ford remained profitable in the first quarter of 2024, but its electric vehicle (EV) division suffered heavy losses.
The Blue Oval reported a net profit of US$1.3 billion (~A$1.99 billion) in the first quarter of 2024, largely thanks to the success of its Ford Pro fleet division, which reported earnings before interest and taxes of US$3 billion (~) recorded A$4.58 billion).
In contrast, the Model e-EV division lost a whopping US$1.32 billion (~A$2.02 billion), which is about double the amount it lost over the same period in 2023.
Ford says it sold about 10,000 electric vehicles in the first quarter of 2024, meaning the Model E division lost about A$200,000 on each one sold. This applies before interest and taxes are taken into account.
The automaker notes that the Model e’s losses are due to “significant industry-wide pricing pressure,” but expects the cost of electric vehicles to improve in the future.
Earlier this year, Ford stopped deliveries of its F-150 Lightning electric pickup due to an unspecified quality issue.
Ford CEO Jim Farley also said in February that he regretted not addressing the brand’s notorious quality issues sooner after taking the top job in 2020.
The pause follows a tumultuous three years for the F-150 Lightning since its initial unveiling in early 2021, with initial strong demand waning and the electric pickup hit by a production pause in 2023 and the aforementioned delivery pause this year.
Currently, the F-150 Lightning is not offered directly by Ford in Australia, although the company has remained cautious about its plans to bring the electric pickup into local showrooms.
The Mustang Mach-E electric crossover on sale in Australia continues to fly under the radar in the sales charts.
Only 168 examples of the Mustang Mach-E were sold in Australia in the first quarter of 2024, which is a far cry from the sales volume achieved by the Tesla Model Y (6835 sales) in the same period.
Even the Kia EV6 (589 sales), the Hyundai Kona Electric (502 sales), the BMW iX1 (476 sales), the Volvo XC40 Recharge (444 sales), the Toyota bZ4X (311 sales), the BMW iX3 (290 sales) and the Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV (290 sales), Mercedes-Benz EQA (258 sales), Hyundai Ioniq 5 (244 sales) and Kia Niro EV (222 sales) surpassed Mustang Mach-E sales locally.
The Mustang Mach-E was launched in Australia last year and received a price cut before deliveries to customers began. The electric crossover also recently received an update that is expected to be available locally in 2025.
Ford also sold a total of 15 E-Transit vans locally in the first quarter of 2024. This is still one of the few electric vans on offer in Australia, competing with the LDV eDeliver 7 and eDeliver 9 as well as the Peugeot e-Partner and Renault Kangoo E-Tech.
Looking ahead, Ford has confirmed it will launch the new Puma Gen-E small electric crossover and E-Transit Custom electric van in Australia later in 2024.
MORE: Ford expects multibillion-dollar losses on electric vehicles in 2023