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I think it's funny this news comes out just after they add a 100% tariff to Chinese EVs. I'd of course not want to see US automotive industry destroyed by cheap Chinese EVs but there's no way the US cannot compete
I know a few people that work in a Ford plant. Just a week ago, they shut down to retool the place for electric vehicles. Initially expected to take eight months, it's now about two years.
They might have cancelled some orders from a specific supplier, but it's not like Ford is turning away from EVs as a whole.
What the heck are they doing wrong? If they sell an EV for 70k and still make a 130k loss on it, what are they doing to make the production cost 200k in the first place?
Buying and running the tools it takes to make the EV, running the factories and training the workers are all very expensive. So the losses implies they projected a LOT higher volume than they're currently producing so all the expensive equipment sitting idle is spread over the smaller volume of cars. These are called NRE (non-recoverable expenses).
So the losses are not production losses, but a complete failure in the projection? OK, quite possible.
The problem they have is they're trying to sell it for 200k. Maybe they didn't try and sell it to so much money they'd actually make money paradoxically.
That's what happens when you have to be a loss-leader to secure your position in the market. Even when the government steps in to protect you you still claim it's a loss even though you've been crowned leader.
Is Ford the leader in the EV market?
In reality no, they are not.