Ford has switched its production plans in Canada and will now manufacture ICE-powered heavy-duty trucks at a site in Ontario it had penciled down for EV production. This comes after the automaker announced pushing electric SUV production at the Oakville facility to 2027.
Ford employees at the Oakville Assembly plant in Canada will now manufacture the larger gasoline-powered F-Series pickup trucks instead of assembling the company’s three-row electric SUVs, according to Reuters. The plan change came due to the unexpectedly slow demand growth for its EVs.
The plant will be expanded to boost the production of F-Series Super Duty trucks by 100,000 units per year. Ford said the plant will be enhanced with “future multi-energy technology,” costing up to $2.3 billion and generating about 220 additional jobs.
However, despite postponing EV production at the site, Ford insisted it will eventually make three-row electric SUVs there. CEO Jim Farley explained the reason for the shift in plans, “Super Duty is a vital tool for businesses and people around the world and, even with our Kentucky Truck Plant and Ohio Assembly Plant running flat out, we can’t meet the demand. At the same time, we look forward to introducing three-row electric utility vehicles.”
Ford lost about $4.7 billion on EVs in 2023 and will lose another $5.5 billion this year as the EV market gets tougher globally, despite selling 61 percent more EVs in Q2 2024. The American company has committed to launching new generation EVs only when profitable. It is, however, expanding its capacity to produce hybrids to corner the market for buyers who are not yet ready to go fully electric.
Ford’s local rival GM announced it was scaling back its goal of producing one million EVs annually in North America by 2025.
