Ford Motor Company has recently made significant strides in the field of electric vehicles, bringing three popular products to market: the Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning, and E-Transit.
The F-150 Lightning is arguably the most significant of the three, and its production has already been increased to 150,000 units per year under CEO Jim Farley’s watch.
The CEO also wants Mustang Mach-E’s annual presentation to reach 200,000 units.
According to Insideevs, the company is incurring costs due to this production ramp. Ford executives noted in an earnings call with analysts on February 2 that the company is underperforming in a vital metric: cost of goods sold as a percentage of revenue.
Ford to simplify its EVs for the future price war
Ford CEO Jim Farley stated that the automaker would simplify its electric vehicles and enable them to scale up in the future, allowing it to compete in a possible price war.
He also mentioned next-generation EVs, including the successor to the F-150 Lightning.
Now we are deep into development of our second-generation EVs, including our next-generation electric full-size pickup—which, by the way, is awesome
Jim Farley, CEO of Ford stated on development of second-generation EVs
He previously stated that the truck would be manufactured in “incredibly high volume” at Ford’s new BlueOval City plant in Tennessee.
He said that Ford’s upcoming EVs will be entirely software updatable thanks to a brand-new electric architecture and that the vehicle platforms will be “radically simplified,” with far fewer fasteners and brackets.
Imagine three body styles, each with volume potential of up to one million units, and just a handful of orderable combinations,
design the smallest possible battery for competitive size
Jim Farley, CEO of Ford stated on simplified EVs
No-haggle Model e program in 2024
Farley stated that to simplify production and reduce costs. Ford will offer a limited number of available body styles – or “top hats” – for its future EVs.
On the category side, we do not want to have too many top hats because that costs a lot to engineer. We want to have the minimum choice for customers
Jim Farley, CEO of Ford stated on simplified EVs
The CEO of Ford also indicated the company’s no-haggle Model e program, which begins in January 2024.
The program, which nearly two-thirds of dealers have already adopted, will enable Ford to sell EVs “in high volume with virtually no inventory” at non-negotiated rates set by the local dealer. Remote pickup and delivery will also be possible through the e-commerce platform.
