Ford motor company has lost it
Discussion
P-Jay said:
I think they're struggling in the UK and I presume the EU as well.
Like VW they took the upcoming Eu rules on EVs as gospel and went headfirst into EVs, but sales are poor and it's not easy to change their mind and say "here's the 2025 Fiesta, we told you we weren't going to make" and bang them out in their thousands for £200 on PCP.
In what way has Ford gone "headfirst into EVs"?Like VW they took the upcoming Eu rules on EVs as gospel and went headfirst into EVs, but sales are poor and it's not easy to change their mind and say "here's the 2025 Fiesta, we told you we weren't going to make" and bang them out in their thousands for £200 on PCP.
P-Jay said:
I think they're struggling in the UK and I presume the EU as well.
Like VW they took the upcoming Eu rules on EVs as gospel and went headfirst into EVs, but sales are poor and it's not easy to change their mind and say "here's the 2025 Fiesta, we told you we weren't going to make" and bang them out in their thousands for £200 on PCP.
Interestingly, VW have just pretty much done that very U-turn and have ahead now said they are keeping the Polo on sale in the EU until 2030. Like VW they took the upcoming Eu rules on EVs as gospel and went headfirst into EVs, but sales are poor and it's not easy to change their mind and say "here's the 2025 Fiesta, we told you we weren't going to make" and bang them out in their thousands for £200 on PCP.
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/volksw...
James6112 said:
Olivera said:
It's been on the long march towards being a dead car brand in the UK for a long time now, so not particularly a surprise.
Fake news..Ford Puma is the biggest selling car in the Uk
Freakuk said:
Saw a post on FB stating the same, who can blame Ford here, the UK government introduced fines if manufacturers don't meet the targets of %EV sales.
One of the FB posters had stated that their company had tried to order 80 transit vans, but Ford wouldn't accept the order as they didn't order the required % of EV vans. So they are looking at other manufacturers.
.....
There's an article in FleetNews today suggesting that manufacturers are doing this widely now.One of the FB posters had stated that their company had tried to order 80 transit vans, but Ford wouldn't accept the order as they didn't order the required % of EV vans. So they are looking at other manufacturers.
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Zetec-S said:
Olivera said:
It's been on the long march towards being a dead car brand in the UK for a long time now, so not particularly a surprise.
As someone who has owned 7 Ford's I sadly have to agree. Household names like the Mondeo, Fiesta and (soon) Focus will be gone. To be fair the Puma sells like hotcakes and I think the Kuga is reasonably popular as a lease/company car, but they don't really have much else for the mainstream. Sheepshanks said:
P-Jay said:
I think they're struggling in the UK and I presume the EU as well.
Like VW they took the upcoming Eu rules on EVs as gospel and went headfirst into EVs, but sales are poor and it's not easy to change their mind and say "here's the 2025 Fiesta, we told you we weren't going to make" and bang them out in their thousands for £200 on PCP.
In what way has Ford gone "headfirst into EVs"?Like VW they took the upcoming Eu rules on EVs as gospel and went headfirst into EVs, but sales are poor and it's not easy to change their mind and say "here's the 2025 Fiesta, we told you we weren't going to make" and bang them out in their thousands for £200 on PCP.
If they can't compete, f
k them. We have to make the transition away from ICE cars. If that has to be forced on manufacturers and consumers by our government (i.e. by us, the electorate), then so be it. Keep up or exit the market.
Manufacturers all say they need a stable regulatory framework that enforces this transition to allow them to make the investment necessary to make the transition happen. None of them can afford to risk switching their product range to electric unless they know that all their competitors are required to do they same thing. It's crucial that there's no backsliding on the regulatory requirements because it will remove any confidence that the regulatory timelines have any meaning.
Olivergt said:
Here is one article on it.
https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-news/industry-ne...
Basically 22% of car sales need to be BEV this year and the %age increases every year from now on.
Ford only have a couple of BEV cars at the moment so for them to make up 22% of sales it means the number of ICE cars will have to be severly restricted.
Alternative is a 15k fine per ICE car sold that is not in the 78% allowed.
https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-news/industry-ne...
This goes one of two ways; either the government backs down on the policy or we all have to pay 15k more for our cars as the cost gets passed on. The demand is not there and not even close to what is needed for manufacturers to sell enough EVs. When the tax breaks start to end demand will cool even further.https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-news/industry-ne...
Basically 22% of car sales need to be BEV this year and the %age increases every year from now on.
Ford only have a couple of BEV cars at the moment so for them to make up 22% of sales it means the number of ICE cars will have to be severly restricted.
Alternative is a 15k fine per ICE car sold that is not in the 78% allowed.
https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-news/industry-ne...
Ford are in trouble. Completely ending production of their most popular cars to focus on a bunch of samey bland crossover SUV things mostly powered by a source that has not yet proven itself in the market? Incredible.
Freakuk said:
Saw a post on FB stating the same, who can blame Ford here, the UK government introduced fines if manufacturers don't meet the targets of %EV sales.
One of the FB posters had stated that their company had tried to order 80 transit vans, but Ford wouldn't accept the order as they didn't order the required % of EV vans. So they are looking at other manufacturers.
No infrastructure, expensive to charge (publically), depreciation to name 3 things against adoption from the masses, but the manufacturer has to take the financial hit???
I'm sure there must be conversations going on with the UK government and manufacturers to address this, but it's becoming blatantly obvious that they've got it wrong and they need to back track somewhat here.
No conversations, they are holding the line and there’s already been the PHEV deadline move. Plus a labour government isn’t going to move on this especially with Net zero being enshrined in law and very difficult to now change One of the FB posters had stated that their company had tried to order 80 transit vans, but Ford wouldn't accept the order as they didn't order the required % of EV vans. So they are looking at other manufacturers.
No infrastructure, expensive to charge (publically), depreciation to name 3 things against adoption from the masses, but the manufacturer has to take the financial hit???
I'm sure there must be conversations going on with the UK government and manufacturers to address this, but it's becoming blatantly obvious that they've got it wrong and they need to back track somewhat here.
Edited by Freakuk on Thursday 9th May 11:06
A500leroy said:
Being widely reported they wont sell ice vehicles much longer in the UK at any price for fear of the new fines coming there way from the government if they dont sell enough EV vehicles?
Genius or will Ford fold in the uk and become van retailers only?
There have been stories of Ford wanting to become commercial-only circulating for the last few years. There's more profit in selling fewer, much higher margin commercial vehicles, apparently. Genius or will Ford fold in the uk and become van retailers only?
So perhaps the EV stuff is just a convenient excuse.
Certainly, their buying of access to VW's MEB platform rather than developing their own (e-Mustang aside) does rather suggest a lack of desire to develop electric passenger vehicles.
In the States, they've already shifted (again, except for the Mustang - the ICE one, this time) to entirely commercial vehicles. Although quite where the boundary between pickups / SUVs and passenger vehicles lies could be debated over there.
Edited by dxg on Thursday 9th May 13:05
P-Jay said:
I think they're struggling in the UK and I presume the EU as well.
Like VW they took the upcoming Eu rules on EVs as gospel and went headfirst into EVs, but sales are poor and it's not easy to change their mind and say "here's the 2025 Fiesta, we told you we weren't going to make" and bang them out in their thousands for £200 on PCP.
But what have they really launched as EV?Like VW they took the upcoming Eu rules on EVs as gospel and went headfirst into EVs, but sales are poor and it's not easy to change their mind and say "here's the 2025 Fiesta, we told you we weren't going to make" and bang them out in their thousands for £200 on PCP.
Mach e Mustang a couple of years ago, the Explorer is a rebadged VW ID4 that is a year late.
I hope you’re right and they have some sanity return and start chucking out Fiesta type cars petrol, hybrid and EV soon otherwise I think they’ll take their toys are become vans only in the UK and possibly EU.
ChocolateFrog said:
Wills2 said:
One issue for the US legacy brands is BEV share in their home market is less than 8%
The US is probably the toughest sell for EVs.Why bother when fuel is cheaper than water and they often drive longer distances.
A500leroy said:
Being widely reported they wont sell ice vehicles much longer in the UK at any price for fear of the new fines coming there way from the government if they dont sell enough EV vehicles?
Genius or will Ford fold in the uk and become van retailers only?
I've been saying it for a while now, Govt intervention in a free market only ever causes chaos.Genius or will Ford fold in the uk and become van retailers only?
TX.
ATG said:
Quite. Isn't their problem the exact opposite? They don't have any competitive low/mid range BEV products to offer and they're a low/mid range brand.
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I dont think you understand how expensive BEV cars are to make! Theres never going to be a Fiesta/Polo EV that costs £15K. Even the £20k that a 3 cylinder Fiesta ST costs is a price that an EV simply cannot match!.
Even Mercedes are binning off all the A, B, CLA and GLA models in the next few years to focus on EVs as they know they cant make them cheaply enough. No ones going to spend £45K on an EVA class!
BunkMoreland said:
ATG said:
Quite. Isn't their problem the exact opposite? They don't have any competitive low/mid range BEV products to offer and they're a low/mid range brand.
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I dont think you understand how expensive BEV cars are to make! Theres never going to be a Fiesta/Polo EV that costs £15K. Even the £20k that a 3 cylinder Fiesta ST costs is a price that an EV simply cannot match!.
Even Mercedes are binning off all the A, B, CLA and GLA models in the next few years to focus on EVs as they know they cant make them cheaply enough. No ones going to spend £45K on an EVA class!
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