Ford Motor Co. on Monday announced some key advancements in its electrification strategy in Europe, including the introduction of seven new all-electric passenger vehicles and vans by 2024, as well as a new joint venture to boost battery production in the region.
The company said it now expects its annual EV sales in Europe to exceed 600,000 units in 2026 as it targets 2 million EV sales globally in that timeframe. It also reaffirmed its target of hitting 6% operating profit margins in Europe in 2023, and a company-wide margin of 10% by 2026.
Meanwhile, Ford announced it is now targeting zero emissions for all vehicle sales in Europe and carbon neutrality across its European footprint — including facilities, logistics and suppliers — by 2035.
Monday's announcements follow the news earlier this month that the Dearborn automaker will divide its legacy internal combustion engine and burgeoning electric-vehicle and software businesses into separate units within the company. The two business units join Ford Pro, the company's standalone commercial vehicle business that launched last year. Collectively, those units "will define Ford's future in Europe," the automaker said in a news release.
"I am delighted to see the pace of change in Europe — challenging our entire industry to build better, cleaner and more digital vehicles," Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a statement. "Ford is all-in and moving fast to meet the demand in Europe and around the globe."
More EVs coming
Joining the all-electric Mustang Mach-E SUV and E-Transit cargo van, Ford said Monday it plans to add seven new EVs to its European vehicle lineup — including three passenger vehicles and four commercial vans.
Next year, Ford will launch production of an electric, five-seat, medium-sized crossover at its Cologne Electrification Center in Germany. The crossover — more details of which will be released later this year — will have a range of roughly 311 miles on a single charge.
A second EV, a sports crossover, will be added to production lines in Cologne in 2024. With those two vehicles, EV production at that facility will increase to 1.2 million units over a six-year timeframe, Ford said. The company expects to invest about $2 billion in building those new electric passenger vehicles in Cologne, including to establish a new battery assembly facility there in 2024.
And starting in 2024, the Ford Puma — the automaker's best-selling passenger vehicle in Europe — will have an electric option, produced in Craiova, Romania.
Meanwhile, on the commercial vehicle side — Ford of Europe's profit center — the automaker will add four new electric models: the all-new Transit Custom one-ton van and Tourneo Custom multi-purpose vehicle in 2023, then the smaller, next-generation Transit Courier van and Tourneo Courier multi-purpose vehicle in 2024.
"These new Ford electric vehicles signal what is nothing less than the total transformation of our brand in Europe — a new generation of zero-emission vehicles, optimized for a connected world, offering our customers truly outstanding user experiences," Stuart Rowley, chair, Ford of Europe, said in a statement.
New battery venture
Ford also announced it has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding for a Turkey-based joint venture business with SK On Co., Ltd. and Koc Holding. If a final agreement is reached, the companies said they expect the venture to be one of the largest EV battery facilities in the region.
The JV would be based near Ankara and would manufacture high Nickel NMC cells for assembly into battery array modules. They would target annual capacity of 30 to 45 gigawatt hours, with production slated to start "as early as mid-decade."
