Dec 15 (Reuters) – Ford Motor said on Monday it will take a $19.5 billion writedown and is killing several electric vehicle models, in the most dramatic example yet of the auto industry’s retreat from battery-powered models in response to Trump administration policies and weakening EV demand.
The Dearborn, Michigan-based company said it will stop making the F-150 Lightning in its electric vehicle form, but will pivot to produce an extended-range electric model, a version of a hybrid vehicle called an EREV, which uses a gas-powered generator to recharge the battery. The company is also unveiling a next-generation electric truck, codenamed T3, as well as planned electric commercial vans.
Instead, Ford said it will shift heavily to gas and hybrid models, and eventually hire thousands of workers, even if there will be some layoffs at a jointly owned Tennessee battery plant in the near term. The company expects its global mix of hybrids, extended-range EVs and pure EVs to reach 50% by 2030, up from 17% today.
Ford will spread the write-downs, taken primarily in the fourth quarter and continuing through next year and into 2027, the company said. About $8.5 billion is related to the cancellation of planned EV models. About $6 billion is tied to the dissolution of a battery joint venture with South Korea’s SK On, and $5 billion on what Ford called “program-related costs.”
The automaker also raised its 2025 guidance for adjusted earnings before taxes and interest, to about $7 billion, from a previous range of $6 billion to $6.5 billion.
Ford’s shift reflects the auto industry’s response to declining demand for battery-powered models, after auto companies plowed hundreds of billions of dollars into EV investments early this decade. The outlook for electrics has weakened significantly this year as US President Donald Trump’s policies tightened federal support for EVs and eased tailpipe emissions rules, which could encourage automakers to sell more gas-powered cars.
Sales of electric vehicles in the United States fell by about 40% in November, following the expiration on September 30 of a $7,500 consumer tax credit, which had been in place for more than 15 years to boost demand. The Trump administration also included in the massive tax and spending bill passed in July a freeze on fines automakers pay for violating fuel economy regulations.
“Rather than spending billions more on large EVs that now have no path to profitability, we’re allocating that money to higher-performing areas,” said Andrew Frick, head of Ford’s gas and electric vehicle operations.