5:23 pm, January 3, 2017
FORD is to produce 13 new electrified vehicles in the next five years, including a fully electric SUV with a 300-mile range.
The company has also confirmed that it will produce a plug-in hybrid Transit Custom and hybrid versions of the Mustang and F-150, although the Mustang and F-150 will only be for the US market.
A plug-in hybrid version of the Transit Custom will arrive in the UK in 2019, and the firm has promised that its hybrid utility vehicles will combine EcoBoost turbocharged engines with electric motors.
The as-yet-unnamed electric SUV, meanwhile, will arrive in 2020 and is described by the company as ‘small’, suggesting that it may be the replacement for the Nissan Juke-rivalling EcoSport.
The announcement comes at the same time as news that the Blue Oval will invest $700m (£573m) in its assembly plant in Flat Rock, Michigan, where it plans to build autonomous and electric vehicles, as well as the Mustang and Lincoln Continental.
This investment, however, is a small chunk of the $4.5bn (£3.68bn) the company is pumping into its electrified vehicle programme.
Mark Fields, Ford’s president and CEO, said: ‘As more and more consumers around the world become interested in electrified vehicles, Ford is committed to being a leader in providing consumers with a broad range of electrified vehicles, services and solutions that make people’s lives better.
‘Our investments and expanding line-up reflect our view that global offerings of electrified vehicles will exceed gasoline-powered vehicles within the next 15 years.’
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