of years. It was also nice to see them working (colluding?) with gm over the past few years to produce a 10 speed transmission for pickups.
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday January 18 2019, @01:42AM
EV is the new hotness - the street will be discounting stock of vehicle companies that don't have an EV roadmap. This (the EV F series) is to protect Ford executive level options value. In reality, this is the investors' proxies (fund managers) telling Ford how to run their company.
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