Ford is ending production of its most popular car to focus on electric vehicles | Rare Techy

The birth and death of the Ford Fiesta was limited by global energy crises.

The car was introduced in 1976 when the world urgently needed more energy efficient vehicles after gas prices rose following the OPEC oil embargo. This week, Ford announced that it will end production of its classic Ford Fiesta in Europe sedan In favor of electric vehicle production in Europe in 2023, another energy crisis is now upon us as Russia and Europe cut oil and gas ties.

This is another sign of it The electrification of the European car market, said Tim Urquhart, IHS Markit’s principal analyst for the European automotive industry. “It certainly confirmed their commitment to electrification and asset restructuring,” he said.

The move marks the 119-year-old company’s latest attempt to transform itself into an electric vehicle (EV) company. Ford has stumbled EV era. Investors impatient with the pace of change have forced the company’s new CEO, Jim Farley redouble his efforts release a whole series of EVs that represent 2 million electric vehicles about a third of the world’s production each year. (Ford now expects about half of its sales fully electric by 2030).

Ford had already announced it would end sales of nearly all cars in North America to focus on more profitable SUVs and crossovers in 2018, and then began a $50 billion push to build electric vehicles that are about to hit the market. Ford isn’t expecting its electric vehicle business, which it calls the “Ford Model e”(separately from company’s internal combustion engine unit Ford Blue), to be profitable until 2025.

There is a tough road ahead

Automakers are making tough choices due to shortages of chips and auto parts and unprecedented demand for electric cars. To increase profits, Ford and others are bringing cheaper vehicles to market for benefit high-priced luxury models and innovation for that money.

Fiesta’s demise was one step in those plans. Best selling car ever In Europe, Ford makes the Fiesta final product A year earlier than planned in the EU due to declining sales (Ford stopped production of the vehicle in the US in 2018). Ford wants all its passenger cars in Europe to be fully electric by 2030. The company already has seven electric cars in the works for Europe and is converting a factory in Cologne, Germany, to produce 200,000 electric cars a year in 2023. battery production in 2024.

That’s likely to boost Ford’s EV plans in the U.S., where tax credits from the Anti-Inflation Act will boost fuel demand and offset the price tag of new manufacturing facilities. “Anything that makes it easier to sell electric cars in the U.S. should make it easier to sell electric cars globally,” Brauer said. “The US is probably one of the least EV-friendly countries.”