Ford has confirmed that it will double its investments in electric mobility to 22 billion dollars by 2025. Another 7 billion dollars should be added for the development of autonomous vehicles (remember that Ford and its ally Volkswagen are the principal shareholders of Argo AI, a startup that seeks to compete with Cruise and Waymo in said sector).
This announcement was made by Jim Farley, Ford CEO, during the release of the company’s financial results for the fourth quarter of 2020. Farley says that this move will allow Ford to accelerate its plans, break restrictions, and add more electric vehicles to its product plan.
The executive was particularly pleased with the public’s response to the Mustang Mach-E, confirming that the next models to join the party will be the E-Transit van, scheduled for late 2021, as well as the F-150 pick-up, whose 100% electric version will land in the United States in mid-2022.
Farley doesn’t want Ford to lose ground to any competitor, adding that electric powertrains will gain special prominence in both the Transit line of commercial vehicles and the Lincoln premium brand, following in the footsteps of Cadillac, which will become the spearhead of General Motors vs. Tesla.
It is not clear when new electric models will be added to Ford’s portfolio due to its recent investments, but the models will be based on Volkswagen’s MEB modular platform.
Today, Ford has collaboration agreements with firms such as Jiangling, Rivian, and Volkswagen itself for the development of electric vehicles. This strategy will allow the North American manufacturer to achieve significant cost savings and improve its competitiveness in a market that is advancing to a faster and faster pace towards full electrification.