Ford pushes back EV target, warns of wider losses due to slower-than-expected adoption

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Ford CEO Jim Farley poses for a photo at the launch of the all-new electric Ford F-150 Lightning pickup truck at the Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center on April 26, 2022 in Dearborn, Michigan.
Bill Pugliano | Getty Images

Ford Motor said Thursday pushed back production targets for its electric vehicles, citing slower-than-expected adoption.

Ford now expects to be building EVs at a rate of 600,000 per year sometime during 2024, a delay from earlier estimates that it would reach that level by the end of 2023. The automaker had previously targeted a rate of more than 2 million per year by the end of 2026, but now says it doesn't know when it'll achieve that volume.

"The transition to EVs is happening, it just may take a little longer," CFO John Lawler said following the automaker's second-quarter earnings results.

"It will be a little slower than the industry expected," he said.

Ford also said it now expects its EV business unit, Ford Model e, to post an operating loss of about $4.5 billion this year, versus a loss of $3 billion it expected when it reported its first-quarter results in May.

In a statement, CEO Jim Farley argued that the more gradual ramp-up of electric vehicle production could be a boon for Ford.

"The near-term pace of EV adoption will be a little slower than expected, which is going to benefit early movers like Ford," Farley said, noting the success of Ford's first generation F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E EVs. "While others are trying to catch up, we have clean-sheet, next-generation products in advanced development that will blow people away."

While Ford overall was solidly profitable during the second quarter, the Model e unit posted an operating loss of $1.8 billion.