Ford is investing $3 billion to build more of its extremely profitable F-Series Super Duty pickup trucks at a plant in Ontario, Canada that was previously earmarked to build an electric crossover. The plant is set to be opened in 2026, and it will employ 1,800 workers to build the large work trucks. The move will add 100,000 units per year worth of Super Duty production – a huge jump as Ford is currently on pace to build about 400,000 Super Duties per year.
This move comes just a few weeks after Ford CEO Jim Farley said Americans have to “start to get back in love with smaller vehicles,” something the company he runs doesn’t make. I don’t know. It’s just a funny coincidence. Anyway, the announcement is sort of a microcosm of what’s going on in the market right now. Slowing EV demand led Ford to kick plans for a three-row plug-in crossover to 2027, according to Bloomberg. At the same time, buyers are yearning for its larger trucks, so Ford is going to follow the money every time.
Here’s more on Ford’s decision to emphasize large truck production over electric cars, from Bloomberg:
“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,” Chief Executive Officer Jim Farley said in the statement.
Ford said there will be electrified versions of the Super Duty in the future, but didn’t specify whether they would be hybrid-electric vehicles or fully electric. A hybrid using both an electric motor and fossil fuels is better for towing.
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When Ford announced the delay of production for the big electric SUV in April, the company said the move was being made to “allow for the consumer market for three-row EVs to further develop.”
Don’t worry though, EV haters. Ford isn’t the only automaker rethinking its EV plans. General Motors has also delayed opening a plant in suburban Detroit that was meant to build electric pickup trucks. Additionally, GM CEO Mary Barra backed down from the automaker’s goal of creating enough production capacity for 1 million EVs by the end of 2025.
Last year, Ford lost nearly $4.7 billion on its EV business, and this year is supposed to be even worse, according to Reuters. Right now, The Blue Oval is projected to lose up to $5.5 billion on its EV unit. That’s a lot of money, even for a company as big as Ford.
Unifor, a Canadian automotive union, was thrilled with Ford’s decision to ramp up Super Duty production at the complex, Reuters reports:
“This new retooling plan for the Oakville plant addresses our union’s concerns with Ford Motor Co’s decision to delay new vehicle production for a period that was too long, too disruptive, and too harmful to accept,” Unifor National President Lana Payne said in a statement.
Automakers are sort of just following the money right now, and the money wants trucks – not EVs. Despite their continued growth, EVs are sitting on dealer lots longer than internal combustion-powered vehicles, according to Bloomberg. In the past 30 days, dealerships in the U.S. sold 24 percent of their EV inventory, and at the same time, they were able to move 38 percent of their other models.