Ford Shot Itself in the Foot With Capri and Explorer EV Based on Volkswagen's MEB Platform

3 days, 22 hours ago - 17 November 2024, autoevolution

Ford is scaling back its EV plans in Europe, where it just launched the Explorer EV and Capri, both based on Volkswagen's MEB architecture. Who would've thought that recycling a failed EV platform would be a bad idea? The sadder thing is that Ford gave up most ICE models to pursue an all-electric future in Europe and is now left with no alternative but to idle its EV German factory.

Ford's EV program is in shambles, as the Blue Oval is unable to find its way in a market dominated by Tesla and Chinese carmakers. After it scrapped plans to produce an electric three-row SUV in the US, Ford was forced to idle its signature EV plant in Dearborn, where the F-150 Lightning is produced. Now, Ford wants to also cut production at its German plant in Cologne. The reason? Ford mentions "rapidly deteriorating market conditions for electric vehicles," something that other legacy carmakers have complained about.

In the US, Ford has a comforting number of combustion vehicles scattered across all market segments to make up for the loss of EV sales. This is no longer the case in Europe after Ford pledged to go all-electric and discontinued (or plans to) its most popular ICE models. These include the Fiesta, retired in 2023, the Mondeo, discontinued in 2022, and the Focus, which will go into the sunset next year.

Instead, Ford bet everything on the success of the Explorer EV and its coupe variant, the Capri, both built on top of Volkswagen's MEB platform. To make that happen, it invested $2 billion to convert the Cologne plant into a state-of-the-art EV manufacturing site. Ford Explorer EV started production in June, whereas the Capri hit the assembly line in September. Now, Ford is scaling back operations at the Cologne plant because few customers are buying them.

That's a shocking decision for two models that have been in production for only a few months. Ford wanted to build up to 250,000 units per year of the Explorer EV and Capri combined at its Cologne plant, but it's nowhere near that number. The Blue Oval announced to workers that they would work one week and take one week off until the Christmas vacation. This effectively removes three weeks from the production cycle.

Automotive News reports that additional production cuts are planned for early 2025. This will involve reducing the number of shifts. Ford is currently producing more EVs than it could sell in Europe, and some reports indicate that it is considering reducing daily output from 630 to 480 units. About 2,300 workers at the Cologne plant are affected out of the 4,000 employees.

Things are getting rough for Ford, not only in Europe but also in the US. After bragging about double-digit sales increases for its electric F-150 with almost every quarter, Ford finally noticed the dealership lots were filled to the brim with unsold inventory. Thus, it announced that the MY2025 F-150 Lightning would not freeze production this year, as the Rouge EV Center in Dearborn will halt the production line from November 15 until January 6.