Out with the new, in with the old.
The Ford Motor Company has said that due to the overwhelming popularity of its F-Series Super Duty truck, it will delay production of electric vehicles at its plant in Oakville, Ontario (just west of Toronto).
The company said it will instead produce its F-Series Super Duty trucks at the location beginning in 2026.
Back in 2020, Ford stated that the Oakville plant would be retrofitted to produce battery-electric SUVs starting in 2026, though that date was later pushed back to 2027.
Instead of the initial US$1.8 billion EV retrofit, Ford is now upping the ante to $2.3 billion and getting it up and running by 2026 to produce the F-Series Super Duty ICE (internal combustion engine) pick-up trucks.
As well as the bigger financial investment and faster turnaround, Ford indicated that it would need more workers than it had previously stated—now 1,800 workers.
So, has Ford given up on EV technology? No, of course not. This is just a delay in adding to the electrification of its vehicle portfolio, saying only that the Oakville plant would produce EV Super Duty trucks “later this decade.”
This past April, Ford said that its expected earnings were 49 cents per share—up from the expected 42 cents. This had Ford’s profits come in at US$42.8 billion—$2 billion more than the initial estimate.
The profits were driven by a 36 percent increase in revenue from its Ford Pro commercial unit, which includes the Super Duty pickup truck.
And because the Ford Pro is the company’s most profitable division, we can see the reasoning behind the change in plans for the Oakville facility. Also, production of the Super Duty is currently maxed out in the US.
Production of the three-row SUV previously scheduled for the Oakville plant will move to an as-yet-to-be-revealed facility.