Ford abandons ‘European electric vehicles by 2030’, ‘engine hybrid sales’, GM Malibu ‘discontinues
Ford Motor Company gave up its policy of producing full electric vehicles in Europe by 2030 and announced a revised plan to ‘sales of engine hybrids in Europe’ and gave up its policy of producing full electric vehicles in 2035.
“With the slowing adoption of electric vehicles in Europe, we believe we must continue to offer our customers ICE (internal combustion engine) and hybrid vehicle options beyond 2030,” Ford of America said in a statement to Reuters.
“This is a change from initial plans for an all-electric lineup in the region,” the Detroit automaker said on the 9th, Reuters reported.
Ford, the second-largest U.S. automaker, said at the time that "by 2026, every passenger vehicle sold in Europe will have an electric version, and by 2030, two-thirds of commercial vehicles sold in Europe will be fully electric or plug-in hybrid." It was officially announced.
On the 8th, General Motors (GM) stopped producing the Chevrolet Malibu, a historic American nameplate that sold more than 10 million units as the last affordable sedan in its U.S. model lineup, and plans to launch new versions of the electric vehicle Chevrolet Bolt and luxury SUV Cadillac XT4 by the end of the year. announced factory remodeling to make
“Europe’s vehicle lineup will be fully electric by 2030,” Stuart Rowley, Ford’s head of Europe, said on February 16, 2021. “We will invest $1 billion over the next 30 months to open our vehicle assembly plant in Cologne, Germany, as Europe’s first.” “The U.S. automaker will transition to an electric vehicle facility,” he said in a press conference. “Ford’s first fully electric passenger vehicle manufactured in Europe will be produced at this facility starting in 2023, and the company is considering building a second model there,” he said in a press conference. .
He continued, “Ford plans to produce some models using the MEB electric vehicle platform in a strategic partnership with Germany’s Volkswagen AG,” and added, “The model coming out of Cologne is the first model to use Volkswagen’s MEB platform.”
GM, the number one company in the United States, announced on January 27, 2021, “We have set a goal to sell all new cars, SUVs, and small pickup trucks with zero emissions by 2035,” and GM is also expected to revise its plan to establish a full electric vehicle production system. ,
GM dramatically announced measures to prevent greenhouse gas emissions and expand electric vehicle (EV) sales just a week after President Joe Biden took office.
GM's electric vehicle production is a total of 2.55 million vehicles sold in the United States in 2020, and the Chevrolet Bolt hatchback, an electric vehicle, is sold at only 20,000 units. Regarding the transition to electric vehicles, in November 2020, it said, '270 million units will be invested in electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles over the next five years. A billion-dollar investment was announced, but this was an increase of $7 billion from the $20 billion planned before the coronavirus pandemic.
On the 28th, the day after the announcement, GM's stock price temporarily surged 7.4% and closed up 3.5% that day.
“We worked with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) to develop a shared vision for an all-electric future and a desire to eliminate tailpipe emissions from new light-duty vehicles by 2035,” GM CEO Mary Barra said in a statement at the time. revealed.
GM is discontinuing production of the Chevrolet Malibu, a venerable nameplate introduced when it was dominant in the U.S. economy.
The company announced plans to build two gasoline sedans under the Cadillac brand and begin selling luxury electric vehicles this year.
Regarding GM's downsizing of sedans and the emergence of mainstream luxury SUVs, the New York Times said, "Consumers are moving from cars to wider SUVs and pickup trucks to transport children and recreational equipment such as bicycles and kayaks." “We have helped this trend by offering more larger vehicles that generate big profits,” he said on the 9th. “Every other model GM makes for the U.S. market is now a truck or SUV.”
The NYT continued, “For several years, American drivers have been moving away from sedans, compact cars, and hatchbacks and are gravitating towards sports utility vehicles (SUVs),” adding, “GM’s two Detroit rivals, Stellantis and Ford Motor Company, have also almost eliminated their cars in the United States. Foreign automakers such as Toyota, Honda and Hyundai still sell hundreds of thousands of sedans and compacts each year, but far fewer than in previous decades when the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord were among the most popular vehicles on U.S. roads, and last month in Japan Automaker Subaru has defied the transition in the automobile market, saying, “We will stop producing the Legacy sedan next year.”
In the United States, Ford eliminated sedans from its lineup a few years ago, and the Mustang is now the only car Ford makes for the American market.
Chrysler owner Stellantis has now shifted its focus to trucks, SUVs and minivans, and plans to begin building an electric version of the Dodge Challenger muscle car in 2025.