Ford cancels planned electric car production in Oakville
The US car manufacturer previously postponed the production of a three-row electric SUV in Oakville from 2025 to 2027. Further details on this model, such as a name or key data on the drive technology, are still not available. Ford had justified the postponement, which was only announced this April, by stating that the consumer market for three-row electric cars will “continue to develop” until 2027 and that the electric SUV can already benefit from new battery technologies.
It is now clear that its production will not take place at the Canadian plant at all. Ford does not address this in the current announcement on occupancy in Oakville, but it confirmed the information to InsideEVs. They also reported that the new production site is still up for discussion.
Instead of the large electric SUV, Ford will now build models from its Ford Pro commercial vehicle division at the Oakville Assembly Complex, specifically the F-Series Super Duty Trucks. These vehicles are positioned above the consumer-orientated F-150. Depending on their size, they are either pickups or chassis. These models will also be electrified in the future – but only as far as hybrids and not purely electric. The Super Duty models are also built in Kentucky and Ohio, while the F-150 is built in Michigan and Missouri.
The manufacturer announced in April 2023 that electric vehicles and batteries would be assembled in Oakville. At that time, it was stated that the conversion work would start in the second quarter of 2024. After completing the billion-euro work, the plant was supposed to be renamed from Oakville Assembly Complex to Oakville Electric Vehicle Complex. Now, it is still referred to as Oakville Assembly Complex.
“Ford remains committed to developing a growing and profitable electric vehicle business, including three-row electric utility vehicles, leveraging its experience as a leader in US three-row utilities and America’s No. 2 electric vehicle brand,” the automaker said.
In fact, Ford is currently putting the brakes on its EV plans. In addition to the three-row electric SUV, production of a new electric pickup was also postponed to 2026. The LFP battery factory in the US will be smaller than initially planned, and the battery factory in Turkey will not be built at all. In 2023, the Ford Model e electric car division posted a loss of 4.7 billion dollars, with a further 1.3 billion dollars added in the first quarter of 2024.
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