Ford has said that the current generation Focus hatchback won't be on sale past 2025. This comes as more and more manufacturers are re-evaluating their current ICE lineup. According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), car sales with batteries in them are up. BEV sales from April 2023 to April 2024 are up by 10.7% and the year to date, compared to 2023 is up by 10.6%.
Ford will shut down the Focus factory in the middle of 2025, with the exiting site to be sold on. However, as of writing Ford is yet to find a buyer for it.
Ford are a bit behind when it comes to EVs, so it should come as no surprise then when it said that it is seeing EV adoption as "slowing versus our original assumptions." Ford will need to work to get ahead of the ever increasing ZEV mandate, something the company said it is not going to pay fines on. Instead, they are willing to cut back ICE production.
"In the long run, we are still deeply convinced that EVs will be the future and we will see a significant increase in volume. By the end of this year, we will have a full range of electric vehicles – both in the passenger vehicle sector but also in our commercial vehicle business line – and we are quite flexible to adapt to market demand. For the next couple of years, we have a broad choice. Basically, our customers have the power of choice to pick what they want. We can’t push EVs into the market against demand. We’re not going to pay penalties. We are not going to sell EVs at huge losses just to buy compliance. The only alternative is to take our shipments of [ICE] cars to the UK down and sell these vehicles somewhere else."
Martin Sander, head of Ford Europe
Ford EVs
Ford only has two EV passenger cars available in the UK, with the Explorer and Mach-E. For commercial it has only one, the E-Transit. However, by the end of this year, Ford will be offering the E-Transit Custom and then in the future, the smaller E-Transit Courier.
Source: SMMT
