Ford postpones new EV launch again, showing why legacy automakers need to embrace a startup mentality

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Ford announced Thursday that it is delaying production of two electric vehicles: a next-generation EV pickup and a three-row EV SUV. The pair is currently scheduled to arrive in 2026 and 2027, a year and two years late respectively. Instead, the automaker plans to introduce hybrids across its U.S. lineup.

Ford’s CEO had been telegraphing the delay for months. Last fall, he postponed a planned $12 billion investment. And during an earnings call in February, CEO Jim Farley said, “Hybrid vehicles will play an increasingly important role in the industry transition and are here to stay for a long time.” That’s the kind of low-key talk shareholders like to hear.

Wall Street is likely to welcome the move, especially after Toyota reported a 22% year-over-year increase in U.S. sales on strong demand for hybrid vehicles. Ford’s shift appears to be aimed at increasing cash flow and short-term profits, which seems logical for a company of its size, especially in times of uncertainty.

But here’s the problem. Despite its EV lag, Ford is unusual among established automakers in that it performs best when it thinks like a startup, and it’s only recently realized that it performs best when it thinks like a startup. It seems to have been engraved. It is more successful to shape the market than to react to it.

Most recently, that startup spirit was on display in Ford’s all-electric crossover, the Mustang Mach-E. When his EV started taking shape nearly a decade ago, the original plan was to build a completely rational crossover with an electric motor in the front. The design was aerodynamic, but so plain that one of the company’s exterior designers wondered who would buy it. Judging by the appearance of the proposed design, the question was natural.

But then-CEO Jim Hackett scrapped the plan and gave the team only two years to come up with something new. The result was a crossover that helped Ford take second place in U.S. EV sales for several consecutive quarters.

The Mustang Mach-E was no fluke. Ford has a record of pulling rabbits out of hats. In the 1980s, when American automakers were under pressure from Japanese imports, Ford ditched its boxy, heavy-duty design and came up with the Taurus, released in late 1985. This sleek, spacious, and affordable car was unlike anything American consumers had ever seen before. , was an instant hit. Ford sold his million cars in his first three years, a success that likely saved the company from bankruptcy.

Five years later, Ford pivoted again with the introduction of the Explorer. SUVs weren’t new, but at the time most were two-door models focused on practicality, like towing and off-roading. Automobiles remained the primary choice among consumers. But by adding a rear door and a host of creature comforts, Ford turned the SUV into a family hauler. Although it may have cannibalized the company’s car sales, the decision to launch the Explorer proved to be prescient. This not only fueled the company’s further growth into the decade, but also predicted a world where SUVs would dominate the market.

There are other examples. Ford took a fast, lean approach when developing the original Mustang, allowing it to define an entirely new category of fast, expensive “pony cars.” He did the same after World War II, producing the car now known as the ’49 Ford. The car broke style conventions and propelled the automaker back to the top of sales. And let’s not forget the original Ford assembly line. It wasn’t a product, but it was definitely a product of entrepreneurship.

Furries face many challenges today. His predecessors essentially mixed and matched designs, platforms, and manufacturing techniques, but the heart of those vehicles, the engine, remained largely the same. Electric cars require manufacturers to start with a clean slate, or at least strip away the heart of the original car without losing its greatness.

Ford is great at these jobs. The Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning are, by most accounts, not only great EVs, but great overall vehicles.

Still, it wasn’t the huge success Ford had hoped for. One reason for this is that they were too expensive, and lower prices have proven that they are still in demand, but also because the charging infrastructure to support them is still underdeveloped. It’s the cause. If charging is hindering Ford’s EV sales, perhaps it needs to address the issue head-on. And if Ford can’t price its EVs competitively and still turn a profit, then perhaps Ford needs to find a way to make them cheaper.

The company has already started down this path by establishing Skunk Works, led by former Tesla executive Alan Clark, to develop low-cost EVs. If the team is successful in bringing the product to market, some of that startup spirit may live on at Ford after all.