This will be a huge increase from the $4.5 billion the automaker announced it would invest by 2020 in December 2015. The announcement on Sunday means Ford is more than doubling its investments in electric and hybrid vehicles.
Mr. Ford said the company plans on delivering 16 fully electric and 24 plug-in hybrid vehicles to the public over the next five years. “This $11 billion you’re seeing, that means we’re all in now,” he said, according to Business Green. “The only question is will the customers be there with us and we think they will.”
Ford has been increasingly interested in electric and smart vehicles, so much so that last May, the company replaced chief executive officer Mark Fields with Jim Hackett, who was previously in charge of its self-driving car subsidiary Ford Smart Mobility. This happened when shares of Tesla overtook Ford as the second largest auto company in the U.S. after General Motors.
“We’re all in on this and we’re taking our mainstream vehicles, our most iconic vehicles and we’re electrifying them. If we want to be successful with electrification, we have to do it with vehicles that are already popular,” Ford told reporters, according to Reuters.
The move is in line with what Jim Hackett told investors in October, noting Ford would slash $14 billion in costs over the next five years and shift capital investment away from sedans and internal combustion engines to focus more on trucks and electric and hybrid cars.
Ford is not the only automaker trying to ward off competition from Tesla. GM, Toyota, the VW Group, and Daimler have all launched initiatives to meet consumer demand for electric vehicles. Stephanie Brinley, a senior automotive analyst at IHS Markit, says it will take more than just the automakers shifting to electric vehicles.
“Part of it is about tougher regulation but also the expectation that electric vehicles will support autonomous driving. The big question is how quickly consumers will adapt, as electric is only 1.0 percent of the market right now. Changing that will take better infrastructure on our roads, but also having more electric vehicles available,” said Brinley.
