On Sunday, Ford Motor Company announced that it’s doubling down on its investment in the production of electric vehicles. The company promised to spend $11 billion on the technology by 2022. Ford said it will roll out fully electric cars within five years, and you can expect to have the first wave to arrive in 2020.
Ford is feeling the competitive heat from other companies like General Motors, which has seen its stock prices climb thanks to its commitments in autonomy and electrification. GM previously announced that it plans to roll out at least 20 new electric vehicles by 2023, which would give GM prime position to bring battery-powered cars to mainstream availability. GM has also previously announced a new concept autonomous car without steering wheel or pedals.
Unfortunately for Ford, they had a challenging 2017. The company remained profitable, but sales are stagnant, and has seen its costs increase faster than expected. This led to the company’s margins fail to meet targets. The company even went though a leadership change in May 2017 where Mark Fields was replaced by Jim Hackett as CEO, among other leadership changes.
Aside from Ford and GM, other automakers have also announced their push for all-electric lineups. Daimler AG, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, has previously announced that it would electrify its entire fleet by 2022. Volvo has announced that it would start phasing out gas-only car production by 2019, and Volkswagen Group said it’s going to make everything electric in some shape or form by 2030.
